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Tuesday, September 30, 2008

TMHS Technology Anthropology

Thunder Mountain High School is set to be a wonderful, technological equipped school when everything is completed and properly set in. Currently there is lots of technology equipment that is still on order or not set up. Despite this small set back, the staff and administration continue the enthusiasm of expectancy of all the technological advances that TMHS will contain.

As teachers were choosing the school for where they wanted to teach this current school year, one of the "perks" for TMHS is the technology that would be there. Most teachers that I've met are excited about the technology and eager to learn and try more. This afternoon at the school there was training on our new Interwrite systems. It can be used as a portable mouse where anything can be accessed from you computer anywhere in the classroom and make the lecture more interactive. There is also small clickers that students can have, like on a game show, where a question can be put in and then students asked to respond with immediate feedback and graphs on the responses. The teachers are excited about this technology and are working through the parts of the system that feel clumsy.

To gather this information was a task as most people involved with technology are extremely busy as the technology is not all up and working. Different people in the school were interviewed to gather the information that is contained in the entire document. There could be additional items that we have not listed due to the timing of this project and the new opening of this school. However, seeing that an array of people loosely connected to the technology of school were eager to share with us, the information contained is most likely fairly close to complete and accurate.

Feel free to view the entire document.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Article Review- Listen to the Natives

Overview
Marc Prensky exposes two contrasting view points, those of the technological age referred to as digital native and those of the old way age referred to as digital immigrants. While the digital immigrants struggle with technology and their integration is minimal at best, students are fluent in technology. Students also have the ability to rapidly evolve just as technology continues to do. Since the students are no longer "little versions of us," even teacher selection should shift gears and those who have empathy and guidance abilities are sought rather than subject matter knowledge. Some main ideas of changes needed to fully embrace the technology age and truly teach the digital native, Prensky suggests:

  • Teachers must put engagement before content teaching.

  • Teachers needn't master all the new technologies, but should help students take advantage of the new tools by providing opportunities for interaction.

  • To optimize student engagement and motivation, technology must be integrated through means such as "gameplay."

  • Students should become partners in their education and choices must be made with them.

  • Schools should have flexible organization focusing on one-to-one personalized instruction or having all learning groups self-select.

  • Digital tools, like cell phones, should be embraced and integrated for student learning.

  • Programming is a key for the next generation.

My Reflection

While I embrace almost any new technologies and revel when something new comes out and I can play with it, some of the ideas that were presented in this article are difficult for me to digest. Integrating various technology into test review, homework correction, interactive teaching, and interesting enrichment activities to spur on knowledge all seem to go well. But when a discussion comes along that teachers who know their content are somehow less desirable than a friendly guide, I feel violated and rendered as invaluable. Arguably, this is not about teachers but how to help students learn, students must have a well rounded teacher and not a pre-programmed computer game to replace all instruction.


The article brings out some points that some seasoned teachers seem to have missed lately and that is that technology does have a place in every classroom. As a parent, I expect grades and progress reports to be available online, I expect to have a teacher's e-mail address and trust they know how to reply, and when my children have computer lab I expect the lesson will go past naming the "funny little thing beside the keyboard" as a mouse.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Futuring: Sabrina's Journey

A Review of Sabrina's Journey:
Sabrina's piece is nicely done. It is a short biography and glimpse into her history on her journey that led to where she is currently. She is showing where she was, where she went, but then ending in what truly defines who she is. She also uses a reoccurring theme, "Do I belong here?" throughout her video.

  • Sabrina was born in Klawock
  • She moved to Colorado for college
  • She completed a teaching degree and is now back in Klawock

How Could I use this in my classroom?

1) As a documentary: possibly of their boat project and then comparing their original mathematical calculations to what actually happens in the water with their life size boat. Although a digital piece wouldn’t be required, a nice wrap up activity could summarize what was learned with a percentage for “creativity,” leaving the digital world wide open to students.

2) Teach the teachers: students pretend they are the teachers for 10 minutes to teach a certain concept to me- the kids could go wild and have fun with that project and true learning would occur because when someone understands something well enough to teach it, then they most likely have the concept now stored in their long term memory.

3) Grading using a rubric: I would have clear objectives on why I was assigning a certain project and have a clear rubric ready to go over before the project/assignment began to eliminate any confusion and to reign in those that would tend to wonder off topic.

Analysis of How to animate a rolling ball

Students were given a task to understand the mathematics involved with rolling a ball and demonstrate that knowledge by a short animated video clip. In this video clip the students had

  • to utilize the circumference formula
  • project how the 3-dimensional object would fit onto the x, y, and z axes
  • teach this information showing their through knowledge of the original task

This project would be a good interdisciplinary task where teachers could collaborate in mathematics, computer, and English could work together for a common goal. In the end the students have gain concept knowledge in math, animation skills in computer, and video scripting in their English class. Having students teach the topic is on the higher learning level according to blooms technology.

There could be some drawbacks like the amount of time required to complete the project or the possibility that students seem to forget the purpose and get off track in digital projects with all the neat effects. Another concern would be students limited access to the Internet or special program outside of the classroom.

Futuring: Assessment and new media

The film epic2015 was about how technology has evolved and predictions where technology is headed. The major points that I got from the video are:

~Technology is changing and growing at a very fast pace
~In 2015, a newspaper could be obsolete and Google give personalized news information
~Google might overpower Microsoft and become the leading internet giant

How technology advancement affects me as a teacher:
~As a Windows MSWord user, if it’s true that Microsoft won’t be keeping up with the technology wave and could actually be removed from the playing field- then my current computer skills become obsolete.
~Students need decoding skills taught to use greater analytical skills to process the information that is received to ensure that they do not become “programmable.”
~It is also a very exciting time to be a teacher as the worlds next technology leaders could be sitting in my classroom and probably already have skills past my own.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

The First Day in School

What was it like to go back to school- but as a teacher this time?
Crazy, Awesome, Fun!

The day began greeted by screaming juniors welcoming us back to school. I almost cried overwhelmed with emotion of pride and sheer joy just to be there.

The middle was pure, organized chaos. Lost kids, screwed up schedules, and classes with no room to meet in.


The day ended with a few good laughs and all in all a sense of success and readiness to face the next day. Yep, just like I remember: school is Crazy, Awesome, Fun!