Reflection: GAME Plan and Future Technology Integration

          As an educator, I want to develop my students in to self-propelled learners who not only learn the content but to want to seek out new learning opportunities, find solutions, and continue to extend their learning further. In order to develop my students in this way, I need to model self-directed learning for my students and to develop myself professionally. As a self-directed learner, I need to “take action, monitor your [my] learning, and evaluate your [my] progress” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 7) in order to achieve my goals. To do this, I developed a GAME Plan at the beginning of this course to work to address two goals that pertained to two NETS-T (ISTE, 2008) standards: (1) To design digital age learning experiences and assessments and (2) To practice digital citizenship.

            The process of developing and monitoring the Game Plan forced me to be cognizant of each goal’s progress. I have always found it easy to set a goal, but actually following the goal through to fruition has always been a challenge. By utilizing the blog and knowing that others were invested in hearing about my progress, I was able to successfully perform two critical steps in the GAME Plan process: (1) self-monitoring and (2) evaluation (Cennamo et al, 2009). Walden University colleagues and to a lesser extent my peers working within my department served as a node of support (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009a). Because I had people counting on me, I felt that I need to focus on achieving my goal and it could not get set aside; instead, the goal needed to be addressed in the present. By the end of the course, despite the rush of the holidays, teaching, coaching, and graduate course work, I was able to accomplish the two goals and establish a future GAME Plan to address. This, of course, would not be possible without being held accountable by my colleagues, my peers, and myself.   

            In following through with my GAME Plan, I advanced my ability to design digital age learning experiences and assessments. Taking Prensky’s advice (2008), I am turning on the lights for my students by utilizing technology in learning and assessments. My students use technology daily outside of school, so why should we not utilize technology for learning in school. My GAME Plan specifically addressed finding ways to integrate a SmartBoard into my teaching repertoire. After online tutorials and a walk-through with a colleague, I began to frequently utilize the SmartBoard. While I am not fluent in all of the SmartBoard’s advantages (I will be taking seminar in March), I am taking a step in the right direction. In addition, I have extended my GAME Plan to learning how to best utilize www.MyBigCampus.com, a online classroom that hosts blogs, discussion threads, videos, and assignments. I am looking forward to finding ways to bring this technology resource into my classroom and becoming more fluent in its utilization.

            As for adjusting my teaching practices, I return to the concept of turning on the lights for my students (Prensky, 2008). If I quickly survey my classroom, I regularly see students silently texting beneath their desktops or behind their books, playing computer games on their laptops, plugging in to their iPods, and even, on a rare occasion, typing on Facebook.com. My students are constantly plugged in. Instead of banning these technologies, we, as educators, should welcome them and make our students aware of their educational benefits. For example, I am looking forward to seeking future opportunities to social networking or online collaboration within my classroom. However, rather than calling blogging or any other online network social, I am going to call it an educational network (Laureate Education, 2009b). An online educational network can allow students who have less confidence or shy away from in class discussions an opportunity to flourish academically and share their thoughts with their peers in a safe and comfortable manner.

            In addition, I am planning to implement my Content-Area Unit Plan as my American Literature final exam with a digital story as the culminating project. In the past, I have always assigned an essay test which had them focus on past texts, but this project will engage all students as they utilize technology to gain a deeper, more impactful understanding of the content.

            Through the integration of technology, I am seeking to advance my goal – perhaps this could become a future GAME Plan, to become life-long learners who not only understand the content but understand technology’s potential for new knowledge acquisition, synthesis, and expression capabilities.

                       

References

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: a standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2008). NETS for teachers 2008. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009a). Promoting self-directed learning with technology.    [DVD] Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author. 

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009b). Spotlight on Technology: Social Networking and Online Collaboration, Part 1. [DVD] Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author. 

Prensky, M. (2008, March). Turning on the lights. Educational Leadership, 65(6), 40-45.


