On My Way...

THE GAME PLAN #1

3b. Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation(ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 2008).

Even though utilizing edline and beginning to create my own webpage on there does somewhat get me closer to meeting my first game plan goal of using technology to collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members, I feel that this method does not allow for creativity. The goal of our district adopting this method of online communication is for the factor of the pages appearing more uniform. I really feel this is not a good reason to buy a website building program. In addition, I believe that education does not consist of constant uniformity such as theses webpages. There should be more creativity involved with webpage development, especially since we are dealing with the business of education. It needs to be exciting and appealing or the students, parents, and community members won’t use it.

I researched the possibility of utilizing a blog in my district and found many roadblocks. First of all, the technology director of our county is pushing the edline website method within all the schools so hard that we must get permission if we want a blog. She wants what we do to be uniform where I want to add more creativity and interactivity with parents and students using a blog. In addition, the speed of our internet, she feels is not fast enough to support students accessing the blog. However, I want to purpose that we access it as a class until the faster lines are installed in few months. The next problem I faced involved finding a blog provider that allows no one outside your class can view or participate without your permission and that is free. I know the point of blogging is that we share with the world. Yet, I would like to begin the process on a smaller more secure level at first.

I have learned that classpress offers secure blogs at a price of 29.95 per year, which isn’t half bad when you see the blog’s relevance. However, my goal was to go with a blog that was free, but secure. This is really a trial run that I prefer not to pay for. I think that when you add the privacy factor of the blog to protect students, you are looking at the blogging service that is no longer free. I searched and searched for the possibility of a trial blog through this company but my search proved unsuccessful. Maybe Santa will give the gift of a free and secure site for me this holiday season. One can hope!
I have also looked through the current blog provider I am using and found that I can adjust some privacy settings. I will embed a video below this post that seemed to enlighten me on bloggers privacy settings. Yet, I am still unsure of exactly which setting adjustments I should make. Should I make parents authors by adding their email addresses or should I set it to where I must approve each person that views it? I want this blog to be resourceful and easily accessible for students and parents, yet still remain secure and safe for my students allowing only the people I permit to view the blog. I would appreciate possible suggestions that any of you may offer me with this.



THE GAME PLAN #2
5b. exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others (ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 2008).

We just met for our second technology committee leadership meeting this week. There are a great deal of Promethean Boards getting installed within our school which is very exciting. I suggested that we offer Promethean Board training sessions for teacher assistants based on the fact that both of my morning and afternoon assistant showed interest in learning more about using the Promethean Boards so they can be utilized during their times in the classroom.

My plans to encourage the rest of the team with conducting more weekly computer lab time that integrates reading by coordinating lessons with the lab assistant and continuing to add lessons to the student share drive so students may access the programs is coming along well. The lab assistant and I have already met and worked together with finding time slots in the lab for our 5 kindergarten classes. Turns out, after 1:30 almost every day is available, although this is not the reading time in our day, administration approves us taking this additional time to integrate technology into reading. We have been warned that if the teachers and students do not begin to utilize the lab we may lose it so I find it very necessary that we try to make a lab like Sarah Anderson’s school labs where it is difficult to use it because so many are utilizing the resource. We have already met and everyone is on board.

Progress!!!

Here’s the progress I have made so far this week…

THE GAME PLAN #1

3b. Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation(ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 2008).

I have been able to view many other blogs for Kindergarten and have been getting great ideas. I plan to add a link on my Edline site to a class blog. The blog will really be a way to show parents what is going on in the classroom. I will provide videos and pictures illustrating what we are learning in the classroom. I still need to research what provider would provide the most privacy for my students.

THE GAME PLAN #2
5b. exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others (ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 2008).

