Synching Up with the iKid: Connecting to the Twenty-First-Century Student Week 3

"This generation of students is more likely to be armed with cell phones, laptops, and iPods than with spiral notebooks and No. 2 pencils"
Having students that are more in touch with electronics than traditional methods of school resources is the major reason for bordem in the classrooms. Teachers have to think smarter than their students to keep them from ignoring their lessons. It is important for teachers that have been around awhile to keep up to date with technology so that students are learning in their classrooms.

"This is a mix-and-match generation," Blake says. "I'm looking at these things as a way to hook into what they're doing outside the classroom. When they see that I know how to use the technology, they think, 'This is going to be cool.'"
I think it is important for us as teachers to remember that doing cool things doesn't mean it's not relevant. Sometimes we think that if we stray from what's in the book that's going to be on the test we aren't teaching them anything but that's not true. Keeping up to date with the resources around up will keep the students interested and keep them engaged in learning.

"They like everything being electronic -- it's speaking their language."
Speaking the same language as our students is an important concept to remember. They don't know how things used to be they just know how things are now. This is why we have to do things differently than we are used to.

Week Two (3, 5, 7)

Pg 45 "How can a teacher expect her student to blog (or use any other tool, strategy, or technique) if she doesn't use it herself, exploring the impact it has on her thinking writing, research and creativity?"
I definetly agree with this quote from chapter 3. If a teacher doesn't use or fully understand the materials that she expects her student's to use then she shouldn't require the students to use them. Understanding the resources you require of your students is also a major requirement I think teachers should have. If you don't know about the things you require your student's to use then you shouldn't even suggest them to your students.

RSS sounds like a great resource to use for a class that is relying on technology. I love the idea of being able to see the important information from websites without the hassle of all the junk mail and spam that comes with signing up for information.

Pg 104 Flickr allows you to annotate certain parts of a picture and also provides a way for people to discuss teh picture in detail.
I love looking and people's pictures and putting my pictures on my camera so I can't wait to learn about Flickr! Reading about how you can annotate your pictures so that people can click on the specific parts of the picture to learn about it is something I'm really interested in learning about. It's unbelievable the amount of things there are out there on the web that you can use.

What strategies do I use when I research?

When I research I immediately go to google and type in what I want to know. I use this as my preview research by taking the information I learn from the initial google search and then go to more reliable internet sources, books, journals, encyclopedias, etc to see if the information I found is actually true. This process usually gets me further into the topic I am researching and gets me several different versions of the information that lets me understand it better and reinforces the information.

Reaction post #1

I thought the paragraph on "Digital Natives" was quite interesting because it is something that will happen to me as a teacher. I believe I am a "digital immigrant" but I do have a pretty good understanding of the internet. Even though I do know some about the internet the statement "Today's students, of almost any age, are far ahead of their teachers in computer literacy." really got me thinking about how much do I really know about the internet and computers. Students know so much about technology today and have been exposed to it so much more than I have. I'm really going to struggle finding new things to teach them with it because they already know so much about it.
I don't want to be a teacher that is afraid of change, I want to be right there on the cutting edge so I can expose my students to everything they need to be exposed to. I also don't want to be part of "an educational system that is out of touch with the way its students learn" Having students be more knowledgeable than me in this area is intimidating to me and I hope I can have more exposure to things the students are learning.

Technology Autobiography

I think technology is a wonderful resource to use in the classroom, however I do not have as much experience as I wish I had. I know how to do the basics on the computer, use word, power point, excel, and access. I by no means am an expert in any of these programs but I can navigate my way around them pretty well. I can also use e-mail pretty well and deal with my digital pictures on the computer well.
When it comes to technology in the classroom I have been exposed to some great resources to use with a smart board. I know a few different ways to use the smart board and a projection camera. I think the smart boards and tablet computers that are available in most JCPS classrooms are an incredible asset to our schools. You can do so much with them it's unbelieveable what you can do with your students. I really hope that when I get my own classroom I have them available to me.
I think computers in the classroom have become a necessity but yet I think it hinders students' problem solving skills. Students want to jump to the computer everytime they have a problem instead of trying to figure it out for themselves. I also think it shys students away from reading books or researching with books. The knowledge of knowing how to read and use books is going to become a lost art with the increase in technology. I believe students should know how to use all the resources out there not just the computer and internet.
I have enjoyed myself so much in this class this semester. I am amazed at the valuable technology resources I have been exposed to. I love the ideas of digital stories! I used mine as a get to know you piece for my new placement and the students loved getting to look at all of my pictures and see my friends and family. I can't wait to get to use some of the different things we've learned about in my own classroom, I just hope when I get my own students I will have the resources available to me for them to use these technology tools.