Teaching students to be responsible and safe digital citizens is an important role for modern day educators because students are using technology in and out of school. Because technology is such a large part of our modern world, it is important for students to learn how to effectively navigate the Internet. The infographic above, created by Common Sense, would be great for my classroom because it simply states the characteristics of a digital citizen. In my 3rd-5th grade mild/moderate SDC, I want digital citizenship to be a topic that we frequently revisit, and this infographic would be a great visual to assist students with remembering their duties as digital citizens. Because I will be working with struggling readers, this poster would be appropriate because it is simplified and easy to read. I also like that the characteristics are linked to parts of the body. For example, showing respect is connected to the heart and "standing up to cyber bullying" is connected to the feet. This makes teaching the topic a kinesthetic activity, and students can relate these behaviors to their own person. I will definitely be finding space on the wall for this to be displayed in my classroom year-round!
Teaching students to be responsible and safe digital citizens is an important role for modern day educators because students are using technology in and out of school. Because technology is such a large part of our modern world, it is important for students to learn how to effectively navigate the Internet. The infographic above, created by Common Sense, would be great for my classroom because it simply states the characteristics of a digital citizen. In my 3rd-5th grade mild/moderate SDC, I want digital citizenship to be a topic that we frequently revisit, and this infographic would be a great visual to assist students with remembering their duties as digital citizens. Because I will be working with struggling readers, this poster would be appropriate because it is simplified and easy to read. I also like that the characteristics are linked to parts of the body. For example, showing respect is connected to the heart and "standing up to cyber bullying" is connected to the feet. This makes teaching the topic a kinesthetic activity, and students can relate these behaviors to their own person. I will definitely be finding space on the wall for this to be displayed in my classroom year-round!
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The Lessen Plan
Is This Digital Citizenship Lesson Plan Effective?
When first reading the standards and objectives for this lesson, I came to the conclusion that they sounded reasonable and valuable to discuss in a classroom with 1:1 access to iPads. The standards advocate safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology, having positive attitudes towards using technology for collaboration, learning, and productivity, exhibiting leadership for digital citizenship, and so on. These elements seem like solid areas of discussion and exploration, as being a safe and responsible digital citizen in and out of school is essential to be successful in this modern world. The standards for the lesson also sought to create responsible digital citizens by teaching students to connect the Responsible and Acceptable Use Policy (RAUP) to broader community norms, again asking students to be responsible "users" in and out of the classroom.
While reading these standards, I began to wonder if this 30-60 minute lesson would effectively deliver these results. I observed this through the lens of a special education teacher, as I will be teaching in a 3rd-5th grade mild/moderate SDC this coming school year. The lesson does provide modifications and accommodations, asking students in special education to complete graphic organizers (G.O.'s) and write less details than in a general education classroom.
In my opinion, the lesson would need to be modified further for students with special needs. First, the lesson asks students to read the abridged RAUP. The jargon may be a bit advanced for my prospective students, so this element would need to be modified. Second, there are not any visuals included, suggesting this lesson could use some more differentiation to accommodate to the various learning types present in the special education classroom. Third, students are asked to perform various scenarios that describe digital citizen DOs and DON'Ts. Depending on the disability, students with special needs may feel overwhelmed from the pressure to perform in front of their peers. The lesson provides an option to accomplish this in small groups, which helps take off the pressure, but I would also suggest taking volunteers to perform. This is so students with speech impediments or other impairments are not pressured when they are feeling overwhelmed, because learning does not occur if students are uncomfortable. An element of the lesson that I like is the inclusion of G.O.'s, which are great for assisting students with comprehending information. Overall, I think that the scenarios provide opportunities to explore various outcomes of using technology, if students feel comfortable. These outcomes address the standards and learning objectives, as they ask students to contemplate scenarios that could occur both in and out of the classroom. However, more time than 30-60 minutes would need to be spent exploring the topic. How to Prepare Students for 1:1 iPads
What is it?
November references Dr. Eric Mazur of Harvard University, who has been researching this type of learning since the 90s. Dr. Mazur describes the steps to an effective flipped classroom, which are briefly explained below:
Is it Worth the Hype?
One issue with this method is accessibility, as many students do not have access to internet from home. The models is only effective if students have access to the online resources. Another argument is that students will be required to spend more time in front of a screen, when they are already overly involved in their devices. Although these are valid concerns, if used correctly, the flipped classroom model may do more good than harm.
Why I Like the Model
Again, the idea of being able to provide information to students at home as a form of homework is intriguing, given they have access to the internet. Then, the teacher has the information needed, based on the the responses to the online activity, to create truly individualized lessons. Also, this method allows for more "do" time in class, during which students explore what was newly learned. I might try this in my own classroom one or two days a week, and while facilitating STEM projects.