This past week I made some headway with this goal in two ways. I have designed some kidspiration activities to match our reading and math curriculum. I have put these lessons on our student share drive so that we can conduct reading lab time with kindergarten. This year, kindergarten began using the computer lab for the math program successmaker. I thought we should extend our half hour a week lab time and utilize more technological resources by adding a reading lab time. I plan to encourage the rest of the team with conducting this lab time weekly by coordinating lessons with the lab assistant and continuing to add lessons to the student share drive so students may access the programs I create that are directly related to our curriculum. I am not having a problem finding resources as I am noticing we have a great deal of resources in our school that are not being used to their fullest potential. I am wondering if there are other ways I can motivate my peers. I am hoping some of you will offer suggestions. Another way I made some headway with this goal is with a new program that we have begun to utilize called Edline. Although I am not excited with the lack of creativity, it did give me the opportunity to share and learn about some really awesome sites to utilize with students and parents. It was a great opportunity to collaborate with other teachers regarding technology.

I do not have any questions so far. I have learned that this whole process of meeting these goals will be a lengthy one. It is a slower process than I thought it would be.

How Am I Doing So Far?

My first goal of learning more about how other Kindergarten teachers and classroom are using weblogs or blogs to communicate with others has not yet completed as our school is taking on a new program using edline to create our own website. I am learning how to create my own website yet it is very limited with the templates and format of the sites. I was wondering if this site might replace the idea of a class blog. Yet, now that I am learning more about this new program I am finding I need to move further with my plans of reviewing how other kindergarten teachers are using blogs. Our own class blog will allow me to be a bit more creative and do much more with videos and pictures.

So far, I am not having a problem finding the resources I need as there are a plethora of kindergarten websites out there which is quite inspiring to me. I have learned that blogs really provide a way to creatively express and communicate with parents. Many of the class blogs I have reviewed have embedded slide shows and video that either reinforce content or share what the students are doing as if you were actually peeking into the classroom. As a parent myself, I see the value of this. I do want to find out what blogs would be best to provide the most privacy protection for my class and I.

As for my second goal of participating in and joining committees that reinforce technology integration and 21st century learning while helping peers to integrate technology on a regular basis, I have already begun my action plan.
I have learned that I can model and encourage technology infused lessons various ways that are not very intrusive. I am communicating how I use specific technology with my class to others by posting pictures or sharing digital videos of lessons that are the utilizing the doc cam or the interactive whiteboard outside the classroom door, in newsletters, and on our closed circuit announcements. I have also begun to put all of my lessons in a folder on the share drive of our school so other teachers can access and view them. I wonder if there are other ways I can reinforce technology integration? I would appreciate any and all suggestions...

I need to look outside of our school for resources regarding 21st century learning groups. Initially, I was planning to get involved with the committees within my district but am finding that there are not as many opportunities as I had hoped for. Therefore, I have decided to become a bit more involved with Classroom 2.0 and plan to take part in a few of the Free Classroom 2.0 LIVE Workshops to broaden my horizons and attain my goal.

The GAME Plan

Effective teachers model and apply the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS•S) as they design, implement, and assess learning experiences (ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 2008). I will formulate these two goals I plan to utilize by establishing a game plan. I look forward to hearing feedback and suggestions from my cohorts.

THE GAME PLAN #1
3b. Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation(ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 2008).

Set Goals- Learn more about how other Kindergarten teachers and classroom are using weblogs or blogs to communicate with others.

Take Action- Analyze and explore various blogs to decide what format will work best and prove most beneficial for the students, parents, and community I teach in.

Monitor- Make a list of the characteristics that would help to make the blog beneficial. Critically analyze other teacher’s blogs by listing and identifying negative and positive details of select blogs. Review how other teachers are using the technology by attending conferences, reading journal and magazine articles, or searching the web (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009).

Evaluate and Extend- Collaborate with cohorts and peers to decide which type of blog would be most useful. Identify what purposes it will serve. How will the blog be used in the classroom, community, and school, as well as, with students and parents?

THE GAME PLAN #2
5b. exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others (ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 2008).

Set Goals- Participate in and join committees that reinforce technology integration and 21st century learning while helping peers to integrate technology on a regular basis.

Take Action- Develop and share lesson plans that integrate technology through the use of specific software, internet, and devices that are most beneficial for students and teachers at the elementary level. Model and encourage technology infused lessons.

