Reflection

During this course, I was able to improve my knowledge of certain resources such as wikis, blogs, and podcasts. This exposure has helped me find, learn, and utilize technology more into my classroom. The experience has helped my develop new teaching strategies, and it also opened my eyes to the need students have of using technology to learn. I was able to see how much more interested the students were when I proposed the use of these technologies within the curriculum. I was able to see how students learned better because I was using tools that were related to their everyday lives. Likewise, I was able to see how my teaching processes allowed me to become more of a facilitator rather than a drill instructor. The center of my teaching was more focused on the students because they were enveloped in guided projects rather than traditional instruction. The students would ask more questions, and if they did not, I was able to look at their work and ask inferring questions to them. The focus was no longer on me and my words or notes; the focus was on the students, their work, and their interpretations of the material.
I hope to expand my knowledge of new technologies, so I might find other uses for it within my classroom. I plan to attend seminars (when they are available) that include different types of technology, and maybe I will find something that will add another element to my classroom. In addition, I will check teaching blog sites for suggestions on different technologies or different uses for the technologies that I currently use.
One goal that I would like to achieve within the next two years is I would like to start a summer program where we teach students to use blogs, wikis, and podcasts as sources of information versus sources of communication. I want to setup summer assignments and projects over the summer, so students will have a chance to get ahead. This will help to overcome the time situation, and it will allow me to include more in depth instruction. To implement this plan, I would like to use blogs and wikis as the source of instruction as well as a source of practice. To accomplish this goal, I will have to talk to the administration to see if I can get funding and/or permission to do so. Even without funding, the program should not need much because it will all be done using free online resources. Luckily, the area in which I teach has a couple of libraries with a large supply of computers for anyone to use.
Another long term goal I have is to find funding to help students whose families cannot afford a computer. With that funding I hope to aid those families and offer classes to teach those families how to use them and explore their abilities. With this program, I hope to overcome the financial issues that schools are having, and at the same time, I hope to include the families in their child's learning. Likewise, this will allow my students a better opportunity to engage themselves with the digital projects without the time restraint of school since they will have a computer at home. To accomplish this goal, I will need to do some research and hopefully find a program that either donates computers to low-income families or supplies funding for low-income families to buy one themselves. At the same time, I will need to talk with the administration and the county to offer a class to teach families how to use a computer properly. This should not be too hard because the only cost to the school would be the electricity used because there are plenty of people that would be willing to volunteer to help.

My Podcast

This link will allow you to download my report.
http://podcastmachine.com/podcasts/2251/episodes/9694/media_files/26074/download/3/file_140kb_mon.mp3


This link will allow you to download the first response.
http://podcastmachine.com/podcasts/2251/episodes/9695/media_files/26077/download/3/file_140kb_mon.mp3

This link will allow you to download the second response.
http://podcastmachine.com/podcasts/2251/episodes/9696/media_files/26083/download/3/file_140kb_mon.mp3


This link will allow you to download the third response.
http://podcastmachine.com/podcasts/2251/episodes/9697/media_files/26086/download/3/file_140kb_mon.mp3

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

After viewing the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website, I was very impressed with the amount of information that was available describing what the goals of the program are and how the program is meant to help students become better prepared for the professional world.  I was also very surprised to see the amount of resources available on the website.  I did type math in the search, and many different resources popped up.  Some were not very related, but there were plenty to look through.  However, I was displeased to see the support of cognitive tutor (collaboration with computer based learning with a focus on application).  After working with the program for a couple of years, I noticed that it was very helpful when it came to test scores at the end of the year, but when it came to skills practice, the students did not retain much of the information. 

I think that the groups mission is essential for students, but I believe it to be hard to establish in the classroom due to time constraints, and the large amount of information that is forced upon teachers and students.  If these obstacles did not exist, I believe that the program and its goals could be a great asset to educators and students.  The students would improve essential skills while they are learning the essential material.

My Blogs Start

I plan to use this blog as a place for students to discuss topics that I post.  I think a lot of students get stuck with the idea that there is only one way of solving a problem (I teach high school math), and they do not realize that there are many different strategies to solve many different problems.  I think it would be useful to post a problem, and allow students to post different strategies to solve the problem.  Doing this will allow the students an opportunity to explore the material out of the textbook, they will be able to interact with each other about the material, and they will also have the chance to show off their knowledge in an anonymous fashion.  I think the blog can enhance the lesson by allowing students to think about the material on their own, and at the same time it will allow students to see how other students perceive the material.  This blog can provide an opportunity for me to see the abilities of my students regardless if they are shy or not.  At the same time I am able to read how they are processing the material.  I do wish that I had the ability to allow my students to type mathematical material into the blog, but I do not have a clue how.  If anyone reads this and thinks of a way to do it, please let me know.

Welcome

I've started a blog, so my students may be able to anonymously discuss topics that I present for the class.  I hope that it will be an educational way to get my students talking about math without the pressure of watchful eyes.