Amplifying Instruction
1. People
around the world are taking their education out of school and home, library, internet cafes and work places, where
is the can decide what they want to learn, when they want to learn, and how
they want to learn. These stories challenge our traditional model of Education
and as teachers; we are really forced to see ourselves for what really are as
teacher. Superhuman! Like those building the plain in Airplane, we are building
futures in educating the next generation. New technologies are transforming
every aspect of work: reading and interacting with the web; writing memos and
sending emails; computing with spreadsheets and statistical analysis programs;
analyzing problems with data
visualization tools; creating social networking sites; marketing with digital
video tools; and making presentations with PowerPoint. Reading, writing,
calculating, and thinking are what education is all about.
2.
I
am a resident because many of these sites are things that I have not only used
in my personal life, but in the classroom as well. Chances are that your
students are growing up in a world completely different from the one you grew
up in. Technology, lifestyles, economics, and many other factors have created a
different world than when you were in school. Students at this level are still
curious, imaginative, enthusiastic, and talkative. The classroom environment
tends to be very lively. However, as a first-year teacher, you may be surprised
to learn that students are not as you remember yourself as a middle school
student. Today’s students seem less motivated to learn and more interested in
other things such as listening to music, going to the mall, or playing video
games. You can capitalize on your students’ energy and enthusiasm by making
connections between what you teach in the classroom and your students’ everyday
lives.
3.
Skype
is a great site to use, with students for activities such as Skype an Author. In using this tool,
we are able to connect students to the
world. The Skype an Author Network provides a way for teachers or librarians
k-12 to connect authors, young readers, and books through virtual visits.
Students can video chat with authors while they are reading books written by
the author. Slide share is a great way for
students/teachers to share their ideas as well as feed off others ideas to build
on their own. I LOVEEEEE SCHOOLTUBE!!!!! This site simply gives students the opportunity
to learn and show their school pride at the same time and technology is also
being used.
4.
I think attending professional conferences is
a great idea, but as for online one thing that I have noticed is that teachers
build these communities so that they can assist each other by sharing some of
the things that work and others that may not. This gives teachers a chance to
network and suggest thing that can be done to make a certain situation or
lesson better.
5.
One of the resources that I can really relate
to is Animoto. I have been using this for years now and I always enjoy telling
a story with a song and a few pictures. This is absolutely a great tool for
teachers.
6.
What I noticed is that teachers are using
tools in their classrooms that the students are already familiar with and
things that they already use on a daily basis. Not only that, but there is a
very large variation throughout being that students/teachers interests may be
different.
7.
It
gives teachers the technological resources to apply to each level that will
suffice. All the words have been replaced by a technological area that may
illustrate that certain point.
8.
I
have used many of the video sites such as youtube and teacher tube and the two
tins here that are absolutely must use for me are the Blooms chart and school
tube. I am absolutely blown away by some of the resources that were presented
today and I really appreciate them being in one place together.