Monitor- List what software, internet sites, and devices are already available within the district and school. Identify how members of the committees I am on, my team, and teachers in my school are already integrating technology. Review and compile ways that technology is being used well and ways that it is not. List specific technologies that are not currently being used but would probably serve as useful with enhancing learning.

Evaluate and Extend- Share lists with cohorts and peers of what technology is available to teachers and students and how often it is used. Collaborate to determine what lesson plans and policies should be put into place to encourage the development of leadership and technology skills.

Works Cited
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use. Mason: Cengage Learning.

ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). (2008). The ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS•T) and Performance Indicators for Teachers. Retrieved November 2, 2009, from International Society for Technology in Education: http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf

Reflective Essay for Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom

The most striking revelation I came upon while teaching new literacy skills was that students as young as the kindergarten age can and will benefit from learning a majority of the new literacy skills. In the beginning of the course I believed that teaching inquiry-based projects and developing essential questions would serve as a challenge for those, like me, who teach such young students. I am currently teaching kindergarten and I believe due to their age, the students I teach need a great deal of guidance with staying on task and actually depend on modeling and guidance to conduct all or most of all of their academic activities. In addition, the less we know about a subject, the less likely our questions are to be well formed (Thornburg, 2004). This is especially true for the kindergartners that I teach. Many of the students in my class have trouble tying their shoelaces, let alone formulating an inquiry-based question. Because inquiry is not the norm in many classrooms, students need to be taught how to formulate interesting questions. From various resources in this course, I began to realize that 21st century methods of learning such as inquiry based projects and the development of essential questions is not an easy task for early elementary teachers, but it can be done.

It requires a tremendous amount of repetition, guidance and modeling to get the students started with inquiry based learning. The easiest way to do this is for the first few projects to be based on questions formulated by the teacher (Thornburg, 2004). During the modeling process I use plenty of think-alouds where I am formulating questions I have about the content out loud as if the students are actually hearing the thinking that is occurring in my brain. Using teacher think alouds is a fabulous method for helping make explicit the in-the-head processes that expert inquirers use (Engleton & Dobler, 2007). Once you have students do a few projects based on your own questions, shift the responsibility of asking questions to them (Thornburg, 2004). Many of the lessons I developed for this course unit plan involved a plethora of activities that engage use of student’s background knowledge, pictures, and student interests to build graphic organizer charts such as the extended KWL chart. These images will inspire students to think deeply about the content of the charts we are creating. Images allow you to stand back from an observation and reflect (Thornburg, 2004). Educators who use the KWL framework, like those using project-based learning, are well on their way to teaching through Guided Inquiry. They have their students ask, "What do I know?" (K); "What do I want to learn?" (W); and "What did I learn?" (L). These questions are the seeds of a constructivist approach (Kuhlthau, C. C., Maniotes, L. K., & Caspari, A. K., 2007).This method proved to excite and increase student awareness of the content to be learned. I have learned from this course how beneficial inquiry based learning can be for all students.

As I continue to develop lessons for all subjects in the kindergarten classroom, I realize how important it is for these 21st century skills to be integrated into the curriculum. It is difficult to get started and requires thoughtful planning, yet I find the lessons are so much more exciting. It seems the students learn more than ever when they are involved with tasks that interest them and engage them in developing their own questions and finding the answers. As a teacher, I feel much more accomplished with helping the students to “learn how to learn” instead of just teaching and spouting out all of the facts they need to know. By developing lessons that suggest the students discover and explore what interests them regarding the content while utilizing cooperative learning skills, I am finding that the students are taking more ownership and pride with what they are learning. As a teacher, I am able to adapt and integrate these skills to any subject.

