Wikis? Hmmm.... I have been intrigued by wikis and wanted to use them in my classroom for some time. Honestly, I have felt overwhelmed with where to start though! The idea of the collaboration is a great idea! I guess my take on the concept of a Wiki is similar to that of group "projects" that we had to do as kids. You know the projects where we work together to create a brochure and one person is the artist and...well you know the rest! I think to put it more currently, it is somewhat like what WebQuests were to the Internet several years ago. Except now students are just compiling information, they collect, construct, and present.
The first several sites I went to had me EXTREMELY overwhelmed. I had a hard time trying to decipher exactly what their purpose was. I also need to admit that this is my biggest fear in trying Wikis is currently. I want to try it and work with it. But I didn't feel I had a good grasp of the concept to use it well enough to be considered anything other than fluff!
One site that I really kind of struck me was the 3rd graders Oregon Trail Wiki. http://gowest.wikispaces.com/
I was really impressed with what the students were able to accomplish on their own. As I reviewed the Wiki, I was amazed by the amount of information that was being presented. I started to think "What an excellent way to teach students about so many things." Students taking charge of their education and having the chance to share what they have learned with the world. I honestly was very impressed with what the kids accomplished.
Further through the sites there was one by a Kindergarten class: http://kcountingbook.wetpaint.com/
What an amazing way to introduce students to technology and learning. Looking back, that is one thing I think would have been a huge asset to the students I teach! They have a hunger and passion for using technology, any technology, and if they had that at an early age I can only imagine the things they would have been able to do!
Another intersting Wiki was in Vicki Davis' article. I was impressed how her middle school students were working so amazing with Wiki's and the way her school community seemed to latch onto the idea and started to run with it! She shared that even her students had created a "study hall" wiki on their own for various topics to help each other with vocabulary for almost every content. http://studyhall.wikispaces.com/
The students posted things from samples of poems to notes from biology class to share. How amazing to see what one teacher does and how it spider webs out to the others. Truly amazing.
Things that I didn't see in the Wiki's that I am curious about:
I didn't see where there was much collaboration on the 3rd grade Wiki. I noticed that there were only 4 or 5 log ins and they were all the teacher Id. I imagine that the teacher monitored things until the final product and then let them upload. I think I would like to see the actual collaboration of students on a project and see where they are building their final product online together. Some of the other sites did manage to do that.
I am still reluctant to try Wiki's! I will do them, but I need to review some more sites and see exactly how it would best impact my students. Although, I am convinced that they will be amazing no matter how I choose to utilize the Wikis.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Thing 5a
http://www.infinitethinking.org/2009/02/friday-5-21st-century-skills.html
In this blog Lucy Gray states, "...many agreed with the basic idea that students and teachers today are require to employ a different mindset and set of abilities in this changing world."
I couldn't agree more. I think that today's education system needs to meet the needs of today's learners for today's society. I think that is why most of us are here or are in education. I know the way I was taught does not work for the students I teach. Lucy's blog talks about how she had the chance to go to Singapore and how they valued the change in education and the emphasis on technology. I read some other blogs both from our group and from other sites that talked about implementing standards to hold teachers to as well as standards to hold students to as well. I think the best way to integrate the mindset we want is to lead by example of the change we want to see. When people begin to see what we are accomplishing then hopefully they will catch on.
I read another blog that said they use their students as the catalysts of change. When people come to them with concerns regarding technology, they send their students to fix the problems. I know it was a middle school blog, however, I have students now who can set up my LCD projector to my computer and bring up UnitedStreaming videos. My students know how to access my bookmarks and locate the activities I want them to do on the computers in the classroom. The students are thriving for the chance to use the technology to which we already have access. Most adults would gladly use it, if only they knew how.
Where does the answer come from? I'm not sure. But I know that we have to start preparing our students to be more technology literate and in doing so, I believe more literate and better communicators not only in their school communities, but in a global community as well.
In this blog Lucy Gray states, "...many agreed with the basic idea that students and teachers today are require to employ a different mindset and set of abilities in this changing world."
I couldn't agree more. I think that today's education system needs to meet the needs of today's learners for today's society. I think that is why most of us are here or are in education. I know the way I was taught does not work for the students I teach. Lucy's blog talks about how she had the chance to go to Singapore and how they valued the change in education and the emphasis on technology. I read some other blogs both from our group and from other sites that talked about implementing standards to hold teachers to as well as standards to hold students to as well. I think the best way to integrate the mindset we want is to lead by example of the change we want to see. When people begin to see what we are accomplishing then hopefully they will catch on.
