ED521 Final Blog #2

A Success Story Based On Something I Learned In ED521

Before I started the ED521 class, I had two email accounts.  The sendit account is used for my job related emails.  I use the midco account for our home desktop computer.  One assignment for the ED521 course was to get a Goggle+ account.  So, I logged into the computer and clicked away until I successfully set up this account.  Wow, what a surprise it has been.  It does things that I didn’t know an email account could do.

 

I love the features that this account offers.  This free email service allows me to categorize the emails.  I can set up my contacts in circles and communities.  Another feature is Google Hangouts which is a group video chatting service.  I have quick access to the Google Apps: YouTube, maps, play, news, Gmail, drive, forms, calendar, translate, books, wallet, shopping, blogger, finance, photos, and docs.  An unbelievable amount of services!  This free email service is amazing!  In addition, I love that this service is accessible on my mobile device.

ED521 Final Blog #1

(to be read like David Letterman's top 10)

My Top 10 Takeaways From ED521

1.      T-  Twitter

2.      E-  Edmodo

3.      C-  Calendar (of course Google)

4.      H-  Hashtags

5.      N-  #ndedchat

6.      O-   Oh no, not another ongoing assignment

7.       L-  Listening to podcasts

8.       O-  Ongoing Diigo assignments

9.       G-  Gmail

       10.         Y-  YouTube videos and embedding them

ED521 A18

How Has Technology Changed Your Teaching?

Being a teacher for 26 years, I have seen a lot of things come and go.  Some things have been a gradual change and others have been quick.

 When I first began teaching, lesson plans were written in a “lesson plan” book.  I wrote my plans with a #4 pencil, because I found they wrote crisp, clear lines and left no smudges behind. Lessons were written to follow the textbooks that our school had purchased.  I have transformed to typing my lesson plans using different formats/programs located on computers.  My lesson plans follow our textbooks, but are supplemented with materials found usually on the Internet.  My lessons now follow the state standards and our school’s curriculum.   Both the state standards and our school’s curriculum can be quickly located on the Internet!  I also email all three administrators in our elementary building my lesson plans weekly.

DIBELS testing has changed dramatically due to technology.  I used to have to test the students’ oral reading fluency and accuracy using a book, pencil, and timer.  Once the testing was done, I would have to create line graphs on graph paper for each individual student.  Now, the students still read the passages from a printed book, but I complete the DIBELS testing using an Ipad.  It is so convenient.  It keeps track of the time, errors, data, and creates the students’ records by creating line graphs that can be printed.  Students’ data is readily available at this website.    

The Smartboard and document reader are the heart of my classroom.  We constantly use both of these items throughout the school day.  I use it for all the core subject areas including Time For Kids (whiteboard edition), Google earth, dictionary skills, finding information quickly that the students have questions about, Skitch, Wordle, and the list goes on.  I can’t imagine teaching without these two items in my classroom.

At the end of each quarter, it used to take me a whole weekend, sitting at the kitchen table with an adding machine, to average the students’ grades.  Oh thank goodness for technology!  I now punch grades into our grading system and it does the averaging of the tests and daily grades immediately for me!!  Parents also have access to their child’s grades at this website.  This means no more surprises for anyone, if they choose to take advantage of this website.

The students’ writings still follow the 7 traits of writing.  However, now the students use technology for researching topics, taking notes, making outlines, completing graphic organizers, typing essays, and publishing their work. 

I used to contact parents through  mail or phone calls.  Now, I am able to communicate with parents and students using email, texts, Google calendar, Remind, and Google hangouts.

Using technology makes teaching more exciting for both the teacher and the students.  

ED521 A19

Libraries and Librarians in 2023

A media center in the year 2023 needs to be a media-rich area for people to learn.  It needs to be a place for people to collaborate and share their work.  The media center will have no deficiency of technology.  The technology that will be available will have access to online databases, the catalog, and the Internet.  The media center will have print and electronic resources available to students and staff.  Online availability to the library will be possible when the person cannot get there physically by using the media’s website that connects them to the media center.

The librarians will support the efforts of the classroom teachers by meeting with them to introduce resources and plan on how to incorporate these resources into the curriculum.  They will develop relationships to help the staff form a community.  They will remain flexible.  They will guide students to evaluate resources for correctness and reliability.  They will offer a justifiable, accountable strategy for sharing resources across grade levels.  Librarians will address essential reading, information, and technology literacies to the students.

Media centers and librarians do not look much different today than what I’m predicting they will be like in 2023.  I must remember that education challenges of tomorrow will require explanations that go far beyond today’s solutions.

