The three videos that provided information that I feel would have the greatest impact on my school are Dan Meyer video, A Vision of K-12 Students Today, and Mike Wesch video. I completed my Development Plan on Thursday and one of my goals are to implement a sense of awareness in global matters. These videos stressed the importance outside the walls of the classroom and beyond textbooks which is one of my biggest focuses this year.
Dan Meyer talked about creating patient problem solving and being less helpful for students and basically facilitating more than directing. This ties into Bloom’s Taxonomy where we are teaching students how to think as well as create.
As a military veteran I personally relate to Mike Wesch in traveling to other countries and experiencing culture shock. Understanding that some things we teach aren’t being absorbed by our students because we have not made it relevant to real life. It’s not personal to them, therefore it is not retained.
In the video, A Vision of K-12 Students Today, I couldn’t agree more that our students are digital learners. I know that technology is costly but I am concerned at the lack of resources available to teachers and students in the classroom.
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte did a wonderful job of showing us how to create interactive lesson plans, the use of multimedia, increasing the use of technology in our classrooms. I was excited to get into my classroom and start teaching. I arrive and my first year I am presented with a scripted Literacy Teacher’s Manual which I was told to follow to the T. My following year I was presented with a scripted Math Manual that I was told to follow to a T. I thought back to my large file of internet activities that I was so excited and created the summer before I began teaching, and thought to myself, “When will I have a chance to use these?”
I looked at the three computers in my room, which have now been downgraded to two, for 19 students. I asked for an avery key to connect my laptop to the television we have and was told our school only has 2 and they are both checked out. I asked how can I gain access to the one smart board we have in our school, and I was told to sign up for it. When I go to sign up I realize, the only time slots that are available daily is during kindergartens lunch and recess. We have a problem! Needless to say grant writing will be the next thing I plan to conquer.
I am aware that in most cases, not even a principal has say so over how his or her teachers will be teaching because the district has it’s mandates, but if I were a principal and I had the freedom to run the school the way my teachers and I saw fit, this is what I would like for it to look and sound like;
In a third grade classroom, you may see different heterogeneous groups of students surrounding computers or laptops assisting one another in creating PowerPoint presentations and uploading pictures of different animals around the world. Discussing the regions you may find those animals in and why, as the teacher walks from group to group making suggestions and monitoring how well the students are working together.
In a kindergarten classroom, students are sitting in front of computers with headsets on, going on a virtual fieldtrip of their choice, then asked to draw a picture describing their fieldtrip, as well as write a sentence for those who are able. In small groups, allow students to tell each other about their fieldtrip and share their drawing.
In a second grade classroom, you may hear students working together in small groups to come up with various problems to a solution already stated. For example, students can pull a number, and come up with various addition, subtraction, multiplication or division problems to get the answer. Have students work as a team to display their work on a smart board to present to the class.
In a first grade classroom, you may see students venture outside to take pictures of solids, liquids and gases. Plug the camera into a laptop, upload the pictures and display on the television and classify each picture into the appropriate category.
In all classrooms, sight words, labeled words, color words, number words are listed in English, Spanish, French, and any other language that is prevalent in your students’ surroundings. There are so many ideas that come to mind after watching the videos as well as a few others that have opened my eyes to try new things this year. I look forward to the changes and hope that I can incorporate, or at least take small steps in incorporating this atmosphere in my school this year.
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