I read another blog that said they use their students as the catalysts of change. When people come to them with concerns regarding technology, they send their students to fix the problems. I know it was a middle school blog, however, I have students now who can set up my LCD projector to my computer and bring up UnitedStreaming videos. My students know how to access my bookmarks and locate the activities I want them to do on the computers in the classroom. The students are thriving for the chance to use the technology to which we already have access. Most adults would gladly use it, if only they knew how.
Where does the answer come from? I'm not sure. But I know that we have to start preparing our students to be more technology literate and in doing so, I believe more literate and better communicators not only in their school communities, but in a global community as well.
Thing 2
I chose to write about Patrick's Update http://itc.blogs.com/patrick/2005/02/5th_grade.html This was a pretty awesome site for me as a 4th grade teacher. Working with a classroom of mostly EIP and Special Education students, I love to put technology in their hands and see what they can do. With that said, I also know that their have to be guidelines. One of the biggest concerns I have seen this year is the lack of knowledge my students have about technology or the lack of skills such as typing or even how to operate a computer. My students are interacting with technology everyday. I am sad that I haven't started using blogging sooner. Especially with the group that I have this year that crave that feedback and interaction with each other and the way they excell from the positive comments. I really think we will begin blogging as a class just to increase their typing skills as well as their ability to write, communicate, and as a way to edit work. I gained a deeper understanding myself of what blogging can do for me and my students.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Thing 1-B
I guess after watching the videos that accompany the task, I was remembering back to my senior year of high school. All the classrooms had been outfitted with televisions and we were watching Channel 1. Channel 1 was supposed to be a news program that was geared to students, and had high school anchors and news correspondants. I remember watching a lot of the news content and thinking how cool it was that it was being presented in a format that was a bit more interesting than the nightly news. I began to see that there was a bigger world than my little hometown. I also remember how the computer labs at college had 20 minute limits on email so that everyone could use the computers.
I think that when I look at the students in my class, I am in awe of the things they will see in their lifetime. I think Web 2.0 gives them the opportunity to take many of the things that we did as kids (i.e. pen pals, script writing, filmstrips) and magnifying them to the next level. Students can now communicate with others, anywhere in the world and receive responses in virtually no time. Students can do video editing and filming to show concepts they have obtained from poetry units, or create clips to share about chapters out of books or parts of history.
Today's learners are very different then the learners we were. We as educators need to get content to them in a way that appeals to their learning styles. I think Web 2.0 will help give us the tools to effectively train them to be active thinkers, and later, compete in a global work place.
I think that when I look at the students in my class, I am in awe of the things they will see in their lifetime. I think Web 2.0 gives them the opportunity to take many of the things that we did as kids (i.e. pen pals, script writing, filmstrips) and magnifying them to the next level. Students can now communicate with others, anywhere in the world and receive responses in virtually no time. Students can do video editing and filming to show concepts they have obtained from poetry units, or create clips to share about chapters out of books or parts of history.
Today's learners are very different then the learners we were. We as educators need to get content to them in a way that appeals to their learning styles. I think Web 2.0 will help give us the tools to effectively train them to be active thinkers, and later, compete in a global work place.
Thing 1
Hi, my name is Robb and I am a teacher at Statham Elementary. I have been at Statham for almost 3 years. Before coming to Statham, I had the chance to work at Winder Barrow Middle School for 4 years. I have been in Barrow County for 7 years. Before that I lived in Michigan. I worked for almost 10 years in a school based day care system.
I graduated from Central Michigan Univeristy with a BS in Education. I received my Masters from the University of Phoenix in Curriculum and Technology Integration. I have enjoyed all the things I have learned through the courses in my masters program but I am looking to expand my knowledge to incorporate more technology into my classroom to help my students become better global learners and hopefully, afford them a chance to grow and learn about the world outside of Barrow County.
I look forward to learning some interesting things that I can infuse into my classroom.
Thanks~
Robb
I graduated from Central Michigan Univeristy with a BS in Education. I received my Masters from the University of Phoenix in Curriculum and Technology Integration. I have enjoyed all the things I have learned through the courses in my masters program but I am looking to expand my knowledge to incorporate more technology into my classroom to help my students become better global learners and hopefully, afford them a chance to grow and learn about the world outside of Barrow County.
I look forward to learning some interesting things that I can infuse into my classroom.
Thanks~
Robb
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