PLACE Technology Test

    I think that this study guide and practice test for the Instructional Technology PLACE test is quite helpful. The categories give me a good idea about the information on the test, and therefore, the information I should know to be a successful Instructional Technology Specialist, even if I don’t take the test. I could answer almost all of the practice questions on the PLACE Instructional Technology test. The two test objectives I need to learn more about are understand the role of technology and its social, ethical, legal, and human issues and understand how to implement and manage effective learning environments supported by technology. In that last objective, the specific strategy I think I need to work on is the management of diverse student learning in a technology-enhanced environment. I try to use technology in my classroom a lot, but in my experience, some students get caught up with the technology itself and not focus on the content the technology is helping to teach. So I need to work on managing the students in this way. 

Technology with Marzano's Instructional Strategies

•   Is it effective to use technology with all of the strategies? Or is it better not to use technology with certain strategies?

It depends on a lot of things: If you have enough technology resources for every student, If the technology is appropriate for your grade level, How your students respond to different technologies. There are technologies that my class last year loved and my class this year doesn’t understand. I think that non-linguistic strategies should not be used with technology. There are just too many good activities that are more hands on and incorporate movement that would work better for my students.

•   Does the use of technology with Marzano’s Instructional Strategies add to classroom understandings? Or are students more interested in the technology?

This also depends on the technology being used and the students using it. In general, using Marzano’s strategies with technology is greatly beneficial. But with specific technologies, the students got distracted with the technology and ignored the concept. Some technologies are also too complicated for my grade level to use well.

Bibliography

Crisp, K. (2012, August 17). Behavior freebie! [Blog post]. Retrieved from I Do, We Do, You Do! website: http://idowedoyoudo.blogspot.com/2012/08/behavior-freebie.html

Leander Independent School District (Ed.). (n.d.). Marzano websites and research. Retrieved January 12, 2013, from Instructional Services website: http://classroom.leanderisd.org/webs/marzano/home.htm

Sams, A. (2011, November 11). The flipped class. Retrieved January 10, 2013, from The Daily Riff website: http://learni.st/learnings/

47643-the-flipped-class-shedding-light-on-the-confusion-critique-and-hype

Tapscott, D. (2012, December 3). Discovery learning is the new higher learning. The   Globe and Mail. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/don tapscott/interactive-learning_b_2231594.html

21st Century Skills to Challenge Myself

I used the School Library Monthly compilation of generational information to find an article written by Don Tapscott. He discusses a need for a different mindset in the way universities present information. He encourages teachers to tailor the education to their students' individual learning styles, shifting from a broadcast style and adopting an interactive one. Tapscott (2012) states, “A $150 textbook is obsolete compared to the rich information available online, both inside and outside the classroom” (p. 37.) In a world of public school budget cuts, I can definitely apply this to my third grade classroom. Print books, especially class sets, are extremely expensive. However, instead of buying books for all my students to do research on the human skeleton, I can let them use the computer lab to do their research on the Internet. Because my students are eight and nine years old, I will need to do a lot of scaffolding of how to do research and maneuver the Internet safely. This is a life skill that they will always be able to use, though.  Also, print textbooks in content areas such as science and history quickly become outdated. When I was in middle school our history textbooks said that the Berlin wall was still standing. With all of our technology today we have news at our fingertips almost at the moment when it happens.

Also through School Library Monthly I found the website I am Generation Z. There was a posting here about kids under the age of 13 blogging. This site has tutorials on how to teach children to blog, Internet security, and many other topics. For several years I have wanted to start a blog with my students. This is another opportunity to teach life skills such as typing, Internet safety, citing sources, and real authentic purpose for writing. I could incorporate this directly into our unit about the 13 colonies. Students will have to write a blog as if they are colonists. They will be using good writing skills, adding historically accurate facts, and showing a deeper understanding of the content area. This is also an easy way to share their work with their parents, other students, and the community.

I found a video of a fantastic lecture given by Michael Wesch. He was addressing a large group of teachers about how to better engage their students. Students learn very differently today than they did some years ago. Society has trained them differently. All of kids’ TV shows and video games today cater to a very short attention span. Studies show that children cannot pay attention to direct instruction lessons for much longer than their age. So ten year olds can listen for ten minutes without a break. My challenge to myself is to incorporate more movement and technology in innovative ways into my lessons to better engage my students. In his lecture, Wesch (2008) asks “If students learn what they do, what do they learn sitting at a desk?” I would love to get my hands on some GPS units and teach coordinate graphing in math having the students on a scavenger hunt around the school. This is not just about memorization: it is all about application. Using GPS units is a life skill that shows my students how math applies to their lives, while getting them up and out of their seats and teaching them a new technology. 

