Cool Cat Teacher Blog
The Subject:
Viki Davis (Cool Cat Teacher) blogs on several subjects. She blogs almost every other day, and depending on the week, every day. Her blogs are well thought out and detailed in nature. They often include videos, slide shows, bright images to keep the reader engaged, but her information is relevant to education, even incorporating information from around the world. For example, Davis included several posts during the last week of February about a mini-conference that was held in Mumbai, India. She also includes a "Daily Spotlight on Education" section that features different fun things going on around the internet.
My participation:
In a recent post entitled "Fail Forward, Move Forward" (posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010), Davis shed a light on a simple idea that every teacher must have: it is OK to make mistakes because we can learn from them. She talks about the "teachable moments" that occur everyday in the classroom that can be learned from. Technology is ever changing, and isn't always reliable and we must learn to adjust to it based on past mistakes. My comment on the website was that with new technology, or with any subjects, students who don't grasp the concepts or get it right the first time often become discouraged and give up and this is something that educators can work with. Students need to know that making mistakes are often the best educators, we just need to be able to give them the "buffer zone" to learn from them, because when the learn, it's that "a ha" moment that is 100 times sweeter than getting it the first time.
My Learning:
Is may seem simple in it's idea, but making sure a student knows that mistakes are there to be learned from and not be punished for is one of the first things that educators need to understand themselves. In a time when teaching to "the test" has become the sole purpose of classroom lessons, the learning process gets pushed to the side. If I can share anything with my fellow future educators, it is this: We are imperfect, we are human and our greatest asset is our brain and our ability to learn. Technology is there to be used to enhance the learning process of a student and it takes practice and patience on the parts of the teacher and the student. Together, we can "get it".
Hope Foundation
The Subject:
The Hope Foundation is a website that puts a spotlight on helping students succeed in all aspects of their learning process. The are multi-subject centric and provide information for educators to build their lessons as well as their own knowledge. The blog is maintained by Mark Stock, and new posts are usually updated 4 to 5 times a month depending on what is relevant. The topics range from how schools are getting ready for the digital age to professional learning communities. The blog isn't a traditional blog in which the information and opinions are strictly theirs- they provide links to articles and posts on reliable blogs on relevant topics and information that is valuable to educators.
My Participation:
In a blog entitled "Teaching the Net Generation (posted on March 8th, 2009), Stock references an article from ASCD Inservice blog in which Don Tapscott, from Wikinomics talks about how the "Net Generation" is light years ahead of anyone from a previous generation when it comes to using technology. Tapscott calls upon teachers to reassess the education of the "net generation", I agree with him. My comment on the Hope Foundation blog was that educators had to opportunity to change how a subject is taught by turning the tables and letting the students have access to it in ways that are familiar to them. I feel that is has to do with prior knowledge that the students have with using technology: it is a familiar territory and being given the opportunity to use it to further their learning is a positive step for both teacher and student.
My Learning:
I feel that this is a situation that can enhance the learning of both the if educators can shift the education process to make it so that it is in the students’ hands and with the tools they are familiar with, then we can build upon a unique learning situation where both sides benefit. It allows students to have their own creative outlets as well as the ability to tweak it to apply to their learning process.
Bionic Teaching
The Subject:
Bionic Teaching is a technology based blog that is maintained by Tom. It is updated only a few times a month, but the information posted is interesting and informative. The blogs tend to be on the mainstream side but with content that is easily related to the classroom.
My Participation:
In a blog posted on February 17th 2009 entitled "Plague: Romeo & Juliet Poster", Tom introduces the concept of getting the attention of students before working on a specific topic. He references posters that were created for Science World (located in Vancouver, B.C.) to pique the interest of students. The example in the blog is a poster of a bio-hazard symbol with "Plague o both your houses" written on it in menacing letters. It is the hopes that showing students this before reading Romeo & Juliet (where the quote is from) that they will be able to garner interest to learn more. My comment was that this was a great concept in that it can be applied to areas that can otherwise be bland and glossed over. It gets students thinking about what the topic will be about, how the images represent the story, or even what they can do to improve upon the poster once the lesson is completed.
My Learning:
The poster concept is fantastic. It can be applied to social studies, literature, science and even math. There are a few things that could be done with this idea in the classroom:
- Students can use the pre-made poster to come up with some prior knowledge concepts about the lesson they are about to work on.
- Students can create posters at the end of the lesson to highlight the main ideas
- Students can create posters at the beginning of the lesson with just a few hints at what the topic is about.
Each of these blogs provide information that can be applied on all levels. It is important for future teachers such as myself to become knowledgeable about what is on the internet that can be used to enhance the students learning.
