Reflection

This class has really challenged me! Yet it has been one of the most rewarding classes I have ever taken. I think what I liked best about the Networking class is that we didn't just read about networking but we had to network. I have always been a hands on learner and although I am a bit slower when it comes to understanding all this new technology, I am excited about what I have learned to do: blogging, podcasting, and creating a wiki page with my class this year.
I think sometimes we avoid teaching with tools that we are not comfortable with. I feel better prepared to go back to school next week and use this technology with my students. I am ok with making mistakes and exploring together.
I have really enjoyed the collaboration project that I worked on with students in Australia, Canada, and other cities in New Hampshire without ever leaving my home. I am sad and relieved that the class is coming to an end. The workload was tough. I really put a lot of time into the class. That said, I feel that I have made some new friends who I could contact if I needed help. I am also blogging....who knew I would like putting my thoughts on the computer for others to read and comment on. The comments have all been positive and supportive.
The following paragraph from Siemen's book Knowing Knowledge talks about the change that is needed. The book talked about letting go of what we think we know and preparing for a rapid change.

A holistic, integral approach to thinking, learning, and knowledge is
required as our society grows in complexity. The opportunity for change is tremendous. Opportunities to restructure
organizations and society are rare. Yet periodically—in periods of
substantial social, technological, or ideological change—we have the
opportunity to remake our existence, to rewrite the inefficiencies of
antiquated modes of operation. With vision, foresight, and awareness
of change, we can move forward with a model that will serve humanity
well. We exist in such a time. If we are able to loose our faulty view of
control-in-advance and embrace an adaptive, flow-view of knowledge,
we have the capability to restructure our organizations to best serve our
learners, employees, and customers.

I am taking away so much from this class and I am anxious to share it with my colleagues.

Thanks to Jeff Utecht for doing such an amazing job teaching this class. He has opened my eyes and my beliefs in using new technology like wiki's in my class.

Laptops in the classroom

After searching the Internet for blogs or stories on how teachers are using laptops in the classroom, I came across an article about Technology in the classroom. There is a lot of good information in this article about how we need to use technology in the classroom. There are a lot of things that we can do but giving children the chance to use laptops in the classroom opens up a world of information that no one teacher could possibly know. I realize that it is expensive to have a laptop for every student but mobile laptop carts can solve that problem.
I found some information on an initiative that Maine had started to purchase a laptop for every seventh grader and continue to supply seventh graders with laptops. The only problem is the articles I found were written in 2002 and I couldn't find any current information. I do have two nieces who live in Maine and have just reached high school. They weren't given laptops so I think the initiative must not have been feasible. I don't think many school districts can afford to give students laptops nor should they have to.I believe that with technology changing as rapidly as it has that it would be extremely expensive for school districts to keep buying laptops or computers. By the time you order your computer it is almost obsolete. My laptop is only three years old and I found taking this class that it did not have many of the features that I needed.
However, classes should have the technology readily available and be using it on a daily basis.I think mobile laptop carts are one of the best alternatives.
Eventually I think that we will need to do away with a lot of textbooks and learn to use the Internet for the most current information. Maybe as we fade out some textbooks more money would be available to buy computers.

Just when you thought you've heard it all...

In searching for an article to read for my class on laptops I stumbled across this article on teachers being trained as cops and carrying a gun in school. This is what Nevada is considering doing. OH MY! What are they thinking?? I love teaching but if they asked me to train as a cop and carry a gun to school I would be looking for a new job in a second. I am sitting here with my mouth hung open in awe of the thought of this. Are things that bad in Nevada? Is violence or intimidation the way to turn things around?
This is a must read article if you are in education at any level.
Teachers carrying guns!
I will be interested in reading your comments after you read this article.

PDA's

Let me start off by saying that I do not have a PDA. I can understand their uses and how some people need to stay connected all the time. I have a friend who has everything connected to her PDA so she never misses anything. I don't want to be that connected. I like coming home and finding a message on my answering machine. I like not being bothered if I am out shopping or in class. I like driving without the radio on sometimes just to enjoy the piece and quiet. I am not saying that if I was a Dr. or well, there is no or, I think Dr.s need to be connected all the time but right now I can't think of another profession that needs to be connected that long.
Let's take into consideration that I live in a very rural community and I am a teacher. The only thing I am connected to during the day are my students. I know we will be connecting during our class time but not through a PDA.
I enjoy getting on the internet and blogging but until just recently I didn't even do that on a daily basis. I must admit I am hooked on the internet but that is when I am home and not trying to do other things.
Because I am not from a big city nor have I ever lived in a big city my point of view is very skewed. I think if I lived in Boston or NYC and had more than an hour commute to get home I might find it necessary to use a PDA and my point of view might be very different. Our younger generations are growing up with this technology and find it a necessity. I must admit keeping everything organized and accessible in one location is an attractive feature. If you would like to learn more about PDA's I found this site to be very helpful.
PDA's

Topic of Choice-Creating a new mission statement

Next week we return to our classrooms. At Alton Central School we have a new principal who has assigned us all with the task of rewriting our Mission Statement. It is clear to me that the mission statement needs to reflect the changes in our world and what we teach, the importance of technology, and the importance of teaching our students to identify the sources of what they read on the internet and to be safe. I was reading a blog on my RSS Reader and came across this:
Dare to Dream
On her blog she says,
"If anything has and is changing radically in our world it is this sense of place and as we struggle with how it forms and informs our world I need to struggle with school as place and it begins with our goals. Schools must enable students to research, create, communicate and collaborate .... it should be a place of performance, invention resourcefulness, and networking . It should be a space that encourages us to negotiate and explore new places and that is what technology enables." This phrase just sums it up for me. I hope to be able to share this with our team of teachers as we struggle to rewrite our Mission Statement.

Assessment

Taking this class has helped me understand how to use the technology that is available in our school and how to create blogs and wiki's that I can use with the children as an alternate way of assessing to replace the boring paper and pencil days.
Currently we have a technology requirement that each grade level contributes to an individual portfolio. Second graders were required to have a minimum of two entries. They loved doing them! Since this was the first year it will be interesting to see how it evolves. I would love to look at how the students I had last year develop their portfolios.
We also use an online assessment called NWEA that allows children to take tests that have an enormous question base. If the student is answering the question correctly it jumps to a higher level question and the opposite also applies.
As a teacher the test scores are immediate and you can see where a child's strengths and weaknesses are. You can also see if all the children are weak in a certain area than you need to adjust your teaching.
I look forward to changing from traditional journaling in a book to creating blogs so the children can write their thoughts on their own blog page. I can already see how much better I am doing with connecting to different sites, it will be even more exciting to see the growth in the children.

Wiki Project

Below is a link to a collaborative wiki project that I have been working on with several other members of my class at PSU. I was probably the biggest skeptical when it comes to the usefulness and reliability of wiki's. That has changed! I just read through another wiki page that was created by another team in this class about how to use wiki's in the elementary grades. School starts next week and I now have a great reference page to start a blogging page in my classroom along with that I want to connect with another classroom to compare things like whether, culture, and schools.
Here is our wiki page on Touring Cities.
Here is the wiki page on using Wiki's in the classroom.
I can't wait to go back and read one of the other classmates wiki page on Web 2.0.