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MARTIN'S BLOGS

21st Century Teaching

9/23/2017

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When I first started teaching I never thought anything about technology. I student taught in 2 schools that had a computer lab, document cameras, and a TV or projector. I have only been teaching six years and the changes of technology within the classroom is remarkable. Now, each one of my students has their own Chromebook, some classrooms are going paperless, and whiteboards are interactive. You would think that's enough, but now we are competing with other countries for jobs and our students are not thinking critically enough. How can we get students ready for jobs that do not even exist yet?

Teachers are in a rough position. Now not only do we need to keep these students interested in math, writing, reading etc. we now have this task of getting students ready for jobs that are not there yet. So we have to look at the 4Cs: critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity. These four areas will help prepare students for any job.  We need to prepare our students to be problem solvers. They need to come up with their own solutions and to be able to think critically about things. How I do I feel about this? Well, I think it's great! But with all of the standards and expectations of working with the curriculum, when do I have time to have students work on problems that 1. are an interest them and 2. they can research and come up with solutions. I have been watching videos of 21st Century teaching and learning and I want to implement these ideas but I just do not know when I have the time. I still have to give grades and teach math, spelling, reading, writing, the list goes on and on. 

I am going to challenge myself to start small and implement critical thinking strategies in my classroom. I really like the idea of the students coming up with a problem that they think they need to solve, researching it, and sharing it in some way (a power point, pamphlet, etc.). I think this year I will try giving them a topic and seeing what problems they can come up with to solve. Now I will continue my research to see how to make sure my students will be using the 4Cs during this project. In The Flat World and Education by Linda Darling-Hammond she suggests that in order to have students who are ready for the workforce we should "encourage quality by structuring work around whole products or services rather than disconnected piecework." This makes sense to me because when our students are doing projects for a job they are doing whole products. I think this ties in perfectly with what I would like to accomplish this year in my classroom and help my students problem solve and use their critical thinking skills. 

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IRB

9/10/2017

5 Comments

 
After reviewing the IRB I have to admit I am pretty overwhelmed. I understand the importance of protecting "human subjects" but there is a lot to remember. I am still trying to figure out my driving question. I go back and forth about either "technology improving student achievement in reading" OR "does building growth mind set in students improve student achievement?" I have a passion in technology and that's why I'm leaning towards that BUT I'm having trouble figuring out how to measure that. So to the question "How would you measure them?".... I don't know. As of right now I am looking at using their current comprehension scores vs. teaching them how to use digital story telling websites/apps and seeing if there is a growth in their scores. I found this website to help me with different websites (https://elearningindustry.com/18-free-digital-storytelling-tools-for-teachers-and-students ) to try out with my students. I am excited to introduce my students to digital storytelling and I am lucky enough to have 2 classes to do this with. My partner teaches 2nd grade also and her and I do a lot of switching. I will be using her class as well as mine to do my research. Now, as I start my research, I just need to make sure I am following the IRB rules and regulations to help protect the subjects involved in my research. 
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This Week's Content

9/3/2017

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 This week's content was powerful. This is my 6th year teaching and these videos still hit home for me. I am amazed to see these students speaking so powerfully to teachers/educators. But first I will start with what I learned from the first two videos, Did you Know 2017 and Shift Happens.  First, in one of the videos it said we are preparing students for jobs that do not exist yet. This really shocked me. It made some really good points that we need to help make our students problem solvers. I feel in the world today most people do not think for themselves. I need to make sure that my students are ready for anything. We do not know what the future holds for them but I can help make them life long learners and problem solvers. Technology is taking over our lives, as shown in the "Did You Know 4.0" video. I, as an educator, need to make sure my students are prepared to enter a world full of technology. 

Now to talk about my 2 favorite videos: Adora Svitak and Dalton Sherman. Adora seems like an amazing child who has better public speaking skill than I do. She said, "kids don't think about limitations." This statement really stuck with me. Adults seem to set limits for children. I understand there is a time and a place for limits, but in the classroom teachers should let students explore. I really feel like teachers do not let students explore enough. When a child is interested in something, teachers can make this a learning opportunity. After watching the 21st century videos that I found for my case study, I realize I have been limiting student learning. I really want to change this. Students can be in charge of their learning with their teacher's guidance. Some educators continue to teach the same way because they do not know any better. After listening to Adora speak I realized I need to change my teaching practice to include more student based inquiry (as seen in my case study). She also mentioned that if we give the students low expectations, they will sink to those low expectations. So, educators need to continue to give high exceptions to all students. I have seen some teachers give lower expectations to students who they think can not do the work, but I have noticed that if you give the same high expectations to all students they strive to be their best. Dalton was also an amazing speaker. When he was talking about how we need to believe in each and ever child, I know it makes a difference. When you have someone who believes you can achieve greatness then you will achieve greatness. I want to continue to make sure that my students know that I believe in them and encourage them to do their best. He also talked about believing in your co workers too. That was interesting because I never thought about that. I love to share and collaborate with others but I want to make an effort to show my colleges that I believe in them also. I feel it would change the atmosphere at the school to more positive (especially for the new teachers).

I really enjoyed all of the videos that I watched this week. I feel it put certain aspects of my teaching in perspective and helped me realize things I need to work on.
3 Comments

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    I am a second grade teacher at Sierra Vista K-8

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