In conclusion, based on my experiences with the course I am currently taking at Walden University entitled Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom, I plan to pursue and develop my own information literacy and technology skills. By adding a professional goal directly correlated to the coursework, I plan to expand on the knowledge I have learned. I would like to stress the importance of developing lessons that help our students practice 21st Century learning skills that incorporate inquiry based learning and digital literacy in our school district. These lessons should impact all ages, even early elementary students, and facilitate students to learn how to conduct research and searches safely on the internet. To insure that my goal will be accomplished, I will join a 21st Century Learning committee that has been recently established within our district and express my views on the importance of integrating 21st century skills into the curriculum. I feel this committee will also assist me with learning new ways to integrate technology and 21st century skills from other colleagues. I would also like to become part of the team that develops the district’s internet use policy as I feel that we must be sure that there is a strong policy in place to protect both teachers and students and insure proper and appropriate use of the internet. Finally, another way I intend to accomplish this goal is by making sure that I am practicing technology and 21st century skill integration in my own classroom and encouraging this process in other classrooms. To do this, I will share the lessons I develop with my colleagues by showing them lessons or pictures and videos of the lessons in action. I might even ask teachers of other classes or grade levels to participate with my class. In addition, I plan to share the lessons on our school’s teacher share drive and post the pictures and videos of the lessons on our closed circuit TV announcements.

Works Cited

Engleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the Web. New York: The Guilford Press.

Kuhlthau, C. C., Maniotes, L. K., & Caspari, A. K. (2007). Guided inquiry: Learning in the 21st century. Westport: Libraries Unlimited.

Thornburg, D. (2004). Inquiry: The art of helping students ask good questions. (Executive Briefing No. 402). Retrieved September 2, 2009, from http://www.tcpdpodcast.org/briefings/inquiry.pdf

Reflection

As a result of my learning in the current course I am taking through Walden University, I have modified some my personal theory of how students learn. I still believe that students will learn and remember the learning experiences if the teacher provides opportunities for students to discover while learning, offers choices that address various learning styles, makes portions of the learning collaborative, relates content to real life skills and problems so it is relevant and integrates technology that is appropriate and enhances what is taught. Additionally, the elaboration theory of cognitive learning and Paivio’s Dual Coding Theory have now become a part of my personal theory of learning. As a result of my learning in this course, immediate adjustments to my instructional practice regarding technology integration include the integration of VoiceThreads and concept mapping tools such as bubbl.us and Kidspiration.

The elaboration theory of cognitive learning implies that teachers must try to make as many connections to information to be learned. It builds numerous connections to stored information (Laureate Education, 2009). I plan to utilize more concept mapping opportunities and possibly linking these activities to technology through programs such as Kidspiration or an online concept mapping tool such as bubbl.us. Whether these organizers are used digitally with the students or printed out for them to complete by hand, organizing and brainstorming software allows learners to add and organize information as it is being introduced (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).

A component of the cognitive learning is Paivio’s Dual Coding of Hypothesis which suggests that people can remember images more readily than text. To execute this theory, I plan to integrate images, podcasts, video streaming, and multi-media so students may connect various images to the concepts they are learning. For many students, multimedia is very effective because it helps them both activate prior knowledge and develop a mental model to help them understand new information (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). Voicethread is a great example of creating powerful learning experiences (Laureate Education, 2009). I particularly see the benefit of using VoiceThreads in the classroom as teachers can provide images for students to view on the computer. Along with those images, teachers and students can post text, audio, or video regarding the images to the VoiceThreads encouraging thought provoking discussion regarding educational content.

In conclusion, my current teaching practice is to facilitate learning in such a way that the students have more ownership and interest in the content they are learning. I think this method of teaching is reflective of the changing role of today’s teacher to better prepare our students for the 21st century. By using strategies that research indicates will be most beneficial to learners, I am making educated decisions about how I instruct students. By utilizing the elaboration theory of making connections through concept maps, students are given the opportunity to know and practice how to get to information through connections that have been learned through academic experiences. Images are really powerful tools to use in the classroom (Laureate Education, 2009). Technology such as VoiceThreads, multimedia, and concept mapping tool software and online programs will create more powerful and experiential learning by combining technology and the use of imagery.

Works Cited

Laureate Education. (2009). Cognitive Learning Theories.

Laureate Education, I. (2009). Spotlight on Technology: VoiceThread. Baltimore, MD.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works. Denver: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL).

Kidspiration 3 Math Audio Capabilities

Hey there folks. Here is a link to my first try with creating a voicethread. Please click here, view and make some comments. In this voicethread, I am discussing how to use Kidspiration Math activities with the sound recording mechanism it offers.