http://teachingtoday.glencoe.com/howtoarticles/high-stakes-science-tests-will-your-students-be-ready
Getting students prepared for the AIMS test is always the focus in schools. Preparing them to the best of our knowledge in reading, writing, and math has been the goal for the past few years. Now we are suppose to add another wrench into the mix...science. Being an elementary school science teacher, I know that is a very difficult thing to do, especially when students have a difficult time getting into science. This article really helped put things into perspective on how to try and prepare my students for the future science AIMS test. The article states several good concepts into preparing the students, but I believe the number one way to increase test scores is student attittude. Positive mental preparation can help students succeed when they are anxious. We as teachers can help in this area by "modeling" good, positive attitudes. Express positive expectations about their ability to perform well. If we are postive, then maybe they can be postitive and lower their anxiety and stress levels.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Week 8: When the Book? When the Net?
http://fromnowon.org/when.html
Being in a "technology" world, you would think to find information the best place is the internet. Well that is not always the case. The article sums up when to use a book and when to use the net. The author states, "A student recently asked me where was the best place to learn about the Cuban Missile Crisis on the Internet. I dashed onto the Net full of confidence, having recently located the VIRTUAL LIBRARY for HISTORY. I thought I had a wonderful list of sources which would return hundreds of valuable documents. Not so! More than an hour later I was still wandering around with almost no information to show for my efforts." This sums it up perfectly. It is very easy for us to get caught up in the 21st century technology and think ALL information you can find through the internet. I do not believe that is true. The above quote tells you what books can still offer learning and education. Never give up on books. They will always be there to help, when technology can't.
Being in a "technology" world, you would think to find information the best place is the internet. Well that is not always the case. The article sums up when to use a book and when to use the net. The author states, "A student recently asked me where was the best place to learn about the Cuban Missile Crisis on the Internet. I dashed onto the Net full of confidence, having recently located the VIRTUAL LIBRARY for HISTORY. I thought I had a wonderful list of sources which would return hundreds of valuable documents. Not so! More than an hour later I was still wandering around with almost no information to show for my efforts." This sums it up perfectly. It is very easy for us to get caught up in the 21st century technology and think ALL information you can find through the internet. I do not believe that is true. The above quote tells you what books can still offer learning and education. Never give up on books. They will always be there to help, when technology can't.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Week 7: Technology: A Catalyst for Teaching and Learning in the Classroom
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te600.htm
When it comes to teaching technology in the classroom, educators begin to cringe. This article examines the real issues educators face when trying to utilize technology effectively into their classrooms. With the growing population of students using the Internet and all its resources, we as educators are falling behind and it's getting harder and harder for us to catch up. Educators are expected to teach today's youth the demands of testing skills, which is already overwhelming. Now, we have to teach and become educated on technology skills as well. It's a far cry from reading, writing and arithmetic. The article states that, “research clearly indicates that the single most important factor in the effective use of technology is the quality of the teacher knowledge of effective technology uses in instruction.” In order for this to happen, schools need to realize the high demands that educators already have before teachers are going to step up and effectively teach technology into their classrooms.
When it comes to teaching technology in the classroom, educators begin to cringe. This article examines the real issues educators face when trying to utilize technology effectively into their classrooms. With the growing population of students using the Internet and all its resources, we as educators are falling behind and it's getting harder and harder for us to catch up. Educators are expected to teach today's youth the demands of testing skills, which is already overwhelming. Now, we have to teach and become educated on technology skills as well. It's a far cry from reading, writing and arithmetic. The article states that, “research clearly indicates that the single most important factor in the effective use of technology is the quality of the teacher knowledge of effective technology uses in instruction.” In order for this to happen, schools need to realize the high demands that educators already have before teachers are going to step up and effectively teach technology into their classrooms.