Brad Feick
Walden University
HS English

The GAME Plan and My Students

Reflecting on my experience using the GAME plan over the past six weeks, I can see how important not only is it to have a goal but a method to monitor its progress. I often have curricular ideas that I would like to implement. I will record the idea and usually forget about it until the next time that unit comes up. However, it needed to be put into action earlier. Some ideas become goals and are set into action. Despite the development of action steps, it doesn't mean that the goal will be fulfilled. This time, though, I set out to accomplish the goal, designed the action steps, and monitored my progress. That is the key for me to be successful using the GAME plan. Not only am I monitoring my progress, I am also aware that I have others monitoring my progress through this posting. By having others be aware of my goal, I feel that I need to complete or work to meet my goal. The monitoring step forced me to constantly revisit and focus on my plan.

For students, I could create a GAME Plan for each curricular unit that focuses specifically on the NETS-S that students should meet. This focus would keep the NETS-S present within my curriculum and I would constantly be returning to my goal's progress.

Students, too, could develop a GAME Plan of their own. They could individually set a goal for themselves, create action steps, monitor their progress through the use of a blog, and evaluate or extend their goal. They would then be let in on the plan's production which helps students think about the learning process. In turn, they would be taking control of their own learning.

Revising My GAME plan

I feel like I have been quite productive in meeting my goals: (A) to create assessments and learning opportunities with the SmartBoard and (B) to practice digital citizenship with my students. After I located – with suggestions from my Walden colleagues – online citation tools for my students, I needed to be more diligent in my expectations of myself and my students. As for the SmartBoard goal, I have acquired knowledge and sought information from a teaching colleague. While I will continue to focus on SmartBoard learning experiences, I want to create additional assessment opportunities using technology, specifically using MyBigCampus.com, a learning site my school district has a subscription for. Blogs, discussions, and learning resources are all accessible from this site. Like the last goal, I am going to use my colleagues to create a node of support. However, for this, I don’t have another peer who is an expert in using MyBigCampus.com; instead, I am going to suggest a few other teachers who are excited to utilize the MyBigCampus.com tools to collaborate with and create these opportunities and assessments. By combing our experiences, we will be able to be one another’s support in this discovery.

I would like to continue blogging about my GAME plan. I have found that by setting a time to check in with my progress, I am must more apt to work towards its achievement.

Brad Feick
HS English
Walden University

Evaluating the GAME Plan: Synthesis

I agree with Cathi that it takes time to really develop strong lessons. Like her I often try different things with one class and if it works well, I usually use it in other classes. For example, last week, I wrote different lines of poetry on the SmartBoard. The students' tasks were to decipher whether the poetry was iambic, trochaic, anapestic, or dactylic. Different students attempted to mark the beats. If they were wrong, it was easy to erase their marks and try again. Usually I would have had to write the poems on the board, but after the first wrong marks, the lines would start to get erased. This was a much more productive way to teach the lesson and the students seemed to enjoy the interactive nature of the SmartBoard.

Brad Feick
HS English
Walden University

Evaluating the GAME Plan

By evaluating my progress on the two goals, I recognize that I have been most active in developing technology based assessments and learning opportunities using the SmartBoard. Yesterday, I might with another English teacher in my school during a prep period to cover the basics of SmartBoard technology. I found that I knew – having played around the technology – much of the basics and she was able to show me how the SmartBoard can save notes that students or I write during class. In addition, I learned how to insert video into the SmartBoard notebook. While this didn’t have an immediate connection to my students in the classroom, it did develop quickly into an engaging learning opportunity for the basketball players that I coach. I uploaded our opponent’s previous game film and was able to mark on the projected film the opposing players and movements that were taking place and what specifically to look for.

In making authentic assessments and learning opportunities, I see the interactive potential of writing fluency. Sentences or paragraphs can be pulled from students’ writing, posted on the Smart Notebook, and corrected and/or revised during class. In addition, using the “shade”, I can reveal one question for discussion without revealing everything. Then, after the discussion, I can pull down the shade to show the answer or a potential answer.

I am looking forward to attending the Advanced SmartBoard Training course in March.

