Blog 5: Technology

1.  Dr. Robert's presentation on children's use of technology was very interesting.  I really was frightened by hearing about the idea of "multitasking."  I was shocked to see how much exposure children get to all forms of technology/media through multitasking.  Children today are exposed to too much stimulus and so many are being diagnosed with ADD.  I am wondering if this multitasking is causing this rise.  What happened to children going outside playing or riding their bikes, or reading a book.  I think there needs to be stronger guidelines set by parents and educators to the exposure of so much media.  I know many educators promote the use of media and technology in the classroom.  I am one of them.  Everyday in my lessons I use some form of technology, whether it be using my LCD projector, my laptop, the TV, my ELMO (document camera), ipod, etc.  My students are more engaged in my lessons if I use some form of technology.  However, where I teach there are many families that do not have computers, internet or TVs at their house because they cannot afford it.  I have to bring technology into my classroom so my students learn how to use a computer or a laptop.  This is a lifeskill to help them learn early on how to use technology and not to be afraid of it.  I agree though that their needs to be limits of exposure time both in the classroom and outside of the classroom.  Parents definitely need to be involved and not let their children spend their lives hiding behind a computer screen or TV screen.

2 & 3.  As an elementary school teacher, the prospect of turning over my core subject matter to computer based classes frightens me to the core.  This is not what education is all about.  I am frightened about the development of my students and their ability to relate to things and their social development.  This past year I had a first grade student who was Web-based home schooled.  He was taking first grade on the computer.  He was not at grade level and lacked social skills.  He had no concept of how to learn from a teacher and being surrounded by other students learning.  He did not progress this year so he is being retained in first grade again next year.
     For young children, learning must incorporate an environment in which the child can experience hands-on learning; writing, reading, playing, moving and touching.  They need to be exposed to all of the senses in order to be successful learners. It is very dangerous to me, to require children at such young ages to take courses online. I understand the implications for wanting online courses.  Online courses can provide more options for students, remediation courses for failing students and lowering education costs per child. If this method filters down to elementary schools where all or some courses are taken online, I can only imagine the limitations that children will face. Students need in order to learn need to have social skills, the ability to take part in a discussion and have reasoning skills. I strongly oppose this new found education online, especially at the elementary level where learning is not just reading a text on a computer screen or emailing their online teacher to discuss the reading, it is all about a multifaceted learning experience where children use all of their senses to learn about a subject.  I do not see children doing this if they are staring at a computer screen all day.    

4. Here are some of the websites or links that I was unfamiliar with and will definitely use in my classroom this year and in the future.
• www.dropbox.com/ I thought this was a great tool to use. Instead of having to email documents to myself, or save it onto a flash drive which I could lose or get damaged, this will be much easier to drop documents, files, pictures etc. into a folder and have it when I get to the classroom. I think it will also be useful when I want to collaborate and share ideas with fellow teachers. This is a resource I will definitely use this year.
• www.prezi.com I thought that this website is a great way to create your own power point as an online presentation tool saved on the internet.  I have been impressed with how my fellow teachers have used this website to create great presentations.  I like how you can access it online and share it with colleagues.
• www.quizlet.com I enjoyed learning about this website and the ability to create vocabulary flashcards for my ELL students that struggle with learning vocabulary words in math, science and Language Arts.  I am going to use this website for sure in my classroom.
• www.rubistar.4teachers.org/ I thought that this is a great tool to use to create rubrics for my classroom to grade students on projects and presentations.

Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning

As a multiple subjects teacher required to teach all subjects each day, it is very necessary to have an interdisciplinary classroom.  There is not enough time in the day to teach each subject separately.  Teaching and integrating all subjects is a great way to keep students interests high and keep them motivated to learn.  I always have to teach Language Arts and I try to incorporate Science and math into whatever we are learning or reading in ELA.  For example, this past year my first graders read the story "The Hat"- a story that is part of the Frog and Toad series.  To accompany the story I brought in non-fiction books on Frogs and Toads to help my students learn more about the differences and similarities between frogs and toads.  This is how I brought in Science into Language Arts.  We also talked about our schema about what they already knew, we researched different types of frogs and toads and then as a closing project my students wrote two five sentence paragraphs on frogs and toads.

I also integrated math into learning and reading about Frogs and Toads.  I had my students create frog number stories and for math centers had a hands-on activity where my students had to work out number story problems on paper lily pads with plastic frogs.  My students loved learning about frogs and toads in Science but also loved reading the Frog and Toad stories in Language Arts.

I have found many great ideas from other teachers on Pinterest.  Here is the link to a great Frog and Toad comparison chart  http://pinterest.com/pin/256986722456329658/ and the link to a Frog and Toad pattern to write facts about Frogs and Toads http://pinterest.com/pin/256986722456932543/.   Here is the link to the math center that I did with my class http://pinterest.com/pin/225461525065396688/.

Here is a great website for kids to learn more about frogs and toads:  http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/.  On this website you can research any type of animal.  My students love this website.

