Blog C

Students of the twenty first century are communicators, media and technology savy, and collaborative. In order to be what it means to be a twenty-first teacher, I must possess these characteristics also, along with many others. Three main characteristics of a twenty first century teacher are that they can adapt, take risks, and be a visionary. These three characteristics are essential for richness and engagement in the classroom. All three of characteristics are hard to achieve and portray without the use of the high-standing technology of the twenty-first century world and classroom. Throughout my practicum experience I have seen technology being used in very creative ways and I feel that the more schools and teachers provide access to these experiences, the more beneficial and engaging a student’s learning experience will be. Technology opens many doors for children and will be a major part of my classroom.

In order to be an adaptive educator I must be able to adapt lesson plans to fit the diversity of my student body yet also adapt lessons to engage my students. Since the students of today are incredibly technologically savy, using computers, videos, and gaming devices can be efficient in keeping their attention since it means using something they can easily work with and enjoy working with on a daily basis. Simple programs such, as Microsoft Word does not only have to be used as a place to write papers. It can be used as a tool to create stories, collages, articles, and letters. By adapting lesson plans and adapting the use of technology in the classroom, students will be more likely to want to be involved and even further their involvement inside and outside of the classroom setting. In my practicum placement students used classroom computers to play word games and publish their own stories. By giving the students to opportunity of publishing there stories using the computer, they were more determined to revise and edit their stories to create their best work. I feel that using this incentive, students were more focused and determined to be open-minded and work to the best of their abilities. In my own classroom, I will use programs such as Microsoft Word, Frames, etc. for students to publish their stories. By giving students this opportunity, they will be excited to learn not only about the computer programs but also making their own work sparkle. By creating students who are eager to use technology and want to learn more, I will be able to encourage more technology to be brought into my classroom. Technology in my classroom will not be forgotten. It is a tool that is very adaptive, as a teacher of the twenty-first century is. It is a very adaptive tool and the project, activity, and research possibilities are endless.

Risk-taking can often frighten teachers, especially ones new to the field, yet risk-taking can be just the thing to engage interest and collaboration of students. Having a set lesson plan can keep me organized as well as my students but is it always going to keep them interested and entertained? Are they always going to want to learn things my way? Taking risks in teaching is very beneficial. In a lecture, if a new topic boils up in a conversation, why not forget the lesson plan and work with the area the students are engaged and interested in knowing and learning more about and where they want to be involved. Have them “google it”, use GoogleEarth to find it, or even use blogs to learn more. Being able to find things on their own and even teach themselves something can sometimes be more beneficial. Of course the lesson plan needs to be presented but take risks in teaching it. Lectures are not always going to keep my students attention. Through my practicum experience I have certainty seen this to be true. Many students need to learn “hands-on”. As a student myself, I learn better with hands on activities and I have come to realize that this way of learning is becoming more and more common. With supervision I will let the students just look up random words, animals, or people. As a future teacher I will take the risk of building a volcano not knowing myself how it will work out. I will take the risk and let a student teach a lesson to the class that really strikes them as interesting. I will let them build a PowerPoint on a topic of interest. Why not? I feel it is important for students to be given the opportunity to learn on their own and discover new things. By opening up the internet to them, students feel as though they have control of their learning and with supervision, I will let my students become familiar with a common tool of there lives and futures and experiment with many of the possibilities that the internet has to offer.

To be a visionary means to use your imagination. In order to entertain, keep interest, and teach I must use my imagination. Throughout my practicum experience I have been given numerous lessons to teach or books to read to the students. I have come to learn that I can not just read a book; as strange as that sounds. Any one can read a book to a class and tell them to write about it. Any one can give out a picture for students to color. Any one can have students look at pictures of whales on the Internet. A teacher can have students read together about whales and the types, use the details about the types to explore and find pictures of each type of whale, and even take the risk and use their imagination to draw the types of whale and a whale they create. Students use their imagination all the time whether it be playing “house”, drawing, writing a story, or even spitting out excuses for being late to class. If students use their imagination they must enjoy doing it. So, why shouldn’t I use my imagination to? I feel as though my imagination’s ability has expanded greatly from my practicum experience. I have created lessons, revised lessons, asked for student input, and have been given teacher advice. When I am a teacher I will keep students engaged with my imaginations and their own.