As for my other goal of digital citizenship, I am now moving beyond modeling digital citizenship to expecting digital citizenship to be practiced by my students. To help students practice digital citizenship, I have created a list of citation resources – primarily www.citationmachine.net and www.easybib.com – for my students to use when they reference or use resources. While I expect students to practice digital citizenship, I rarely force students, if they do not properly cite the material, to resubmit their work. To strengthen this goal, I need to force students to resubmit work that is not cited properly. As long as I accept work without citations, they will not consistently cite their resources or practice digital citizenship.

Brad Feick
HS English

Monitoring the GAME Plan - Synthesis

After reviewing the comments that were posted this week, I noticed that many teachers strongly agree with teaching students to practice digital citizenship. Too often students freely access material online and either use the material directly or synthesize their findings into their own words. By teaching students how to properly cite their sources, they will be practicing digital citizenship - avoiding plagiarism and giving credit where credit is due. Furthermore, I will be looking into bibme.org, a site recommended by a colleague, to compare it to citationmachine.net. I want the resource that is most accurate and functional for students to use.

In addition to digital citizenship, I received a few comments on my goal to utilize the SmartBoard more effectively in my classroom. This week I meet with my colleague during a prep period, so I will be able to bring more information forward about the progress of my goal.

Brad Feick
HS English
Walden University

Monitoring the GAME Plan

Currently my GAME plan addressing my first goal has slowed this week. While I have established a time frame to meet with my colleague next week about how to use the SmartBoard effectively, I am “playing” with the SmartBoard and trying to do different things. Usually I make mistakes, but I am discovering that many of the students, who have been in classrooms using SmartBoards, know how to use them as well. I may pursue students that are in my study halls to show me what they know. I don’t feel the need to alter my action plan, but I am considering – regardless of the success of my meeting with my colleague – to take the advanced SmartBoard training offered in the spring. If I am going to utilize this piece of technology to its fullest potential, I need to understand all of its capabilities.

So far, I have learned how a SmartBoard’s notebook technology can serve as an interactive PowerPoint. I can have explanations and examples prepared and students can manipulate sentences and paragraphs for punctuation, fluency, and organization. This serves as a learning opportunity and formative assessment. So far, I do not have additional questions, but I am sure that after my meeting next week, I will have plenty.

As for my other GAME Plan, I am continuing to improve in practicing digital citizenship and responsibility. Because of my increased use of SmartBoard technology, even if it’s just using the SmartBoard notebook, I am having my students access information on the Web frequently. I often reference a website or pull information from a variety of pages or show a quick film. Despite the easy flow of information, I need to properly provide credit to these sources. While I cannot say that I am properly citing everything, my students do see the citations on the bottom of the page that says where the information was from. I am using www.citationmachine.net to help make the citation process quicker for me and I am striving to make my students more accountable. I will be changing my goal slightly from only focusing on my practice of digital citizenship to focusing on my students’ practice as well.

Brad Feick

HS English

Walden University  

Reflecting on GAME Plan: Progress and Resources Feedback

I had two strands of comments that came out of my original post. The first pertained to the Smartboard. I am trying to find unique ways to utilize the Smartboard to create creative learning opportunities and assessments for my students. One suggestion was to insert images of my students into Smartboard presentations to keep students on task and paying attention. While I know I won't take the pictures - although, I can see this working very well for others, I wonder if inserting silly or interesting pictures of animals could have the same effect. Or, perhaps, with the Smartboard's ability to seamlessly transition from technology resource to technology resource, I could try to utilize more technology linked with the Smartboard.

The other strand of advice focused on resources to cite materials. These resources can be posted for students to reference and use to properly cite their materials.

Brad Feick
HS English
Walden University 

GAME Plan: Progress and Resources

My GAME Plan focuses on two goals: (1) to design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments using a SmartBoard and (2) to be more cognizant of modeling digital citizenship and responsibility for my students.

Goal 1: To design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments using a SmartBoard
Before I begin taking action, I need to take into account the resources that I need to meet my goals. Considering my first goal, I am seeking a colleague or colleagues who have experience with SmartBoard technology – essentially creating a technological node for professional development (Laureate Education, Inc, 2009). From last week’s responses, there are many current Walden colleagues who have had positive experiences and understand how to use a SmartBoard effectively. While learning how to use the SmartBoard effectively through a blog may be difficult, I would love to hear how people have used SmartBoard in their classrooms.

