October 19, 2006
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posted by skoelker @ 3:03 PM
Thursday, October 19, 2006
About Me
- Name: skoelker
- Location: North Yarmouth, Maine, United States
I'm a middle school technology integrator in Southern Maine.
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12 Comments:
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spk
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A thanks for the educational evening. I don't think I teach any where near the way I did ten years ago, however.
Billi
Great first session...interesting information to think about and great dinner, too. Now, I am anxious to see more of the Big6 and try to find ways I can make use of it in my third grade classroom. Thanks, Connie and Steve
I am really excited to be a part of the group. I am very intrigued to find out more information about literacy and how to connect with the kids. I also want to make sure I am integrating technology to keep the kids engaged, which part of everyday life at school.
Tonight was a great introduction to the "problem" that teachers have today with relating to their students and staying current with them and with where they are at. It is definitely frightening to think of how quickly things are changing and that we, as teachers, need to keep up with things.
I am really looking forward to learning lots more about Big 6 and how to use it to help kids become informationally literate. Because I took the Summer Academy over the summer, most of what we did tonight was review for me. That's okay - review is a good thing!
Tonight was a great introduction to the "problem" that teachers have today with relating to their students and staying current with them and with where they are at. It is definitely frightening to think of how quickly things are changing and that we, as teachers, need to keep up with things.
I am really looking forward to learning lots more about Big 6 and how to use it to help kids become informationally literate. Because I took the Summer Academy over the summer, most of what we did tonight was review for me. That's okay - review is a good thing!
Robin
Finding time to talk about what we do and what we think about what we do is vital to our growth. And that is what it's all about, right? It's all about growth and shifting the way we have conceived of our work. It's not easy to be open to change. It is scary to consider how fast things change and the weight of the responsiblity that we share can leave us feeling exhausted and overwhelmed.
It is heartening to be reminded that it's not as important to know the technology as it is to know how to teach the thinking skills necessary to use the technology and to sift through all of the information that is exploding around us.
This evening has been another reason to communicate on the kids level, to understand "what they know" with the technology.
Then apply
1) the kids techonology knowledge
2) Introduce the task, learning assignment
3) work with each other to create a "good" product.
First, I am curious.
Second, I wonder how important all the IMPORTANT things I teach truly are. For example, is it really imperative that Billy learn how to spell when he will have SPELLCHECK at his fingertips for most, if not all, of his learning life?
Third, has my own technology fear kept me from becoming a better teacher? Which leads me to my last comment, how much do I need to know to be more effective in my classroom?
Extremely scary powerpoint presentation first. I guess I knew some parts of that, but putting it all together kind of curls my hair. So now that we've established that as the medium we're all swimming in, whether we know it or not, I think about my 3rd-5th graders reading novels and ideally thinking about them, and wonder if I'm trying to give them waterwings when what they really need is a jetski. And yet I still think what I do is important, because they're learning to get inside other people's heads through reading literature, and isn't that part of being human? And so is eating lasagna, which was good.
Thanks Connie and Steve for continuing to preach the importance of Information Literacy.
To all the classroom teachers who are considering altering their instruction to include an emphasis highlighted by Steve and "Tools for the 21st Century":
I applaude you. Changing your approach requires instructional courage. You have to be unafraid of the curriculum police and common assessments. But, even more scary, you have to, at some point, be unafraid to relinquish control of student learning to students. Because what we are talking about here is asking kids to independently use 21st century skills and tools to solve 21st century problems. Assessing this is messy and teaching process orietned skills is a pain. Again, it will be up to the instructional bravery and courage of all the classroom teachers.
In the end, the quality of education depends on the quality of your instruction.
Technology is a larger part of the world for our students than may appear at first glance. We are so busy telling them to turn off their private technology...we need to 'turn on' their school technology to make learning more attractive. Talk about motivating students!
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