Students and teachers of the twenty-first century have become evolved in the use of technology in and out of the classroom. Throughout my practicum experience I have seen the many benefits of using technology in the classroom and have realized that the possibilities are endless. I have thought about the numerous lesson plans I have created and have come up with many ways technology could be incorporated. I have realized/learned that technology can be integrated into any lesson and this addition to any lesson is beneficial. In order for students to learn, they need a teacher who adapt, use their imagination, and take risks. With the use of technology all of these characteristics of a twenty-first century are possible. Technology creates for new possibilities to create, teach, learn, and explore. I will be a twenty-first teacher. I will be a visionary, is adaptive, and takes risks. Why not use technology? It opens many doors of the twenty-first century classroom. I will use technology in my classroom.

States of Water Pre-Assessment

2nd Grade Blogging Buddies

Dear Logan B. & Morgan G.,
My name is Megan Cote and I live in Maine. I have one younger brother and one younger sister. I am at school learning to become a teacher. I love to read and I like to run. I hope you are having fun at school this year.
Megan

ACTEM Conference

MAINEducation 2008 Conference

1. Pre-Service Teacher Kick-off Session: Are You Ready to Enter the 21st Century Classroom? At this session, a quote was introduced. The quote seemed to represent a common theme throughout the entire conference. The quote read: "A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be," (Wayne Gretzky). This quote stood with me throughout all of the sessions that I attended. I feel that a teacher can be put in place of the hockey player. I want to be a great teacher so I intend to teach for the future not for my past or present. I think that this quote does a really great job of representing the importance of teaching for the future. URL for his presentation including this quote and relating information: http://docs.google.com/Present?docid=ddnv4n8h_27cfq9q9dd

2. Getting Connected. In both the Pre-Service Teacher session and the Digital Toolkit session I learned about many online resources there were to get students connected. If asked to brainstorm resources I would have come up with only a few but these sessions really built up my toolkit of possibilities for students to get connected. Some of the resources I learned about and enjoyed the most were Twitter, Classroom 2.0, Skype, Wikispaces, RSS, Ning and blogs. From the Pre-Service presentation there were many links to these types of tools on slide 35. http://docs.google.com/Present?docid=ddnv4n8h_27cfq9q9dd

3. Wordle. This program is so simple to use and I never knew it existed! I think it is a very creative, colorful, and attention grabbing way for students to become involved in visual learning. It can be used in many ways from looking at spelling words to entering any topic of study. I found myself copying many documents in to just see how creative and colorful it looked in its end product. I loved this tool for its simplicity and eye-catching ability and I can definitely see myself using this program as a teacher. Wordle can be found at this site: http://wordle.net/

5. Robots Incite Learning. Shared at this session was the fact that almost every component of society has or will have robotics associated within that sector. I could have guessed that the number of women in the field was lower than that of males in the field but the fact that it is continuing to decrease surprised me. In this session I learned about numerous ways to integrate robots into the classroom. I discovered different ways to integrate them into many age groups and the numerous types of robots there are. I thought this session was very interesting in that I have never really thought about bringing robots into the classroom but I learned how much of a hands-on approach it is to learning creativity and technological skills. Children learn a lot from building things and being given the time to explore possibilities and variations. This site is a site of robotics programs for many age groups: www.usfirst.org. This site is great for small projects children can build, both the building and the programming part: www.nxtprograms.com.