Week 6: Copy and Paste Literacy? and Perils and Pitfalls of Wikipedia
http://www.alicechristie.org/classes/530/copypasteliteracy.pdf
This article discusses the literacy practices in the production of a MySpace profile. Hundreds of people have a MySpace profile. Many are teenagers. Having the ability to create this type of communication page is exciting to most teenagers, especially when they get to create their own "background" and images. To create this type of page, you must use a "copy and paste" theory, which is not new to anyone. This copy and paste idea has been around for years. It's just a new way for people, especially teenagers to use the concept. By creating a profile, it gives teens a sense of creativity and power into how to create a webpage without all of "technical" stuff. Instead of looking down on websites like MySpace, let's embrace it and look at it for what it really does do for teens.
http://teachingtoday.glencoe.com/howtoarticles/the-perils-and-pitfalls-of-wikipedia
Is Wikipedia a creditable source of information? Well according to this article, it depends. Wikipedia is a collaborative effort that relies on community volunteers—not paid fact-checkers—to contribute and validate its information. Anyone can write and edit articles in Wikipedia at any time. When I first heard about Wikipedia I thought it was a great source of information, but after researching and hearing more about it, it makes me wonder just how much of the information is accurate. You would hope that people using Wikipedia would use it to benefit readers, not to just put inaccurate information for people to question. I definitely use Wikipedia less often and look for better, more creditable sources of information.
This article discusses the literacy practices in the production of a MySpace profile. Hundreds of people have a MySpace profile. Many are teenagers. Having the ability to create this type of communication page is exciting to most teenagers, especially when they get to create their own "background" and images. To create this type of page, you must use a "copy and paste" theory, which is not new to anyone. This copy and paste idea has been around for years. It's just a new way for people, especially teenagers to use the concept. By creating a profile, it gives teens a sense of creativity and power into how to create a webpage without all of "technical" stuff. Instead of looking down on websites like MySpace, let's embrace it and look at it for what it really does do for teens.
http://teachingtoday.glencoe.com/howtoarticles/the-perils-and-pitfalls-of-wikipedia
Is Wikipedia a creditable source of information? Well according to this article, it depends. Wikipedia is a collaborative effort that relies on community volunteers—not paid fact-checkers—to contribute and validate its information. Anyone can write and edit articles in Wikipedia at any time. When I first heard about Wikipedia I thought it was a great source of information, but after researching and hearing more about it, it makes me wonder just how much of the information is accurate. You would hope that people using Wikipedia would use it to benefit readers, not to just put inaccurate information for people to question. I definitely use Wikipedia less often and look for better, more creditable sources of information.
Week 5: Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture
http://www.alicechristie.org/classes/530/jenkins.PDF
According to this article, a participatory culture is a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one's creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices. Some examples of the forms of participatory culture include, online communities like MySpace and Facebook. Working together in teams would include reality gaming and Wikipedia.
The problem with this participatory culture is access to these types of forms. With unequal access to these opportunities that could help prepare students may hurt the youth of tomorrow. With many schools uneducated about these opportunities only hurt the students and their learning. Many of these forms, such as MySpace and Facebook could really help a student's education because it's something that they already know. According to a 2005 study conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life project, more than one-half of all American teens--and 57 percent of teens who use the Internet--could be considered media creators. Now that says something about how technology based tools can benefit students.
So how do we as educators ensure that every child has access to the skills and experiences needed to become a full participant in the social, cultural, economic, and political future of our society? Some students are acquiring some of these skills through their own participation in the learning communities. Some teachers are incorporating these into their curriculum and classroom instruction. There are also some after-school programs that are incorporating them. In order to ensure every child has access is a major challenge. The first thing that needs to happen is educating educators. Most online community forms are looked down upon in a negative way because of the way of today's youth. If educators were taught the proper ways to use these forms, then students could benefit greatly.
According to this article, one way that educating youth through participatory culture is negotiation--the ability to travle across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative sets of norms. To accomplish this task, educators can foster negotiation skills when they bring together groups from diverse backgrounds and provide them with resources and processes that insure careful listening and deeper understanding.
According to this article, a participatory culture is a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one's creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices. Some examples of the forms of participatory culture include, online communities like MySpace and Facebook. Working together in teams would include reality gaming and Wikipedia.
The problem with this participatory culture is access to these types of forms. With unequal access to these opportunities that could help prepare students may hurt the youth of tomorrow. With many schools uneducated about these opportunities only hurt the students and their learning. Many of these forms, such as MySpace and Facebook could really help a student's education because it's something that they already know. According to a 2005 study conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life project, more than one-half of all American teens--and 57 percent of teens who use the Internet--could be considered media creators. Now that says something about how technology based tools can benefit students.
