Thursday, December 8, 2011
Diigo
Check out my diigo library for social bookmarking http://www.diigo.com/user/lori51872 it is fun!!!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Response on 21st Century Learning Environment
Question 1: At what age can online/digital literacy be integrated into the classroom? Provide supporting details in your response.
Online digital literacy can be integrated into the classroom as early as the primary grades. Teaching young students how to use technology effectively, particularly for academics, will help prepare them for 21st century learning. Yound children today are immersed in technology from a very young age. Personally, I have 3 year old twin nephews who can navigate an IPOD touch like I've never seen. I don't even own one!!! There are many websites that are applicable to younger students. In our primary wing at school, our students use the website "Starfall", where students can practice their ABC's, phonics, and practice early stages of reading. Other websites from "Teaching with the Internet K-12", that I found to be very engaging and meaningful was the website for a picture dictionary. This particular website is beneficial for vocabulary and also shows the meanings in different languages which is great for bilingual students. Also, there is a website where students and teachers can get can get leveled text in the genres of fiction and nonfiction. Students can also practice phonics and fluency, which are very important to a young child's experience with reading. When it comes to literacy, using technology can be a valuable too. A video that I watched demonstrated how students are using electronic devices such as the IPAd in their literacy block to learn sight words, create plays, and read stories. There is probably an APP to record their voices during fluency time as well!!! In an article from, "Education World", teachers discuss the positive aspects of using technology in the primary grades and how it has a positive impact on a child's education. Teachers need to promote digital literacy at a very young age so our students will have the advantages and opportunity to access and learn within the technological world they live in.
Question 2: What is a 21st century learning environment?
A 21st century learning environment is ANY environment where a child can learn. It does not necessarily have to be in a specific place such as a classroom. It is a place where a child can learn. A 21st century learning environment must promote a positive physical environment, collaborative interaction amongst students and staff, professional learning communities to share best practices with colleagues, technology, and engaging school culture. There are many facets to a 21st century learning environment, and they must address the the social, emotional, and academic needs of our children. After reading the article on 21st century learning environments, I thought about my own school and how we fit the criteria. I think my school is a good example of a 21st century learning environment. New Haven Public Schools have gone beyone renovating our schools, and the more schools they renovate, the better they become. My school was one of the first schools to be renovated, so we are lacking in some things that many of the newly renovated schools have such as space, a large library media center, and most importantly technology. We do not have a technology lab, we have a mobile laptop cart. However, we do have project based learning, block scheduling, and data teams, which are all positive components of a 21st century learning environment. From what I've seen in school buildings in New Haven, our students are learning in a 21st century learning environment, and I are learning along with them!!!
Question 3: How can you cultivate at least one of the 21st century skills in your current classroom?
A video on you tube shows the importance of 21st century skills in the classroom, which are some of the skills that we have been learning in class. This video is great! It made me think of the ways that I am using 21st century skills in the classroom. One component of 21st century skills in the classrooms that I co-teach in is our physical environment and our schedule. Our physical environment promotes collaborative groups and discourse among students because students sit in groups. This allows for easy interaction betwen the students. Our schedule is also a block schedule which promotes longer blocks of learning time. Another way is the classroom blog that I recently set up for my students. They were so excited and engaged to be a part of this learning community where they can use technology to express their thoughts and ideas. Even the most unmotivated students were actively participating and engaged. I was so happy to be able to bring to them a piece of technology that will be beneficial to their learning. I am so excited to share many of the ideas I have learned in this class with them. I have already shared the website that I created for my colleagues with other colleagues and am working on my literacy project which will incorporate more 21st century skills!!!
Online digital literacy can be integrated into the classroom as early as the primary grades. Teaching young students how to use technology effectively, particularly for academics, will help prepare them for 21st century learning. Yound children today are immersed in technology from a very young age. Personally, I have 3 year old twin nephews who can navigate an IPOD touch like I've never seen. I don't even own one!!! There are many websites that are applicable to younger students. In our primary wing at school, our students use the website "Starfall", where students can practice their ABC's, phonics, and practice early stages of reading. Other websites from "Teaching with the Internet K-12", that I found to be very engaging and meaningful was the website for a picture dictionary. This particular website is beneficial for vocabulary and also shows the meanings in different languages which is great for bilingual students. Also, there is a website where students and teachers can get can get leveled text in the genres of fiction and nonfiction. Students can also practice phonics and fluency, which are very important to a young child's experience with reading. When it comes to literacy, using technology can be a valuable too. A video that I watched demonstrated how students are using electronic devices such as the IPAd in their literacy block to learn sight words, create plays, and read stories. There is probably an APP to record their voices during fluency time as well!!! In an article from, "Education World", teachers discuss the positive aspects of using technology in the primary grades and how it has a positive impact on a child's education. Teachers need to promote digital literacy at a very young age so our students will have the advantages and opportunity to access and learn within the technological world they live in.
Question 2: What is a 21st century learning environment?