6. Social Bookmarking. Three of the four sessions I attended referenced the program of Delicious, which is a social bookmarking program. I was told if I bring anything out of this conference, to let it be the idea to create a Delicious account. I do intend to create an account. It seems like a really helpful program for an educator to have to communicate, take in and spread out ideas, and for professional development. This is the site where registration for an account can be done as well as many bookmarks that are popular: www.delicious.com

7. All things Google. Throughout the sessions I learned about many resources that Google offers that I never looked into. One of these resources is Google Reader where you can gather blogs and news feeds on interest. I think this would be a great teacher resource. A list of the many new resources I discovered are at this site http://www.google.com/intl/en/options/. Google reader is here: http://www.google.com/reader/view/?hl=en&source=en-mmm#directory-welcome-page

8. SMARTboard. One of the most interesting technological devices that I got to try was the SMARTboard. I feel that this board would be a great tool to have in the classroom and would have many learning benefits. I was introduced to many ways the board can be used and was given the name of a teacher in my hometown that has integrated this technology into his classroom and would be a great person to observe using the board. It is a very interesting tool and one I would love to have in my classroom. SMART technologies website: http://smarttech.com/

9. Technology in the Classroom. In one of the sessions the speaker asked, "Who were your favorite teachers in school?" Next he asked "How many of them were very proficient at using technology and used it very frequently?" I was surprised to see that out of the fifteen people in the room, only one had a teacher who used technology often and well. I see how slowly technology is creeping into the classroom but how quickly it is coming into our world outside the classroom doors. In my classroom I plan to integrate technology as much as I can into lessons because I need to teach for the future. I found this site, by the National School Boards Association, to be very interesting when it came to portraying the importance of technology in the classroom http://www.nsba.org/sbot/toolkit/iot.html.

10. Overall Reaction to the Day. This being my first conference, I can definitely see myself attending many more in the future. It was a great experience, I socialized with many current teachers, and it was very informative. I learned a lot and really enjoyed my day at the conference. I really enjoyed how many of the speakers loved to here about where I am from and my plans for my future. It was great to see so many people who take education so seriously and who want the best for their students. I am very excited about my future as an educator and I feel that this conference opened my eyes up to many possibilities and gave myself more confirmation that this is the profession in which I belong.

Webquest Ideas

My overall interest in this webquest is to have students study and understand the complexities of the Holocaust.

1. A Holocaust Day (I would like to do this one :-))
a.) Topic: Have students explore the holocaust as a whole and what life was like for Jewish individuals.
b.) Grade Level: 7th
c.) It is 1939 and you are living in a city in Germany. A man named Adolph Hitler has taken over the country and is trying to take over the world. If you are Jewish, you may be hiding or you may be imprisoned in a concentration camp. If you are non-Jewish you may be risking your life to oppose Hitler and hide Jews or you may have fallen into the Nazi Solider standing. What are you writing in your journal? Do you know how to write? How else can you depict your life at this point in time? Poems?
d.) Roles:
Jewish man in concentration camp: research what life may have been like for you.
Jewish girl hiding: research what life may have been like for you.
Nazi solider: research what life may have been like for you.
Non-Jewish woman hiding a Jew in her home: research what life was like for you.
Jewish child at concentration camp: research what life may have been like for you.

2. Picture Portrayal
a.) Topic: Have students create a visual piece that portrays the Holocaust without using text or audio text.
(only pictures/illustrations)
b.) Grade Level: 6th
c.) Task: Many people are visual learners. You are assigned the task of creating a visual piece (PowerPoint, collage, etc.) reflecting/portraying the Holocaust as a whole. You must use pictures that metaphorically represent feelings, emotions, events, and hardships of the Holocaust and not actual pictures of the time period.
d.) Role: (All members of the group will research information about the Holocaust)
Organizational Orange: Organizes/sorts information into common/relating groups
Emotion Potion: Decides/reflects on what emotions shall be portrayed in the slideshow
Picture Persons (2): Searches for pictures that reflect the emotions/feelings
Technological Technician: Puts pictures into collage/PowerPoint/etc.
Final Toucher: Puts the finishing touches on the project (color, extras, corrections, etc.)

