Reflection on Becoming a 21st Century Teacher

This course has helped me tremendously in further developing my technology skills. I have learned about many new tools throughout this course. I have never made a wiki, a podcast, or even my own blog before. I enjoyed the experiences I’ve has working with these tools. I feel that I can continue to use the skills that I learned and become even better at working with them. I am excited to explore the tools that are available online so that I can learn even more.

I plan on continuing to expand my knowledge of technology integration with the aim of student achievement by trying the new tools that I have learned from this class in my classroom. I want to see how the students work with the technology and integrate more of it into my lessons. My students will work hard and collaborate on creating online artifacts that will be seen by all of the class and others online that want to see their work. If the students put forth their full effort, then they will achieve more. I also want to explore the internet to find more tools and ideas that I can use in my classroom that will integrate technology. I want my students to collaborate to solve problems because it will help them in the future if they can do that successfully.

One goal that I have for transforming my classroom into a place where technology is integrated to meet instructional needs and increase student achievement is by using computers on a daily basis. This will be not be as challenging as in the past because my students will all have a laptop to use daily. This will allow for more collaboration on assignments. I want to have a class blog that the students will participate in on a weekly basis and I also want them to create wikis and podcasts frequently. An online audience will also play a large part in helping my students work harder and accomplish more. Another goal that I have for the immediate future is to use collaboration on more assignments even when technology is not used. The students need to know how to work effectively with other people on anything that is thrown their way.

Becoming a 21st century teacher is important for me because it will make me better at teaching my students the skills that they will need to succeed in the future. Students are using technology daily at home, so I need to use it as often as possible in the classroom. I want to teach my students how to use technology successfully to learn and solve problems through collaboration.

Podcast: Technology and the Students of Today

Check out my podcast. I interviewed students at my school about their use of technology. Making a podcast was easier than I thought and my students and I had fun in the process. I think that students would really enjoy making podcasts in the classroom.

http://dlatchaw.podomatic.com/

21st Century Skills

Partnership for 21st Century Skills: http://www.p21.org/
This is an excellent website for teachers trying to teach their students skills needed for the 21st century. The framework and definitions are very clear for any teacher to follow to teach these skills to students. I really liked the explanation of the student outcomes (http://www.p21.org/documents/P21_Framework_Definitions.pdf) for the framework. It was very clear to me that it is important for students to learn these skills. This site provided excellent resources for teachers such as videos that show 21st century skills in action in classrooms, blogs, and many other resources that are valuable for teaching these skills. I am concerned that these skills are not seen to be valuable enough to be testing the students on standardized tests. If these skills are extremely important, then why don't we have standards to teach these skills and why aren't these skills tested?
I was curious to know exactly how much learning out of books is still present in these classrooms. This concerns me because I think that students may rely on technology and those skills so much that they will be lost without the technology. Students still need to know how to find information and learn without the use of technology. I am afraid that they may become too accustomed to using the technology. The money needed to implement a program such as this also concerns me. This idea would have to be completely accepted by the district, then by all the teachers. It would be up to the teachers to sell the idea to the students. Teaching 21st century skills according to the framework would require a major change in some of my teaching methods. I would be open to the idea, but I would also have to have reliable technology, which is not always the case.
It surprises me that states have become 21st century states. I am amazed that they have the resources to become technologically advanced. I wonder if the state wants all schools to teach 21st century skills, or if all schools are required to teach these 21st century skills.
I think that this site is awesome for teachers. Following a program like this would be excellent for students. I would not to rely 100% on technology because I do not want my students to lose the ability to work without technology, but I would love for them to become more advanced in working with technology.

How would I use a blog in my classroom?

Just a few months ago I wasn't positive it I even knew what a blog was. Now, I am excited about blogging! I think that blogging in the classroom would be an excellent idea. In my tenth grade English class, I have my students write journal entries every week. I am the only one that reads them, and some of them are really well written and interesting. It would be awesome to be able to make them accessible for each student to see. My class blog would have the journal prompts posted, and each student would have to complete it. I would also require them to read and respond to the responses of some of their students. They would have to follow some blogging rules that would be specified beforehand so that they know that everything posted has to be appropriate. This would enhance the lesson because the students would learn how to respond to the prompt and respond to each other. This would teach excellent communication skills that they would use throughout their lives. They could also add more later and reflect on the comments that they received from their peers. This particular blog would serve as a showcase for student work that they can be proud of and reflect on at the end of the year. The blog would be an excellent instructional tool because it would have the attention of the students, they wouldn't lose the work or prompt, they could easily access it outside of school, and it gives them something to showcase for other people to see. Giving the students ownership of something that other people will see makes them work harder and do well to make it the bast that they can do.

Hello

Welcome to my first blog! I am excited to learn more about technology to bring into my classroom. I was amazed that it was this easy to create my own blog.