ED521 A17

Future of Textbooks

At the higher education level, students are finding and selecting digital replacements to traditional textbooks.  Students prefer digital research options to print resources. Most college students believe that interactive content is a valuable learning asset.  They like the digital resources, because of the lower cost and they are more portable.  Paperless classrooms or classrooms that are using less paper are slowly changing at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels.  Laptops, iPads, tablets, and cell phones are now widespread in the modern classrooms.  Most students use these tools to access course materials, to take notes, create papers, email, schedule events, and the list goes on.  Textbooks can be very valuable when planning a curriculum.  They can be used has a framework that can guide a teacher with an outline of what should be taught within that class.  However, students do not want to spend hours reading and answering questions from a textbook for the whole year.  Boring!  Using technology tools correctly in the classroom can benefit students’ learning.  Teachers need to be trained and need time to plan activities that require students to be engaged.  The school that I teach at relies heavily on textbooks to meet the state standards, but a teacher can supplement the textbooks by using a variety of technology tools.  The following is a short list to bring existing textbooks come to life.  Students can post links to a sticky board site, like Padlet, that relate to the chapter’s topic from the textbook.  Students could add images/photos that describe/show the topic being studied in the textbook to the Instragram class account.  Students could use a variety of graphic organizers to engage them with the information from the textbook.  Students could create short videos of the information their studying to make readings come to life.  Technology should be used to empower teachers and improve students’ learning.  The main advantage of using digital textbooks is the updating feature of things happening now can be added to the existing form.  The language function makes it possible for students to toggle between different languages.  Another advantage of using digital books is the lower cost.  However, technology doesn't promise better student achievement.  If the teacher doesn't know how to use it, it’s not going to make much of a difference.  So, what’s in store for textbooks in the future?  I guess we’ll have to wait and see and be willing to accept the changes as they occur!  

ED521 A16

 21st Century Skills

The 21^st century learner constructs meaning by going through a process and creating a product.  They know that the sky is the limit (meaning there are no limits).  They understand that there is no right way to learn new skills.  21^st century learners use technology to enhance learning and like to have immediate gratification.  They are open to changes that are happening and constantly happening.  They love to experiment to find the answers.  Teachers need to use social media to break down the barriers of time and space.  People are able to connect with each other and collaborate with each other without being face to face in the same room.  Information and technology is changing so rapidly that people need to stay connected to people who have been successful and are willing to share their information and ideas.  Students still need to learn the basic skills to be successful citizens, but they also need to communicate, create, and collaborate.  The 21^st century learner needs to learn with the technology tools that we are using now, but be flexible to change and maybe relearn using different tools, because technology is changing so rapidly! We want to prepare our students to be learners for life.

ED521 A15

What does it mean to be a teacher?

Being a teacher means many things. A teacher needs to wear many hats during a regular day at school.  A teacher needs to be the teacher, mom, dad, nurse, guidance counselor, an event planner, and the list goes on.  One day on the job is not like any other.  A teacher needs to be able to multi-task with many things happening at the same time.  Teachers need to be able to meet the different needs (both academic and social) of each individual student.  In education, the pendulum seems to swing from one end to the other.  It never seems to hang in the middle.  This is due to politicians making decisions that have an effect on what happens in education.  A good example of this is No Child Left Behind.  NCLB was a federal education law that drove some schools to narrow their curriculum and use standardized tests to measure how well the students were doing.  Teachers are highly qualified in their subject area.  Teachers need to have a curriculum to follow that is tied to the state standards and use their students’ data to drive that curriculum.  However, teachers need the freedom to use their professional judgment to choose the material that best meets the needs of their students.  A teacher spends more time with their “school family” than they do with their own family.  To be a teacher means countless hours of reading, searching, correcting, editing, etc.  Every teacher loves it (most of the time) and wouldn't trade it for anything else!  

ED521 A22

#ndedchat Session

I followed the #ndedchat session that was held on Wednesday, February 4^th.  It was an assignment that I needed to complete for  ED521 Integrating Technology into Teaching and Learning.  What an experience!  It lasted one hour with a constant movement of questions and answers.  It is organized in a very user friendly format with questions and answers following a number system. Getting tips before the actual session  from our instructor, Craig, made it more meaningful.  I found it overwhelming, because of the rapid pace.  There were many experts sharing so much useful information in such a short amount of time.  Many ideas were shared that would be useful to classroom teachers throughout our state.  Some of the information was written in acronyms.  Some of the acronyms I understood and some I didn't have a clue.  Two take aways from this experience was the app Dragon that was mentioned.  This app helps struggling writers with their writing skills.   The second take away was the SAMR Model Thinglink.  I retweeted this model.  It is a great visual image of Class Task, Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition.  If you have never experienced a #ndedchat session, I would recommend it! 

ED521 A14

Tweet Tweet

          Twitter engages all ages of people.  It easily creates a large network of people from across the world.  It is a free service that allows a person to create 140 character messages.  Twitter is a great tool for informal learning within a social media.  Twitter is user friendly with unlimited resources and information available at a person’s fingertips.  It is easy to search specific hashtags that a person is interested in.  My favorite hashtags are #edchat, #4thgrade, #4thmath, #4thchat, and #fallontonight.  Retweeting another person’s tweet shows what your interests are and is a way to be introduced to new people on Twitter.  So no matter where you are, it is possible to be in tune with other people who have the same interests as you by using Twitter!

Skitch of North Dakota Map.  Red arrow shows the distance the crow flies.  The yellow path shows the distance following paved roads.