3. News Flash!
a.) Topic: Students will research the Holocaust and educate others about this important event with the goal of helping to break the cycle of violence.
b.) Grade Level: 7th
c.) Task: You are American newspaper reporters living during the Holocaust era. You have been sent to Germany in order to report back to the United States about the events taking place there. You are assigned the task of researching, writing, and editing a single edition of your newspaper.
d.) Roles:
Adolf Area: responsible for an article depicting his life and his contributions to the Holocaust.
Childhood Chancelor: responsible for an editorial of what children of the Holocaust were going through.
Concentration Concentrator: responsible for creating a letter to the editor from a Jewish person in a concentration camp depicting his/her life there.
Nuremberg Laws Noter: Responsible for getting the "w's" (who, what, where, when, and why) on the Nuremberg Laws.
"Final Solution" Informer: Responsible for getting the "w's" of the Final Solution.
Death Decoder: Responsible for getting the "w's" of the Death Marches.

4. Poetic Purpose
a.) Topic: Have students create a poem from the perspective of child living in the concentration camps during the Holocaust.
b.) Grade Level: 7th
c.) Task: What is life like? How do you feel? Do you have hope? Who is left? You are a child living in the concentration camps during the Holocaust. Write a poem for future individuals to read to inform them of what your life is like at this time.
d.) Roles:
Food Fascination: Research nutrition provided at the camps. Starvation? Malnutrition? Overall health?
Sleep/Home Dweller: Research where Jewish captives slept and where their "home base" was.
Work Wonderer: What kind work did children undertake at the concentration camps?
Family Favorer: Were families kept together at the camps? What were the family relationships like?
Poetic Picker: Research types of poems and formats. How will your group layout and form the poem?

Making an Inclusive Classroom with Technology

An inclusive classroom is necessary for all students to succeed. Teachers should build a classroom that can foster, develop and use the abilities, gifts and strengths of all its students. Creating a classroom like this, stresses learners’ rights and their needs, and emphasizes the importance of an education rid from favoritism and isolation. An inclusive classroom rejects seperation and exclusion of learners for any reason, whether it is race, ability, sexuality, and so forth. To increase participation of students, and make learning meaningful and applicable for all students, is a very important factor in building an inclusive classroom. Diverse learning needs need to be met in order for all students to achieve greatness and this can be done in an inclusive classroom. This is the type of classroom that teachers should strive to achieve and with the use of technology, building this type of classroom is simpler. Technology is the key to building a classroom that is inclusive and one where everyone has the same opportunity to succeed. I will make my classroom inclusive by building strong family-school partnerships, collaborating with special educators, and emphasize the value of friendships.

Strong family-school partnerships are essential when it comes to having and maintaining an inclusive classroom. Strong family-school communication can help all children in the classroom make the most of their educational experience. When parent know what is going on in his or her child’s classroom it can create for discussions at home which can be very valuable for those children who need the communication with their parents. When parents know what children are learning in class they can offer the extra help that children might need at home and encourage them. Technology can really make this family-school communication possible and simpler. It is much easier for a teacher to put information up on a blog or website that a parent can access at home rather than find the time to call each and every parent letting them know what there child has been working on or needs extra time with. As a future educator, I find that blogs and websites will be very helpful in keeping me connected with my students out of class and their parents. By having that easy communication with parents, parents can give struggling children that extra push they need and encourage children who may not be struggling to keep up the good work. When parents know what their child is learning and how they are doing they can assist teachers in creating the best learning experience possible.

The collaboration between teachers and special educators can be very helpful in upholding an inclusive classroom. The purpose of this collaboration is to combine expertise and meet the needs of all students. In order to uphold my inclusive classroom I will learn to use the many assistive technologies that my students use with their special educators. I will give all my students the opportunity to work with the technology to better understand why some students may use these. By collaborating with special educators I will be able to better understand there progress out of my classroom and be able to keep the students on the track to improvement.

