Podcasting/Vodcasting

This article brought up some interesting points of view that could be argued but defended well. 

The first interesting fact that was brought up was the idea that podcasting has been around as long as technology but never introduced until ipods and other newer forms of technology came to use. I have heard of podcasting but never new the impact they can have on education.

The second interesting point of view that seems so common sense but never thought of was the reuse of the podcast. Once one is made they can be reused as needed. And also to build of that I am on a team so the accessibility of sharing with team members. 

The integrating  of language and student interaction. I have mentioned multiple times that one of the biggest issues in Allentown is the inconsistency of student attendance. With the use of podcasting, students that do miss class a lot their would be an outlet for the students to listen to the lesson that was missed!

Vodcasting

I really like the idea of podcasting or vodcasting...I think it will help provide the students with responsibility and a show for their hard work.

My three ideas are...
1. Read a story and add images. Possibly like a "big brother big sister" thing for a student in a younger grade.

2. Translations on the net... for example in Allentown we have a lot of Arabic and Spanish speaking students so ESL level 4 could create a vod cast for level 1's

3. Create a interview for world cultures and share with someone of a different background or culture. "Diversity Awareness"

21 Century Skills

Currently I am working at Raub Middle School in Allentown School District. For a title one school I have been shown that Allentown really pushes for effective communication. As a first year teacher you are required to take so many introduction in services and one is called "effective communication" with parents that are not native to Allentown, very little education and English as a second language it is important to communicate to them so they understand their rights and responsibilities as a parent. It also important to teach them and communicate to them that are outside services in their community. So teacher parent communication skills are very important to have with in the district. Along with having a very diverse population it is important to have global awareness. Allentown also provides in-services to help recognize and cope with teaching diversity. When I first started to working at Raub it drove me crazy, that all the students called me Miss or Missy...to me it was like nails down a chalk board, so I drilled and drilled that my name was Mrs. Youwakim. Than about 3-4 months ago I was talking in the teachers cafe with one of the ESL teachers and she explained that in the Spanish culture it was their way of showing respect.
When it comes to high productivity in Allentown, I believe we tend to go to far with effective use of the real world. So many kids in Allentown are mommy and daddy's to their younger peers and have no time or concept of responsibility of being a KID! There is so much pressure on teachers to teach these kids real world 'morals'. It is sad at times because we focus and spend so much time on those lessons we skip the fact that they are kids, but if we didn't it is almost like a domino effect in that they will most likely end up on the streets rather than having some knowledge of real world transitions.
So I believe that Allentown provides a lot of good trainings on 21 century skills, just used in a twisted sort of way!

How Interactive is Your Whiteboard?

How we teach and interact with our students has many factors. Such factors as environment, physical space, teaching styles, building budgets and so on. Although how we interact and educate our students can come across in our teaching classroom.  Some concepts that are new and interesting that came across in this article that stood out to me was the ideas of extending short answers (average of 3-4 words) and expand on those answers to make them more interactive and longer than 5 seconds. Having these interactive conversations with our students help provide assessments and provides the students with more reflective strategies! Which seems so common sense yet with time limitations and standards we have to meet, makes this common task challenging. In our last blog we talked about reflecting on our learning according to Bloom, and it was overwhelming how many had the same answers that they had very little higher order thinking due to traditional teachers. So how can we change that now in our classroom? I really enjoyed how the article stressed that collective reflection would lead to improved learning. Why, most likely because we are not making the problem black and white we are allowing students to have an opinion and back it up with facts that were taught by us the teacher.

My background before reading this article, I have a positive thought on interactive smart boards due to watching a few of my colleges master them in their classrooms. They keep pace, help manage behavior and allow for the students to participate. After reading the article I thought was very unbiased, due to that it gave examples of pros and cons. I think properly using the boards it can be  very helpful tool. The article states that the technology is controlled by the teacher, so when used properly it is a communication tool that intrigues students and reflects more opportunities  for not just a teacher preaching laws and formulas. 

As an Educator I believe that teachers can use a white board to the fullest potential by supporting their knowledge, allowing students to use the board as well not restricting the use to themselves, and making the lesson more interactive and hands on. By doing so we are going back to a new concept of not asking for a yes or no answer but to allow a answer to exceed 5 words or 5 seconds. Allow the students accountability  for their response.

Dewey's Democracy

I believe that Dewey is trying to state through this article is that we are in constant environment of encounters and experiences that lead to education.
The process of education is a learned process, which much of it comes from our elders. Through the our life journey we never stop learning. Also as educators we become communicators which adds to this education process.

Bloom's taxonomy

Looking back at my own personal experiences in school, we may not have had a large selection of use in technology, but reflecting on my time in school I feel that I went through the proper stages of Bloom.

Looking back to Kindergarden though six grade we did a lot of repetition and drills that created basic skills and scaffolding knowledge. Remembering and understanding was a large portion of early elementary years. A lot of listening and repeating. Locating certain object, such as a square as in a tissue box. stop sign is red and so forth. Identifying letters and numbers. Applying built knowledge, such as recognizing that our lunch box is a square or that or hands can help us learn our left from right. 

Later in the elementary and early middle school, I start to remember Analyzing information placing  categories to information. Dissecting basics; worms, frogs in 7th grade. 

In later secondary grades, high order of thinking was placed into play. Allowing us to put our knowledge to use and allow us to analyze situations on our own. Having basic debates in class allowing us to have opinions and role playing our knowledge.  Compose our own predictions.

 

In our discussion this afternoon  we spoke about how some how our roles as teachers took a twist, teachers were once in charge of teaching math and reading, 123 and ABC. Now we take on the role of moral development, sex ed, job transitions and so on. Trying to get through the state standards and meeting the curriculum at hand, along with these extra added duties, I find that we have time to meet Bloom's Understanding and Applying, just meeting the basic. It is hard to find time in the day to meet Bloom's high level thinking due to time limits and technology limitations. I often think of the Amish community and how they have survived in the same ways of teaching and education for so many centuries. Maybe we are missing something?  

Why integrate technology

With the ever changing role of technology in our society, I believe it is part of our role as educators to encourage and teach using technology. There is no question that first calculators took over mental math and now computers are over ruling hand writing, or reading a book from the library is replaced by an article on the Internet. On the other hand it gives children with disadvantages the ability to work as their peers, it allows more interactive and exciting lessons. It also allows teachers to prepare lessons that they once had to hand write on the board wasting valuable time in the classroom. So with pro and cons the educator of the classroom needs to asses the outcome of integrating technology into their room.