Pamela+Gainous

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Reflection on Teacher Technology Standards

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**__Podcast-FRIGHTENING CONCLUSION__**
I have come to a frightening conclusion. I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or de-humanized. Haim Ginott 1965 //Between Teacher and Child//

**Virtual Field Trip Reflection** Virtual field trips (VFT’s) have opened by eyes to a whole new and exciting way to reach my students! Because today’s students are digital natives, virtual field trips should appeal to their cognitive needs in a big way. I feel it will be particularly helpful in getting kids to read informational text. While working in this digital world, they can acquire the skills they need without really realizing it. Instead of simply relying on textbooks and videos, VFT’s allow students to have an interactive experience with subjects that they otherwise may have little interest in. They also help teachers to meet the requirement for differentiation in the classroom because students can complete the VFT at their own pace.

As a librarian, I see unlimited possibilities. I can create virtual field trips for almost any area of study. This support would be invaluable to teachers. Creating virtual field trips myself would allow me to tailor the experience specifically to what is being taught at my school. These could easily be interdisciplinary, allowing students to make connections across curricula. I am very excited and cannot wait to incorporate virtual field trips into my teaching this year!

Prensky Reflections
1. In the article “Digital immigrants/Digital Natives”, Prensky discusses several characteristics of the younger generation of students (digital natives) that set them apart from their predecessors (digital immigrants). One of these characteristics is the desire/ability to parallel process and multi-task. This is a characteristic that I definitely see in my middle school students as well as in my own children. While students today seem to lack the ability to “stay focused”, I feel that exactly the opposite is true. They have an uncanny ability to write and listen to music and complete homework while watching television. The activities that we digital immigrant require silence to accomplish they seem to complete more effectively when engaged in some way with an electronic device. It took a few years of observing this phenomenon for me to really accept that this is how today’s young people function best. Despite this commonality, it is very difficult to get teachers and other digital immigrants to buy into to this fact. Most educators still want students to read silently, sit down for the entire class period, and write with a pen and paper. In our school technology class, the instructor refuses to allow students to listen to music while completing assignments on the computer, much to their dismay. A major paradigm shift is needed in the way we address students learning. Another characteristic that Prensky attaches to today’s young learners is the need for instant gratification and frequent rewards. I have seen this need evolve from a suggested theory into a mandate in education over the last 20 years. I am not sure if this need in students is solely due to the instant gratification technology provides. But, surely, that plays a large part. It is no wonder that students do not want to take the time to look up information in books and read to find the answer. Why do that when Google gives it to you in 30 seconds? As educators, we need to ask ourselves if the value is in the acquiring of the knowledge or in using old methods that today’s learners will probably never utilize again.

2. In part 2 of his article, Prensky discusses the fact that children raised with the computer “think differently from the rest of us. They develop hypertext minds. They leap around. It is as though their cognitive structures were parallel, not sequential”. After reading this description, I was actually overwhelmed by the thought of how inadequately we are preparing our students in my school system. We talk about meeting students where they are but, without including the interactive use of technology on a daily basis in every class, how can we be? We should be developing lessons that include the use of a computer on a daily basis. Instead of dumbing down curricula because of our students’ apparent lack of an attention span, we should be requiring them multi-task at all times. And while using LCD projectors, document cameras, and smart boards in instruction does engage students more, we need to realize that this will not suffice as our sole means of integrating technology into our curricula.

3. Since I have been a Library Media Specialist (5 years), I have come to realize that there are MANY skills and ways of thinking that my generation learned that probably will not be of any use or importance for the younger generation of learners. In my generation, it was important to KNOW things. For this generation, there seems to be a greater need to know how to ACQUIRE information on an as needed basis. An in-depth knowledge of how to format a paper and correct grammar and punctuation are now replaced by computer programs that troubleshoot these things for learners. In addition, as much as it pains me to say it, I feel that the use of paper, tangible books is becoming obsolete. As sure as the record and the cassette tape have moved into obscurity and been replaced by the MP3 file, so will paper books be replaced by digital ones. Cursive writing and using an ink pen are also requirements of the past. Consequently, teachers and employers must begin to think in terms of digitizing their worlds if they are going to effectively reach today’s young people and draw from them maximum productivity.