As a future teacher, I find friendships to be very important in a successive, inclusive classroom. The building of friendships is the building of classroom communities. All students should feel a part of the classroom and feel as though they are an important part of it. To help build my classroom into a community I will design games to help build communities using groups that will need to work together in order to succeed in their task. Many of these games can be online games. Having my students take online personality tests would be quite unique but will also bring students to understand how much they have in common. Assigning classroom jobs will create a big community of the classroom. Each job will have a purpose to the others success. Classroom jobs could include turning off the lights when exiting the room, turning on computers, and writing notes on the over-head projector for other students. Any type of assistive technology that will maintain disabled students’ feeling of acceptance and community is essential. An example of this could be a standing aid, for students who typically use a wheelchair, for when other classmates are standing for activities like the pledge of allegiance.

Technology is very important in the creation and maintaining of an inclusive classroom. Family-school communication, teacher and special education teacher collaboration, and the building of a community are three important parts of an inclusive classroom. In order to make my classroom inclusive I plan to be sure the three of these things happen. Using technology to achieve these aspects will make it easier for me to build this type of classroom and to bring about students who will use technology to their fullest, live life to there fullest, and learn to there fullest. An inclusive classroom using technology is the classroom I want to be a part of.

Sources:
Assistive Technology & Universal Design
http://maine.gov/oit/accessibility/resources.htm
http://section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=3
http://www.cast.org/publications/UDLguidelines/version1.html#intro

EDU 302 - 21st Century Educator

Students of the twenty first century are communicators, media and technology savy, and collaborative. In order to be what it means to be a twenty-first teacher, we must possess these characteristics also along with many others. Three main characteristics of a twenty first century teacher are that we can adapt, take risks, and be a visionary. These three characteristics are essential for richness and engagement in the classroom. All three of characteristics are hard to achieve and portray without the use of the high-standing technology of the twenty-first century world and classroom.

In order to be an adaptive educator you must be able to adapt lesson plans to fit the diversity of your student body yet also adapt lessons to engage your students. Since the students of today are incredibly technologically savy, using computers, videos, and gaming devices can be efficient in keeping their attention since it means using something they can easily work with and enjoy working with on a daily basis. Simple programs such, as Microsoft word doesn’t only have to be used as a place to write papers. It can be used as a tool to create stories, collages, articles, and letters. By adapting lesson plans and adapting the use of technology in the classroom, students will be more likely to want to be involved and even further their involvement inside and outside of the classroom setting.

Risk-taking can often frighten teachers, especially ones new to the field; yet risk-taking can be just the thing to engage interest and collaboration of students. Having a set lesson plan can keep you organized as well as your students but is it always going to keep them interested and entertained? Are they always going to want to learn things your way? Taking risks in teaching is very beneficial. In a lecture, if a new topic boils up in a conversation, why not forget the lesson plan and work with the area the students are engaged and interested in knowing and learning more about and where they want to be involved. Have them “google it”. Being able to find things on their own and even teach themselves something can sometimes be more beneficial. Of course the lesson plan needs to be presented but take risks in teaching it. Lectures are not always going to keep students attention. Many students need to learn “hands-on”. With supervision let the students just look up random words, animals, or people. Take the risk of building a volcano not knowing yourself how it will work out. Take the risk and let a student teach a lesson to the class that really strikes them as interesting. Let them build a PowerPoint on a topic of interest. Why not?

To be a visionary means to use your imagination. In order to entertain, keep interest, and teach you must use your imagination. Any one can read a book to a class and tell them to write about it. Any one can give out a picture for students to color. Any one can have students look at pictures of whales on the Internet. A teacher can have students read together about whales and the types, use the details about the types to explore and find pictures of each type of whale, and even take the risk and use their imagination to draw the types of whale and a whale they create. Students use their imagination all the time whether it be playing “house”, drawing, writing a story, or even spitting out excuses for being late to class. If students use their imagination they must enjoy doing it, so why not use your imagination too? Keep your students engaged with your imaginations and their own.

Students and teachers of the twenty-first century have become evolved in the use of technology in and out of the classroom. In order for students to learn they need a teacher who adapt, use their imagination, and take risks. With the use of technology all of these characteristics of a twenty-first century are possible. Technology creates for new possibilities to create, teach, learn, and explore. A twenty-first teacher is a visionary, is adaptive, and takes risks. Why not use technology? It opens many doors of the twenty-first century classroom.