Due to my coaching commitments after school, I am very limited in when I can learn how to use the SmartBoard unless it’s during prep time. I have asked a colleague who is considered to be a SmartBoard expert to help me learn how to use the technology. A SmartBoard tutorial with her has been scheduled for after Thanksgiving. If I don’t feel that her tutorial is sufficient, I may attend a class offered in the school district, but it is not offered until March or April.

Status: I have a date set to meet with my colleague about SmartBoard technology and have received a small guide on its use. I am looking forward to the learning opportunity.


Goal 2: To be more cognizant of modeling digital citizenship and responsibility
In addition to my first goal, I also need to gather resources for modeling digital citizenship and responsibility. Initially, I need to always have the most current APA guidelines accessible for my students and me. If possible, I would utilize my colleagues to practice digital citizenship as well since proper citation is critical in all subject areas. If every teacher was focusing on this, my success would be much easier.

Status: This goal has much less to do with an outside resource, but rather, the discipline to model digital citizenship every time that I use a resource online. While this goal may appear to be the easiest to complete, I find it very difficult to get into the habit of properly citing every resource that I bring into the classroom.

Questions to Peers:
1. Do you have any interesting SmartBoard assessment ideas that you have found successful?
2. Is there anything that you would suggest when using the SmartBoard?
3. How do you most effectively practice digital citizenship?

Thank you,

Brad Feick
Walden University
HS English



References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Program 1: Self-directed lifelong learning. [DVD] Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Reflecting on Game Plan Feedback

After reading through my peers' feedback, I will certainly love my SmartBoard! Specifically though, Kerry-Ann offered a great point about how having technology in the classroom is great, but if the students do not have the skills to use the technology, it becomes a waste. This is exactly what I do not want to happen. I do not want the SmartBoard to be utilized as a PowerPoint projection screen; instead, I want students to learn how to fully use the SmartBoard.

Additionally, I can be sure to save my SmartBoard lessons using another form of software in the situation that I lose my SmartBoard or switch rooms. Not every room has a SmartBoard. This way I do not lose what I have already developed.

Finally I will be sure to watch other colleagues who have the SmartBoard and utilize it in a variety of ways. The school district does have classes to learn SmartBoard technology, but I received my SmartBoard too late to take advantage of these courses. The next available time slot will be in March, but I want to begin learning sooner than that.

Brad Feick
Walden University
HS English

GAME PLAN

Today’s students, according to Prensky (2008), enter our classrooms with the lights turned on or having already had access to a vast array of knowledge. Much of this knowledge is accessible via technology – Internet, iTouches, cellphones, and the list can go on. As teachers we must find ways to keep our students engaged not by forcing them to power down or limit their technological access but to learn how to teach in a world that takes our students beyond the walls of our classroom and into a world of endless possibilities (ISTE, 2010).

In order to do so, I am developing a professional GAME plan. Using the ISTE (2010), I have selected two standards in which I will seek to develop confidence in.
1. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
2. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility

Goals and Action
Specifically, I am seeking to design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments using a SmartBoard, I plan to collaborate with a peer who is a SmartBoard expert in my school district. I, having recently acquired the SmartBoard, have limited knowledge but am willing to try. Currently, we share a prep time where she could provide tutorials in using technology.

In addition to creating the digital-age learning experience and assessments, I need to be more cognizant of modeling digital citizenship and responsibility for my students. I feel as if I know, since being enrolled at Walden University, how to site sources properly. However, I tend to skip citing information when I am planning for my classes. My students need to understand the importance of citing and providing recognition to the rightful owner. My action step will be to apply proper citation technique consistently to my lessons and to provide educational time teach students the proper citation patterns.

Monitor
In order to monitor my two goals and action steps, I will reflect weekly on my goals’ progresses. I will reflect while the goals are being met and after the action steps are completed (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2008). I will use journaling or blogging to reflect openly about the progress that I am having with a digital-age learning experiences and practicing digital citizenship and responsibility.