A 21st century learning environment is ANY environment where a child can learn. It does not necessarily have to be in a specific place such as a classroom. It is a place where a child can learn. A 21st century learning environment must promote a positive physical environment, collaborative interaction amongst students and staff, professional learning communities to share best practices with colleagues, technology, and engaging school culture. There are many facets to a 21st century learning environment, and they must address the the social, emotional, and academic needs of our children. After reading the article on 21st century learning environments, I thought about my own school and how we fit the criteria. I think my school is a good example of a 21st century learning environment. New Haven Public Schools have gone beyone renovating our schools, and the more schools they renovate, the better they become. My school was one of the first schools to be renovated, so we are lacking in some things that many of the newly renovated schools have such as space, a large library media center, and most importantly technology. We do not have a technology lab, we have a mobile laptop cart. However, we do have project based learning, block scheduling, and data teams, which are all positive components of a 21st century learning environment. From what I've seen in school buildings in New Haven, our students are learning in a 21st century learning environment, and I are learning along with them!!!
Question 3: How can you cultivate at least one of the 21st century skills in your current classroom?
A video on you tube shows the importance of 21st century skills in the classroom, which are some of the skills that we have been learning in class. This video is great! It made me think of the ways that I am using 21st century skills in the classroom. One component of 21st century skills in the classrooms that I co-teach in is our physical environment and our schedule. Our physical environment promotes collaborative groups and discourse among students because students sit in groups. This allows for easy interaction betwen the students. Our schedule is also a block schedule which promotes longer blocks of learning time. Another way is the classroom blog that I recently set up for my students. They were so excited and engaged to be a part of this learning community where they can use technology to express their thoughts and ideas. Even the most unmotivated students were actively participating and engaged. I was so happy to be able to bring to them a piece of technology that will be beneficial to their learning. I am so excited to share many of the ideas I have learned in this class with them. I have already shared the website that I created for my colleagues with other colleagues and am working on my literacy project which will incorporate more 21st century skills!!!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
New Website!!!
Check out the website that I created. My 3rd and 4th grade team is going to be so excited.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Weekly Response #2 Web Resources for the Classroom
The readings for this week continued to focus on incorporating technology into the classroom. There were also free web resources that would be of great value to us as teachers. Bonk(2010)says that a "wealth of information available online is also changing teaching practices. Teachers can access online reference materials, podcasts, wikis, and blogs...". Hence, the need to research those free web resources. One particular website that was of particular interest to me was the literacy web at UCONN. This website offered a wealth of information for teachers such as research articles, and lesson plans per grade level. There is also a section where you can investigate certain authors to use in an author study with specific age-appropriate activities that correlate with the author's book. Being a special education teacher, I liked the fact that there was a section specifically designated for special needs children. This section provided many useful journal articles to read about various disabilities, including the talented and gifted children. The website is easy to navigate and understand. Using technology with literacy is an integral part of the curriculum. Just as students need to be accessing technology, teachers need to learn how to incorporate technology into their curriculum. Bonk (2010) also says that teachers are "developing procedures for posting course content and homework online". One way that teachers in my school are developing these procedures is by using http://www.teacherease.com This website has allowed our teachers to post assignments that students are missing, post grades, and give feedback on behavior, and academic assignments. This website has been a useful tool for students to access their academic progress report. Parents can also access the website to gain knowledge of their child's progress. This allows a constant, consistent communication between school and home.
Another website that I found valuable was the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. This website was a mathematics based website. It reinforces many mathematical skills and concepts. It was kid friendly and engaging. The mathematic concepts were separated by grade level making the website easy to navigate and search. I loved the visuals that were incorporated into the mathematical concepts. As a special education teacher, I find visuals benefit my students in understanding mathematical concepts that are difficult to grasp.
I would recommend these websites to my colleagues to use in the future. Personally, I really like the different thematic units to use in the classroom. Also, I plan to use the literacy website by UCONN when my students do their study on their favorite author. This link is useful to both the students and myself as we do this unit. I plan to use the mathematical website as a center in my inclusion math room, where the students who are still struggling with certain skills can practice math in a more "technological" way.
All of the web resources were very interesting to investigate and resourceful.
Curtis, B. (2010). For openers: How technology is changing school. Educational Leadership, (April), 60-65.
http://www.literacy.uconn.edu/
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html
Another website that I found valuable was the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. This website was a mathematics based website. It reinforces many mathematical skills and concepts. It was kid friendly and engaging. The mathematic concepts were separated by grade level making the website easy to navigate and search. I loved the visuals that were incorporated into the mathematical concepts. As a special education teacher, I find visuals benefit my students in understanding mathematical concepts that are difficult to grasp.
I would recommend these websites to my colleagues to use in the future. Personally, I really like the different thematic units to use in the classroom. Also, I plan to use the literacy website by UCONN when my students do their study on their favorite author. This link is useful to both the students and myself as we do this unit. I plan to use the mathematical website as a center in my inclusion math room, where the students who are still struggling with certain skills can practice math in a more "technological" way.
All of the web resources were very interesting to investigate and resourceful.
Curtis, B. (2010). For openers: How technology is changing school. Educational Leadership, (April), 60-65.
http://www.literacy.uconn.edu/
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html
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