What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice?
I said it last week and I’m going to say it this week; I’ve learned that it is imperative to plan out how you can use that technology for your lessons. There are so many amazing resources out there to grab a hold of in order to learn something and share it with your students. I find that once I start a lesson, there is no time to think about what you need to do next; you just do it. By having your lesson already set in your mind and being prepared, you deliver more of an effective lesson.
What goals are you still working toward?
I am always working on my goals, and I think that I’ve established a technology-rich environment with resources that I have available to me and that are appropriate for kindergarten. My first goal: Develop a technology-enriched learning environment that enables all students to pursue individual curiosities and to become active participants in setting educational goals, managing learning, and assessing progress.
We are currently working on setting goals by talking about what a goal is and how do we go about working towards our goals.
My second goal: Engagement within a PLC to learn about what new technology is out there and to educate colleagues.
This goal is still being continued as well. I also consider Walden a PLC and am learning lots from all of my wonderful colleagues.
Based on the NETS-T, what new learning goals will you set for yourself?
A new goal that I would like to set for myself is to communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats. I think that parent communication is key to a child’s success. If I could communicate to parents about what we are doing in the classroom through wikis or blogs, then I think the amount of parent to teacher interaction would increase. More and more parents are getting involved with technology in order to keep up with their children.
What learning approaches will you try next time to improve your learning?
Next time I will try to ask more questions about technology. Sometimes I feel like my questions may be too juvenile.
Communicating with parents is a great goal to have. Sometimes it seems hard enough to communicate in general but discussing ways they can help their students with technology tools can be a greater challenge than most. In a way, in many of these circumstances we are teaching the parents as well as the students. However, this would encourage parents to get more involved and play an active role in what their student is learning. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteDo you have a class website? I post technology projects the students have completed on our class website so the parents can see them. I feel like this allows parents to "see" what their children are doing at school since they may not be able to physically come into the classroom. Blogs can encourage families to work together because the parents will most likely need to do the typing, but the answer can be a collaborative effort. Adding links to various websites also gives parents opportunties to see what their kids are doing or can do. One more thought...if your school has a computer lab, you could always hold a technology night where you can invite students and parents to come. The students (and you) can show their parents what they are able to do.
ReplyDeleteWe have a kindergarten team page instead of individual webpages. We are able to post technology projects on that page and some teachers at my school have done that. That's a great idea. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteErica,
ReplyDeleteYou make a nice comment on the involvement of parents in the learning process of their children. Yes, this is something that should be worked on and changed, I believe. Sometimes it seems to me that theer are two groups of individuals - those who are to be learned and those who are to teach them. No cooperation, parents are a separate cathegory :-).
Erica,
ReplyDeleteI love your new goal. I could not agree more that that parent communication is key to a child’s success. I believe getting parents involved with a class blog will make them feel more like a part of their child's learning. It is also a good way to educate parents on the issues that 21st century learning raises and could teach them how to moniter their child's online learning. Instead of just having parents who do not permit their children to access the internet at all for safety reasons or fear of the unknown, you will be encouraging useful and safe online interaction.
Erica,
ReplyDeleteIt is worth considering to involve parents in the learning process in their children. I believe that there would be no harm made if anyone came with the idea of presenting adults with the issues their descendants have to learn. And seminars for parents on how to get involved are not a bad idea either...