I stumbled upon an article that asked if readers had “googled” themselves recently. Kathy Fredrick continued her article to say that we need to be aware of our online presence. Why should this be any different for our students? Many things fall under the umbrella of teaching our students to be safe online, but this is specifically monitoring and modeling how to be smart about what you post online. When you put some piece of data online, it is out there for the world to see, even after you take it down. As an educator, I am very aware of my cyber-footprint. I know that my students’ parents could google me at any time. It had never occurred to me to teach my students about this, and better yet, model it for them. I have a class website that I continually update for parents’ benefit. However, I would like to get my students on my website as well. I could post my example of a personal narrative that we are writing in school. Students could use this as they are writing their own personal narratives, and we could discuss how this formal and edited piece of writing is something that I do not mind having on the World Wide Web.

I have been doing a lot of research on flipped classrooms this year. There have been a lot of rumors floating around about flipped classrooms, and Aaron Sams, one of the founders of the concept, clears things up in an article I read. The premise of flipped classes is that students watch instructional videos for homework the night before. Then, when they come into school the next day they have the background information they need for the teacher to do more activities and practice with the concepts. This is not something I can implement by myself. However, I am in the process of talking to my administration about piloting it for my school. It would require admin and parent support. Lastly, Sams reminds us that teachers should always be re-evaluating what they are teaching and how effective it is. No teaching method or curricula should be followed blindly.

Bibliography

Fredrick, K. (2012). Forging a positive cyber reputation: Who are you? School Library Monthly, 28(2). Retrieved from http://www.schoollibrarymonthly.com/articles/Fredrick2011-v28n2p24.html

Judy. (2011, January 3). Do your kids want to blog? Retrieved January 8, 2013, from I Am Generation Z website: http://www.iamgenz.com/2011/01/do-your-kids-want-to-blog/

mwesch. (2008, July 10). A portal to media literacy [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4yApagnr0s

Sams, A. (2011, November 11). The flipped class. Retrieved January 10, 2013, from The Daily Riff website: http://learni.st/learnings/

47643-the-flipped-class-shedding-light-on-the-confusion-critique-and-hype

Tapscott, D. (2012, December 3). Discovery learning is the new higher learning. The   Globe and Mail. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/don tapscott/interactive-learning_b_2231594.html

Generational Issues

    My philosophy regarding educational technology is that things in schools today are very different than they were even 20 years ago. In this day and age where my third graders have smart phones, we need to be continually re-educating ourselves and be innovators on how to tap that technology potential to use in our classrooms. Technology is not one more cumbersome thing we have to squeeze into our school day. Many teachers have this mindset, especially teachers who have been in education for many years. Technology should be in student hands as much as possible. It should help us be more efficient in our instruction and engage students better. However, just because students are using technology doesn’t mean they are engaged. We need to be aware of how our students are learning as much as always. Technology is an excellent motivator for students. Reading may not be exciting for them, but reading a book on iPad is suddenly very appealing. There are so many teacher created resources using technology that allow us to collaborate with teachers from all over the world and share our ideas.

    I think that one of the main barriers of technology is lack of funding. We need money to get the technology in the hands of all the students. In a recession like we currently are, technology is not at the top of many districts’ lists. They are more focused on keeping teaching jobs, which is also important. Another barrier is stubborn people. Many teachers are set in their ways. They think technology will be more work and no benefit to them, so they don’t even try to work with it.

    In my classroom I am very lucky to have many technology resources. I use my projector and document camera every day. I could live without them, but they make my instruction much easier and better for showing the students first hand. I also use my iPad and apple tv. I am able to project very hands on games and content for my students. Like the stubborn people in my previous paragraph, I avoid technology I am not familiar with. I know it takes time to learn a new program, so during the year I play the excuse that I do not have enough time for it. However, unlike the stubborn people, I work very hard to continually teach myself new technologies, even when I don’t think I have the time, because I know how important it is, and how much it could benefit myself and my students. 

Introduction Video

My Introduction Video  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yue4t0L1Q1E

To go with my video: I think there are a lot of different technologies out there. Some of them seem redundant and every time you buy something new, the next model is already coming out. But, I definitely agree that technologies will continue to progress in ways I can’t imagine. I love technology in my classroom, but like Hank from the video, I also think that there will always be a place for real paper books. Credit to Hank Green of the Vlogbrothers on Youtube for the video. 

I believe that the stage of technology I am in is Implementation. I have done a lot of research and received quite a bit of training in using different technologies in my classroom. This is to the point where other teachers seek me out to help them with their technology needs.

I teach third grade in the general education classroom in the Adams 12 Five Star School District. I am taking this class because it is a stepping-stone to gleaning more information about information literacy and earning my masters in Instructional Technology. The three words that describe my relationship with technology are creative, embracing, and innovative. I am Generation Y in regards to technology.