The two resources for this week were really good, Great Teaching Means Letting Go, and Chris Lehman's webinar: Inquiry - the very first step in learning. Both of these resources were very powerful to me. In both, the common thread was we, as teachers, need to change the way we teach. In the first resource, I like the analogy of learning to soccer. It makes total sense to me. I agree that we need to let go and let the students solve problems on their own with no help after being taught how to succeed. Yes, we teach the information and then we test rephrasing the questions and problems. Students need to be able to transfer what they have learned to other problems like the soccer example. The coach trained the kids but did not allow them to make the choices to the moves they learned so when it came time for the game, they did not know what to do. The webinar, I really enjoyed. I have watched it a couple of times to make sure I did not miss anything. I think what Chris Lehman is saying is that we need to use technology to let these students have time to explore and solve difficult problems. I really like when he said "Technology is Oxygen." I believe this is true for everyone. Have you every left your cell phone at home and did not have time to go retrieve it? Did you feel lost all day because you could not make calls when you needed or you couldn't look up the directions for a restaurant? I agree with Chris Lehman when he said that we need to be letting students use technology. And if your school or district cannot afford the technology, the administrators and teachers need to start looking for grants or businesses in the area that can help. Students who are not using technology are at a lost and will be left behind.
Wow! What a lot of information to read and process this week. I have learned a few things with this weeks videos, readings and activities. Let's start with what I have learned. First, I learned about Google images. I knew you could type in a search phrase or term and then click on images to get different pictures as a result. I did not know that you could drag an actual picture and retrieve information about the picture and other pictures that are similar or by the same painter. Really cool! The second thing I learned is about Google Advanced Search. Whenever I did not like the results of my search, I would click advanced search but did not know what to put in the different boxes. Now, I am able to use the advanced search option. The third thing I learned was using the asterisk symbol in the search phrase if you are not sure what the word is you are looking for. This I f
M1 Blogging Resources InfoWhelm and Information Fluency (Youtube Video) Link My Daily Info-Wrangling Routine Link 8 Ways Into Inquiry Learning Link The Journey from Digital Literacy to Digital Fluency Link (You may click the links above to watch the video and read the articles or as you read on you can click the pictures.) All of the articles focused on how much information is available at the touch of a finger. From the Internet to Twitter and to Blogs, people everywhere can connect to learn and discuss their topics of interest. One main common thread is the overload of information and how to manage all of the information and how to use this information in the classroom. Another common thread is asking the question, "Why are we still teaching the same way?" Before technology and the internet, people had to go places to get information like school, the library, or conferences. Now, all of that information is readily available anywhere anytime.
This article, "8 Ways Into Inquiry Learning," describes some tips on how to use all of this information in the classroom. Students today do not need to memorize and repeat the information that is so readily available. In the classroom, the teacher needs to show the students how to use the information and to decide if the information is accurate and what do they think. The teacher, also, needs to show the students how to use the different tools to create their own information and share with the world. This article discusses eight steps to create an inquiry classroom. Click on the picture to read the full article. All of the resources were based on information overload but focused on different aspects. The video showed how fast the digital information is growing. The first article talks about the differences between being digital literate and digital fluent. The second article describes how Jane Hart manages and processes all of the information. The last article wraps it all up by giving us eight tips to set up the classroom to teach the students how to process and use the digital information.
Learning Goals, Learning Goals, What are the learning goals for this class.
The first goal is to learn more about Twitter and how to use this site effectively. I have had a Twitter account for about a year now and have not done much with the site. Somehow, I managed to follow certain channels, mostly about NCIS. I would like to be able to explain to the students how Twitter can help with their classwork or homework or a book they are thinking about to read. My second goal is to learn more about PLNs. Once again, I have had a PLN site, Diigo, for about a year but have not really used the site to its full advantage. I would like to show the students how having a PLN will help them make decisions and help learn new information or interest. My third goal is to find sites for students that they can use to be creative and share the information they deem important and to receive comments about the information. |
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