Evaluate
To evaluate my original goals, I will regularly reference my monitoring tools to provide insight into their progress. Within the same blog or journal as the monitoring stage, I will use periodic evaluation methods to check and challenge my goal’s results. Perhaps every month or two, I would ask myself the question, “How effective were you actions in meeting your goal” (Cennamo, et al, 2008).

After fulfilling the Game Plan , I hope that I will be in position to help students remain "powered up" and engaged using technological advancements.

References
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: a standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/
2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf

Prensky, M. (2008, March). Turning on the lights. Educational Leadership, 65(6), 40-45.


Brad Feick
HS English

Reflecting on Inquiry Learning in the 21st Century

As a teacher, I am expected to prepare my students for success in society beyond the walls of my classroom. That being said, an evaluation of the skills necessary to compete in the outside world and an assessment of what is being learned within schools is an important step in understanding that proper education is taking place. In self-assessing my position as a 21^st century teacher and learner using Jukes’ (2007) 21^st Century Fluencies Quotient Insta-Audit, I recognized the current disconnect between the expected content that students are to learn such as the elements of the short story and poetry devices and the 21^st century skills such as working collaboratively as a member of a team and locating and managing resources that Jukes (2007) deems as important. However, the new literacy skills and state standards do not need to overwhelm educators; instead, new literacy skill acquisition can be used in conjunction to teach content. For example, new literacy skills can become the mode of learning for content.

            In addition to teaching new literacy skills in conjunction with English content, I am going to present the Internet, “which has far exceeded every previous information technology in breadth, depth, and immediacy” (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007, p. 2), as a significant means to gather and acquire information. In a sense, the Internet is a resource that students and teachers need to explore and conquer. For students to conquer the Internet, they will need to resist settling on the first few Internet search results or selecting only one resource to answer a question (November, 2008); instead, they will learn to form questions, locate and evaluate resources, synthesize and transform information, and communicate new synthesized information (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007), (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009a). In my future classes such as American literature, students will ask questions and seek and share answers, not from me but from the technological resources that surround them.

           Professionally, I want to develop my literacy skills by modeling the proper use of information (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009b). How can I expect my students to respect information if I do not properly cite the materials that I use in my classroom? I often pull information from online resources to enhance my curriculum, but I inconsistently cite my source. This semester, when I use Internet resources, or any resource for that matter, I will model the proper citation process.

            In addition to respecting information more consistently, I will become more fluent and efficient in information acquisition. First, I will begin using Altavista.com as my primary search engine and utilize search extensions. These extensions help field information from more reputable sources such as education or government websites (November, 2009). Next, I will store relevant information using a Diigo.com account, which allows me to easily access information that I found relevant. Finally, after storing the information, I will review it and synthesize the information. Once I have created a synthesis, I can either keep my understanding personal or share it using a blog or a wiki.

            As an educator in the 21^st century, I have the responsibility to push my students to succeed in the 21^st century. No longer are we to be literate in a book culture; instead, we are to be literate in the digital age – able to access and use information digitally (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009a). To do this, our students need to view us “as lifelong learners rather than all-knowing dispensers of information” (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007, p. 277); together we will work to access these dispensers of information. 

References

Eagleton, M. B. & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the Web: Strategies for Internet inquiry. New York:   The Guilford Press.

Jukes, I. (2007). 21st century fluencies quotient insta-audit. The InfoSavvy Group.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009a) Program 2: New literacies. [Motion Picture]. Supporting information literacy and online inquiry in the classroom. Baltimore: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009b) Program 10: Information literacy: ethical usage. [Motion Picture]. Supporting information literacy and online inquiry in the classroom. Baltimore: Author.

November, A. (2008). Web literacy for educators. Thousands Oaks: Corwin Press.