So how do we as educators ensure that every child has access to the skills and experiences needed to become a full participant in the social, cultural, economic, and political future of our society? Some students are acquiring some of these skills through their own participation in the learning communities. Some teachers are incorporating these into their curriculum and classroom instruction. There are also some after-school programs that are incorporating them. In order to ensure every child has access is a major challenge. The first thing that needs to happen is educating educators. Most online community forms are looked down upon in a negative way because of the way of today's youth. If educators were taught the proper ways to use these forms, then students could benefit greatly.
According to this article, one way that educating youth through participatory culture is negotiation--the ability to travle across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative sets of norms. To accomplish this task, educators can foster negotiation skills when they bring together groups from diverse backgrounds and provide them with resources and processes that insure careful listening and deeper understanding.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Week 4: Social Networking
Rise of Participation Culture
http://www.alicechristie.org/classes/530/p_culture%20.pdf
Socail Networking the "talk" of the internet. There are many aspects to social networking that it's almost overwhelming. According to this article, there are 5 applications to social networking; social software, media creation and sharing, aggregation and social promotion, collaboration and gaming and virtual worlds. The one aspect I would probably use in my classroom if I could would be social software.
Social software enables people to "intereact" with other communities online. Some of the most popular interaction sites are MySpace and Facebook. After reading the article, I realized that social networking is "unbelievable." There are so many sites for networking it's phenomenal.
Some other social networking available that could be fun for students are Imeen, Last.fm and Gaia Online. All of these sites are what students are interested in so why not try and incorporate them into the classroom. I think social networking is very valuable in education if used the right way.
Since MySpace is one of the most popular sites, why not make a classroom newletter with MySpace. Blogs can be homework assignments and comments can be shared between teacher and student for any clarification or question they may have. Web 2.0 and social networking is the way of the future, so let's embrace it.
http://www.alicechristie.org/classes/530/p_culture%20.pdf
Socail Networking the "talk" of the internet. There are many aspects to social networking that it's almost overwhelming. According to this article, there are 5 applications to social networking; social software, media creation and sharing, aggregation and social promotion, collaboration and gaming and virtual worlds. The one aspect I would probably use in my classroom if I could would be social software.
Social software enables people to "intereact" with other communities online. Some of the most popular interaction sites are MySpace and Facebook. After reading the article, I realized that social networking is "unbelievable." There are so many sites for networking it's phenomenal.
Some other social networking available that could be fun for students are Imeen, Last.fm and Gaia Online. All of these sites are what students are interested in so why not try and incorporate them into the classroom. I think social networking is very valuable in education if used the right way.
Since MySpace is one of the most popular sites, why not make a classroom newletter with MySpace. Blogs can be homework assignments and comments can be shared between teacher and student for any clarification or question they may have. Web 2.0 and social networking is the way of the future, so let's embrace it.
Week 3: More on Web 2.0
Teaching Today: Social Bookmarking
http://teachingtoday.glencoe.com/howtoarticles/social-bookmarking
This week's readings were very insightful, especially the article on Social Bookmarking. As I stated earlier, social bookmarking was something new to me, so reading the article gave me more insight into what it is and how it is used. As before, a social bookmarking site provides a way for students and teachers to save all their web links in one location on the internet. Once they save them, they can then share them with others.
I really like the idea of social bookmarking, especially for research. What a better way to site an internet source then to bookmark it on the internet. That way there is no question as to where each student got their information from. I enjoyed how the article stated that social bookmarking is also used for classroom management and class collaboration. Collaboration among students is helpful, especially if more than one student is looking up the same topic. They could just share what sites each other found.
I would love to use this tool in my classroom for researching. I think it would be very beneficial to my students and for me as a teacher.
http://teachingtoday.glencoe.com/howtoarticles/social-bookmarking
This week's readings were very insightful, especially the article on Social Bookmarking. As I stated earlier, social bookmarking was something new to me, so reading the article gave me more insight into what it is and how it is used. As before, a social bookmarking site provides a way for students and teachers to save all their web links in one location on the internet. Once they save them, they can then share them with others.
I really like the idea of social bookmarking, especially for research. What a better way to site an internet source then to bookmark it on the internet. That way there is no question as to where each student got their information from. I enjoyed how the article stated that social bookmarking is also used for classroom management and class collaboration. Collaboration among students is helpful, especially if more than one student is looking up the same topic. They could just share what sites each other found.
I would love to use this tool in my classroom for researching. I think it would be very beneficial to my students and for me as a teacher.
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