The blog I commented on:
Carolyn Cadle carriecadleMAIT.blogspot.com

Mind the Gap: Session 2

1.  Page 12, "Testing, I realized with dismay, had become a central preoccupation in the schools and was not just a measure but an end in itself.  I came to believe that accountability, as written into federal law, was not raising standards but dumbing down the schools as states and districts strived to meet unrealistic targets."
     Testing has become such a huge part in my classroom.  Teaching at a Title I school, I feel like I am teaching always to the test.  My success as a teacher is measured by how well my students perform on our district's Common Assessment tests.  If my students do not perform well, I am criticized and reprimanded for not having higher test scores.  I have to agree with Ravitch, testing is an end in itself.  However, the results of the testing drives my teaching. My planning is based upon my student's performance on the Pre-tests.  If my students show strength in a standard then I only have to review that standard before my actual test.  If my students do not perform well in a specific standard, I concentrate my next couple weeks of my teaching cycle focused on having my students master that standard.  Teaching to the TEST!  Additionally, I believe testing is necessary to show what knowledge and content student's have retained.  Students will retain more knowledge when they are interested in the content.    

Page 13, "It is time, I think, for those who want to improve our schools to focus on the essentials of education.  We must make sure that our schools have a strong, coherent, explicit curriculum that is grounded in the liberal arts and sciences, with plenty of opportunity for children to engage in activities and projects that make learning lively."
     What are the essentials of Education?  Schools need to have programs that teach to the whole child.  Students should be provided with knowledge that makes them well-rounded and well-educated.  It is very difficult to teach when your curriculum is lacking in certain areas and you need to supplement and find other sources that support your standards. Students need to gain knowledge that they will need to understand the world that they live in and to be successful in their life.  Teachers need to provide instruction that is engaging to all students. Students will enjoy learning, if the teacher makes it fun and interesting.  If a student is not interested in the content, then they will not show motivation to learn.  As a teacher, you need to find out the interests of your students.  Learning should be FUN!

2.  How would you characterize a well-educated person?
        Ravitch explains, "A well educated person has a well-furnished mind, shaped by reading and thinking about history , science, literature, the arts, and politics,  The well-educated person has learned how to explain ideas and listen respectfully to others."
     A well educated person is dedicated to spending time to making themselves better and learning their knowledge from others.  They are always striving to keep learning to further their knowledge in their area of interest.  They have an open-mind to learn new things and open to new ideas.  An individual that is well educated thinks outside the box and is not stuck in their ways.  They are life-long learners!  We learn from our experience and our education.  With education, we acquire WISDOM!

3.  On page 25, "What was truly at risk, it said, was the promise that 'all, regardless of race or class or economic status, are entitled to a fair chance and to the tools of developing their individual powers of mind and spirit to the utmost.'  As a teacher, I believe that all students should be entitled to an equal education no matter what race or economic status they are.

4.  I will be teaching 2nd grade next year and the one gap from my subject area is in ELA and the standard that contains Syllabication.   The standard states:  Decoding and Word Recognition:  1.2 Apply Knowledge of basic Syllabication rules when reading (e.g., vowel-consonant-vowel, vowel-consonant/consonant-vowel).  I have such a hard time knowing all these rules of Syllabication.  I wish there was some easier way to learn and teach this standard to my students.

Here are some useful resources that I might be able to use:

• One website that will be beneficial is www.edhelper.com.  This website provides worksheets and activities that will support my teaching how to teach syllabication to my 2nd graders.  
• Another great website is www.edutopia.org. 
• A great book to help me with teaching Syllabication is, "Literacy for the 21st Century:  A Balanced Approach, by Gail E. Tompkins.  This books provides strategies to use in the classroom to develop successful readers and writers.  It helps to integrate the best of what we know about teaching reading and writing.  
• Another great book is, "When Readers Struggle:  Teaching That Works,"  by Gay Su Pinnell.  This book provides guidance of how to teach reading and writing to struggling readers.  
• A great research article based on teaching syllabication is, "Syllabication and the Teaching of Reading," by Marlow Ediger in the source, "Reading Improvement, v30 n3 pgs. 186-188, Fall 1993.  In this article, he elaborates on the use of syllabication in teaching students to recognize unknown words.  He also discusses specific methodologies in teaching syllabication.

5.  My topic/question is "What are the effects of parent involvement and intervention in a student's ability to learn how to read?"  Here are some articles that I might find useful in furthering my research on this inquiry:

• The first article is titled, "Early Literacy Interventions for English Language Learners:  Support for an RTI Model, by Healy, Krista; Vanderwood, Mike; Edelston, Danielle, from the journal California School Psychologist, v10 pg.55-63, 2005            

      In this research article, the research study used first graders that were screened with measures of phonological awareness and nonsense word fluency to determine those in need of reading intervention.  The 15 lowest performing English Language Learners (ELL) were also selected to participate.  Out of 15 students, 12 of the students were exited from the intervention program.  It was very interesting to read this article and to see their results.  My district also uses the RTI model to intervention to help those students who are struggling with reading.  I believe this type of intervention model works at underperforming schools.  It does not allow students to fall through the cracks and it provides intervention early on.  

• The second article is titled, "A Sociocultural Perspective:  Language Arts Framework, Vocabulary Activities and English Language Learners in a 2nd grade Mixed Classroom, by Ajayi, Lasisi J., from the Journal of Instructional Psychology v32 n3 pg. 180-195 2005, 16pp. 

     In this research article, the study examined the language arts framework and how vocabulary acquisition seems to be more difficult for ELL (English Language Learner) to acquire but it's a huge component of academic language.

Blogs that I commented on:
Sasha Staking:  http://yvhsteachermat.blogspot.com
Debamitra Guha: http://rdguha.blogspot.com
Greg Brown-Davis:  http://gregbrown-davis.blogspot.com