Reflecting on Technology

            When the year 2009 came to a close, I was an educator teaching in the 21^st century; now two months later I am striving to be an educator learning to incorporate 21^st century skill development and technology into my teaching repertoire. As a child I was surrounded by technology, three gaming systems, tapes and compact disks, two televisions, a computer, and high speed Internet. This constant access and technological stimulation labeled me, according to (Prensky, 2001), a digital native – one who has grown up using technology. As a digital native I eagerly set out to try these new pieces of technology assigned through applications that I had yet to incorporate regularly into my classes. While I had used blogs in my American Literature class, I was able to create a podcast and a collaborative wiki (as opposed to the wiki storage space that I previously developed). In addition to developing my technology skills, I have altered my approach to technology in the classroom from simply using the technology to doing something differently such as a speech with a PowerPoint component to doing something totally different (Thornburg, 2004). For example, I want students to engage in an academic discussion beyond school walls through blogging or to share ideas and resources to complete a project on a wiki. In addition, I am acknowledging that I do not need to know everything about the technology to use it in class. There will be struggles and challenges that will need to be overcome. At times, the best resource to solve these problems is my students. By giving students ownership over the technology that they use in their educations, they can help teach me to use it in a variety of different ways.

            Due to the need to teach 21^st century learning skills, I need to stay current with the most recent research and technology available to educators and students. I will continue to subscribe to educational resources through RSS feeds. Currently I use Google Reader to bring new information to my laptop. I can peruse the provided technology resources that are pertinent to my teaching. I will also participate in educational blogs such as The English Companion Ning to collaborate with educators on topics of technology. This interaction enables me to see what has been successful for other educators. Furthermore, as an educator, constant collaboration with peers within my building will help bring my teaching, my school, and my students into the 21^st century. We can, as a collaborative group, develop ways to use technology to do different things.

            My classroom and teaching – the area that I have most control over – must continue to develop 21^st century learners. In order to do this, I plan to shift my teaching to one of a facilitator of learning (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). My students enter my classroom having access to knowledge through technology. I need to show them how to withdraw the appropriate and accurate knowledge to apply it to their learning. For example, since my school has a class set of iTouches, I plan to have them investigate areas of interest connected to the literature that we are reading as a class. They may also, through the use of a wiki, create collaboratively a hyperlinked text for a more in-depth understanding of literature. Another goal in which I will seek to achieve is to integrate technology that enhances composition. My students are digital natives who revise essays as they write them. They type, delete, change a word choice, delete, add a phrase, delete, type a few sentences and repeat the process. By giving them opportunities to write essays and complete assignments on the computer, they are able to use the skills that they have developed since childhood. Once these assignments and essays are completed, they are able to submit them online through either Google Documents, where I will make comments and revision suggestions, or a blog, where their answers and responses are shared with their peers. I realize that this hinges on regular lab time or permanent lab availability so I have already placed a request, having spoken with a fellow educator with a lab in his room, to pair his prep time with my class period. I hope that our schedules can accommodate this change.

            Technology is pushing us to do different things that we have never done before. I look forward to finding new and innovative ways to incorporate technology into my curriculum and to share my discoveries with my colleagues.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). [DVD]. Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society, “The changing role of the classroom teacher: part 1” Baltimore, MD.

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5). Database: Proquest Central Database. Accession Number:1074252411.

Thornburg, D. (2004). Technology and education: Expectations, not options. (Executive Briefing No. 401). Retrieved February 25, 2010 from http://www.tcpdpodcast.org/briefings/expectations.pdf

Today's Students

Who are today's students? While we can make generalities in how to best teach America's students, it is incredibly important to know our students of our classrooms. Each of my students needs to be considered as an individual and assumptions cannot be made. Different backgrounds, experiences, socioeconomic levels, and learning styles are just a few differences that separate each of these students. Before I can apply advice, information, and theories to my students, I need to know who they are.

In this podcast, I explore their backgrounds and interactions with technology.

Podcast Hosted by Podbean: Who Are My Students?

Brad Feick
HS English
Walden University

   

21st Century Skills

As educators our job is to prepare students to succeed in the 21st century; however, we must teach in a 21st century context and utilize 21st century tools (Skills for the 21st Century Learner, n.d.). The working world is requiring new employees, our graduating seniors, to be able to complete “complex, tactical, and strategic tasks” (Bates & Phelan, 2002), but to accomplish this, Dr. Dede (2008) suggests that we change our curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment for these learners.

