Here,There, and Everywhere!

There are so many different ways I am going to integrate technology into my classroom, and I cannot wait! After these two days of class I have so many different ideas and plans I want to bring into the 4th grade classroom I will be student teaching at this fall. I would like to integrate research for the students on a topic, say in history or social studies. I then want to assign ( or allow them to pick a country of their interest!) students a country to look through the lens of and present that to their peers, potentially in a classroom Jigsaw activity or make a presentation/movie trailer for the information they want to share with us. Another way I would like to redefine technology in the classroom is to, have the students research a critical world issue, gain knowledge on it and then FaceTime or Skype someone from that country and get their opinion on it / interview them. Not only are they gaining technological skills, but they are also gaining communication skills within a global perspective.

Two more ideas that I would like to integrate are the YouTube video and the pictures as a story activity. Just like we learned today in class, when there is a visual put in front of us we will retain the information 65% more than if there was not. I want to put photos up on the screen and have students think of a story and how it relates to the content we are learning, or about to learn. If I do this activity before a unit I can attain an understanding on the level of what the students know before starting the unit. If I do this activity after a unit I can help understand how much the students learned or if there are any misconceptions in the room I can clear them up for them. I hope to incorporate student choice and allow them to have autonomy in the classroom as well as redefining learning with the SAMR Model.

The possibilities are endless with technology!!

Lastly, I want to ensure that I reflect on the most important thing I learned in class today......LOVE YOUR STUDENTS. 

Breaking the Walls of the Classroom

What is Connectivism? Connectivism is, "a learning theory that explains how Internet technologies have created for people to learn and share information across the World Wide Web"(Siemens, Downes). Connectivism has redefined classroom learning. Bringing technology into the classroom has allowed students to ask questions and learn more than ever before, because they have so much knowledge and resources at their fingertips. Bringing technology into the classroom and teaching students how to use it is allowing students to be life long learners. When they are done in the classroom and move on to the next grade or graduate, students still have the skill to conduct research and be a digital citizen and an empowered learner. information up way beyond the classroom walls. 

 Having technology in the classroom is improving student learning in tremendous ways! These students are able to connect and interact with real world issues IN REAL TIME. To include when educators use Skype or some sort of chat to speak with people from all over the world on a topic that the students themselves are not living first-hand, but can connect with someone who is. This is allowing our students to become global collaborators. Or another example used in class today was, having 5th graders write to a state representative on an issue that they themselves could not vote on, but would be impacted by ( making cursive mandatory ). They were able to write an essay on if they should or should not have to learn cursive and send it to their state representative. This is impactful, because not only are the children improving their writing skills, but they are learning how to use their voice in a positive way.