4. The main benefit I see coming from the use of technology tools in student learning is the increase in student interest and enthusiasm about learning. The natural by-product of that is greater student achievement. If we produce young people who are better ready to be productive in our technological society, ultimately we all benefit in ways that are too numerous to list. I personally LOVE the passion that students have for technology. It makes me want to be better and makes me want to learn more so that I can better serve them. After all, isn’t that what being a teacher is all about?

5. I do have some concerns about the new generation of learners. While their desire and enthusiasm for technology is infectious, I am concerned that they do not value academic and artistic integrity as a result of the ease of acquiring information. It is difficult to convey to them ideas such as plagiarism and paraphrasing because they don’t understand what the “big deal” about copying is. They don’t understand the work and time required to compile the information that is so readily available to them. Also, not everything is digital just yet. They are the transitional generation. While their own children may not ever have to deal with paper books or using pen and paper, there are instances when they themselves still need to. Yet, their digital development makes it difficult for them to deal with traditional methodologies.



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I love the Glogster poster as an academic tool. I was first introduced to it last school year when the technology teacher at my school used it with her students. The Glogster can be used in numerous way and for many purposes. It would be an excellent tool in project based learning or as the culminating activity for an interdisciplinary unit. Any digital resource that I can use with students is a welcome addition to my teaching arsenal.

The learning styles survey confirmed what I already knew: I am an auditory learner. However, I was surprised to see that I earned an equal score in the category of Visual/Verbal learner. I am an extremely verbal person, which probably is the greater part of that score. As an auditory learner, some strategies for improving my study skills are: reading aloud, studying with a friend in order to talk about and hear the information, make recordings of information and then replay it frequently, and use of multiple colors when taking notes. There were not really any suggestions that I have not considered or used before. What I found interesting, however, is the fact that not only do I naturally use these strategies in my own study, but I use them in my teaching as well! I enjoyed exploring the CAST website very much. I am excited to have learned about the site when I am preparing to move back into the classroom. Differentiation is the buzzword of education today and there is so much pressure on teachers to meet the needs of all learners, often at the same time. The resources and information presented in the CAST website will prove to be a tremendous help to me as I plan for the upcoming school year. I am particularly excited to use the UDL Book Builder tool and the UDL Editions tool for presenting classic texts. There is a wealth of interesting information in the electronic version of TEACHING EVERY STUDENT IN THE DIGITAL AGE. The topic I find most interesting is accurate assessment of student progress. As a seasoned teacher, the topic of differentiation in lesson planning and instruction is far from new to me. However, I have to admit that I have not given as much thought to differentiation in terms of student assessment. The book enlightened me greatly in this area and caused me to re-evaluate some of my beliefs about accuracy and equity when it comes to student assessment. I plan to learn more about embedded and ongoing assessment so that I can begin to use these strategies with my students more effectively. I enjoyed the two exercises we participated in because they opened my eyes to something new. When you have been teaching as long as I have (21 years), it is easy to feel like you have heard it all or to become jaded and stagnant. UDL and the CAST website really made me stop and self-reflect. I am excited to be able to bring new resources, tools, and insights into my teaching this upcoming year. I will definitely utilize the CAST resources in my own teaching and I will be sharing them with colleagues. Time and the lack of it is one of the greatest challenges for teachers. It is difficult to balance all of the demands of the curriculum while effectively differentiating for all learners. I think my colleagues will find the CAST website to be an invaluable tool. I plan to spend the remainder of my summer break exploring the site more in depth. I will focus on fitting the UDL strategies into the my school system’s prescribed English curriculum and pacing guide.
 * CAST Website/Learning Styles Reflection**

UDL Lesson Plan