Pushing for change, The Partnership for 21st Century Skills advocates for local, state, and federal policies that would prepare our students for success in the 21st century. This organization is supported not only by educational gurus but by major corporations such as Microsoft, Apple, and The Walt Disney Company. These companies understand what is necessary for success in the 21st century so the educational system should, at the minimum, hear what they have to say. 

While I am pleased to say that Wisconsin, the state where I teach, has committed itself to lead in implementing a strategy for 21st century learning to take place, I am disappointed that only 14 states have taken this challenge. Where are the other 36 states? Should not the entire country challenge its schools, districts, and states to revise their educational systems to teach 21st century skills?

One of the most useful aspects of the website for educators is the accessibility to resources and tools. For example, if one does not understand what a 21st century classroom looks like, one can simply view a video demonstrating students learning using 21st century tools. Or one can go to Route 21 and view specific resources for educators. Some of these tools can be purchased for a small fee, but many are free online. Now that I am aware of these resources, I am able to use them as inspiration for possible projects in my classroom. After viewing the list of targeted skills, I know that I have a long way to go to make my English classroom completely 21st century relevant, but I am ready for the challenge.

References
Bates, R., & Phelan, K. (2002). Characteristics of a globally competitive workforce. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 4(2), 121. Database: Management and Organization Studies: A SAGE Full-text collection database

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). [DVD]. Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society, “Skills for the 21st century.” Baltimore, MD.

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (n.d.). A report and mile guide for 21st century skills. Washington DC: Author. Retrieved January 25, 2010, from http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/downloads/P21_Report.pdf

Brad Feick
HS English
Walden University

Richardson (2009): "Blogs are Hot"

Having “over 100 million people” (Richardson, 2009) develop blogs, the education world needs to start to incorporate blogging into the classroom to accomplish new and exciting opportunities for student learning. Teaching three different courses – American Literature, Composition, and Freshmen English, I have considered developing a class portal for my students to have direct access to course materials, handouts, reading assignments, and supplementary links to content. A class portal through a blog would allow the educator to have all meaningful information in one location for students and parents to access.

Students in my composition course could benefit from blogging by creating personal blogs (using a pseudonym or first names only to protect privacy) to serve as an online journal. Most importantly, blogs provide an immediate audience who may write and return comments, something that essays or private journals cannot do (Richardson, 2009). Their writing, like it or not, would be available for others to read and enjoy. These weblogs would truly “expand the walls of the classroom” (Richardson, 2009). Where else do students have an immediate audience to showcase their writing?

In addition to my composition course, my American Literature course could use the blogs to stimulate discussions among students. Students, who are quiet or shy in large and small group setting, may feel comfortable responding to questions behind a computer screen and a keyboard. Students are able to answer questions, offer insight, and inquire on specific topics. These students would benefit from the constructivist approach of education where the students, not the teacher, generate the learning. By utilizing blogs, students construct knowledge via online collaboration and the sharing of knowledge. These discussions can then be used the next day in class bridging the instruction from the day before or connecting to a new concept.

While these are a few ideas of how to use blogs successfully in the classroom, I look forward to implementing these strategies into the classroom. I’ll try to monitor my classroom blog’s progress – successes and failures – on this blog.

References
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Becoming a Blogger

When I was a teenager I used to keep a notebook beside my bed just in case I wanted to record my thoughts. I would write for a few days or perhaps even a week, but the novelty would wear off and not too long after, the notebook would collect dust and eventually slip under my bed lost beneath socks, shorts, and whatever else I shoved under my bed. Months later, I would recover the journal in a cleaning spree and make another halfhearted attempt to become a writer. I wanted to write - or at least, the romantic idea of becoming a writer. So here I am again attempting to become the writer that I longed to be in my teenage years.

Now however I am more focused and more driven than I was as a teenager. Writing, this time, will not be a collection of random thoughts, but instead will serve as a professional journal reflecting on my teaching experiences, educational pedagogy, technology, and even a few goofy teaching moments. Ultimately, this blog will be a means for me to reflect as I grow as an educator.