My Ideal Bookshelf

Wordle

Our Brains Extended

How could we rethink our K-12 curriculum for the 21^st century, symbiotically combining human strengths with the most powerful technology strengths?

I think one of the biggest things schools need today to combine human strengths and technology strengths is more teacher training on technology tools.   At my school we have smartboards but we have never been properly trained on how to use them.  I use my smartboard daily for my math lessons.  The math program we use in Swampscott incorporates a daily smartboard lesson that is aligned with the lesson of the day.  I also will use interactive websites such as storylineonline, brainpop and various lessons on the smartboard exchange.  However, I feel with more training I could utilize the smartboard more effectively.  I am sure there are things that the smartboard is capable of that I do not even know about! 

Another way I think we need to use technology and human strengths is through connecting and sharing with others.  Students today are at an advantage with tools such as youtube, skype and blogging.  Students can post something on youtube and the item has potential to be viewed around the world.  Youtube and teacher tube also have great videos and lessons that tie into the curriculum.  This past year when I was teaching a math lesson, I found a great song on youtube that helped the class differentiate between area and perimeter.  The tune was so catchy that the kids were singing it all day long and requesting to watch it multiple times!  We found a great video on shapes as well that caught on the same way.  Bringing real life experiences, by using a pop song to help the kids learn the difference was fun and exciting to the class.  It was different from a math book lesson and the kids really loved it.  Anytime you can incorporate something that the kids can relate to, helps them to remember it and it fosters a sense of excitement.

Skype is another fun tool that could be incorporated in many ways.  A class could skype with another school as part of a project or with someone sharing information.  For example, we could skype with a local lobsterman or historian when learning about our Swampscott unit.   We took many walking field trips around town to see historic sights, but skyping with some of the people we didn’t get to meet from town would have been exciting for the class. 

Another way to incorporate technology is by keeping a class blog.  After our field trips, I could post the pictures onto the blog and have the kids comment on their favorite part of the field trip on the blog.  This could be a fun homework assignment, and something that includes the family by having the blog accessible.

Lastly, incorporating lessons on teaching the class on how to use the internet, how to research properly and how to think critically will aid the students in maximizing their time spent on these various tasks online. 

 

 

Technology Autobiography-blog assignment

                                                        

                                             
I was born back in 1973, before Ipods, Ipads and Iphones!  To communicate we would have to call each other from our houses!  If you weren't home, then whoever was trying to reach you, just had to call back and try again later.   Back in my day, there were no cell phones!  Once you left the house, there was no other way to communicate.  Sometimes I think those were easier times!! Today people can reach us no matter where we are!

When I was young I was one of four siblings!  We had a busy household.  We had one rotary telephone on the wall in the kitchen.  I still remember that blue phone to this day!  My sister would walk around while talking on the phone and inevitably get the cord wrapped around the lamp, and the next thing you would hear was CRASH!  My sister broke at least three lamps and the stories still get told to this day!!!

With only one phone, you had to patiently await your turn to use it!  If you were waiting for a call, you had to wait until the phone was free!   There was no call waiting until I was in high school.  Even when we finally did get call waiting, I think half the time I wouldn't get the message of who called!!! That's what happens when you are the youngest sibling!!!  I believe I was in high school when we got our first cordless phone.  That was a day to remember! My parents gave us the lecture on not dropping it because it was a luxury and they were afraid we would break it.  The day we got call waiting was a day that you could hear cheers in the neighborhood!  We still only had one phone, but the fact that we could receive a call while someone was on it was a big deal!!

We also only had one T.V.  Being the youngest meant I didn't get to watch what I wanted very often! But as I get older, I appreciate the fact that with one T.V., that meant the family spent more time together in the same room.  I still remember all being huddled in front of the T.V. when the space shuttle crashed in 1986. Today, most families have multiple TV’s with everyone in different rooms watching different shows!

We also didn't have email!  We actually wrote letters to friends who didn't live nearby. We even had pen pals in school!  We would keep in touch with another school through letter writing!  Today if you ask a young child what a pen pal is, they most likely wouldn't know!!!

Back in college, a few of my friends got pagers!  It didn't mean the person would call back right away, because they needed to be near a phone, but it was a step forward in technology!  I got my first cell phone when I graduated college back in 1996.  It was gigantic!! It was a flip phone and supposed to be used for emergencies only.

When I was in college we had a typewriter, which is how I typed all my papers.  We used the library and encyclopedias to research projects.  I didn’t get my first computer until I was married in 2001. 

Times have changed and we now have four TVs, one landline phone (which never gets used), two laptops and a cell phone.  I am still amazed at how much my Iphone does and how small it is!  I am hoping to add an Apple laptop and an Ipad to the mix eventually!  It is hard to believe how we ever survived without these modern day conveniences!