I recently listened to the podcast called, "Moving from Teaching STEM to Doing STEM," from Every Classroom Matters. The podcast discusses the difference between teaching STEM and doing STEM, explaining that it is more beneficial to learn with the students while accomplishing STEM activities. The speaker explains that while "doing" the STEM projects with students, you may not always have the right answer for students or know how to accomplish the task. Rather, the point is to learn with the students and facilitate their exploration. Some teachers are not comfortable with this style of teacher, however, if open to doing STEM rather than teaching STEM, the teaching style may prove to be more gratifying than traditional teaching methods, as the speaker explains. Listening to the information rather than reading was enjoyable. I was able to multi-task and added to my PLN while listening. It was very freeing being able to move away from the computer while learning. The podcast was well made and all the speakers were easy to hear. I can definitely see myself using podcasts more in the future for professional learning purposes and for personal entertainment! I see myself utilizing my drive to and from work to listen to podcasts and stay informed about the most recent trends in education. I was happy to learn that podcasts are simple to use, and I am eager to explore the web for more interesting channels.
Twitter I've had a personal twitter account for a couple of years, however, I rarely have used it. Sometimes, I would sign in to learn more about my favorite shows (GoT, Walking Dead, etc.,). I'm not sure why I stopped using Twitter, but it happened. My new "professional" Twitter is definitely recreating the initial interest I had in the app. I am amazed by the wealth of information about teaching, education, and technology that can be found on Twitter. It is also intimidating! As a newbie, I feel slightly nervous to share my ideas, and have found myself gravitating towards retweeting posts, at least until I get some more practice. I hope to use Twitter as a tool for staying current on the most recent trends in education and network with other educators. For my first tweet, I found an article that was interesting/informative and retweeted the information.
PLN Experience My PLN has increasingly grown in size since its creation. Using Feedly, I am following 10 education blogs and a couple other blogs for entertainment. I like how easy it is to find information about topics of your choice. My PLN is personalized to my interests, which makes it ever-amusing and full of relevant information. It has been easy to use and I have not had any issues while growing my PLN. I predict that I will use my PLN often as another tool for keeping updated on the most current trends in education and technology. I also find myself using my PLN and Twitter in conjunction. As I find interesting articles on my PLN, I share the information to my Twitter account. These resources will be extremely helpful to me as I enter my first year of teaching. Twitter Chat Joining an #edchat was a bit confusing at first. I did not know if I needed to log in somewhere or go to a certain persons Twitter account. After some exploration, I finally determined that in order to join an #edchat, you simply search the hashtag of the chat and view the chat "live." While sick at home, I listened to the #edchat called #whatisschool from 4-5pm on Thursday. The hosts of the chat posted questions to which people could respond, creating a community of discussion on topics regarding education. The questions of this particular #edchat regarded PLN's, informal learning environments (like Twitter and Pinterest) vs. formal learning environments (public education), the similarities of joining a new school and starting a Twitter account, and so on. Because this was my first #edchat, I lurked rather than participated. I was able to read about how influential and helpful PLNs are to other teachers, which made me more intrigued about joining the PLN/Twitter community. I was very entertained during the #edchat and will likely lurk on (and hopefully participate in) more in the future. Pinterest Pinterest is one of my favorite sites to visit. I frequently use Pinterest to get lesson ideas, classroom decor inspiration, class management tips, and more resources for the classroom. I enjoy using Pinterest because it is easy to use and very visual, and I like being able to see what I am going to read about. It is easy to network with other teachers and share curated information with each other to create a digital learning community! As a new teacher, I can struggle to come up with unique and fun lessons, so I use Pinterest to gather information so that I can keep the classroom fun and exciting.
Sir Ken Robinson and Will Richardson both discuss the fundamental flaws of the institution of education, describing the disappointing fact that modern day classrooms are not designed for authentic learning. In turn, students are simply not learning. The information that is learned in class is stored for immediate use on assessments, and then quickly forgotten. According to Robinson, 98% of kindergarten-aged children are considered "geniuses" of divergent thinking (interpreting questions in many ways and finding a number of solutions). A longitudinal study indicated that children gradually loose this ability to think divergently. In other words, public education is actually decreasing our ability to think outside of the box and create multiple solutions, and in a world as flawed as ours, we need these type of thinkers. If public education truly has the intent of educating children, than many adjustments need to be made to the foundation as we move into the modern world.
Today, children are able to learn about anything they desire with the use of a small, complex devises that can be carried in their pockets. In a matter of seconds, children can learn about whatever their heart desires, as long as they have access to the internet. Robinson explains that students are not interested in the education that public schools have to offer. The curriculum is boring and uninteresting, rendering students less stimulated by school and more stimulated by the many technological tools available (i.e. Xbox, Playstation, Google, YouTube, Snapchat, etc.). In fact, Robinson explains that this is the most stimulating time in history, and rather that taking advantage of this stimuli, "we are getting our children through education by anesthetizing them." It is disheartening that modern society would rather anesthetize exuberant children rather than allow them to be stimulated and feel alive. Robinson explains that educators should rather be waking students up to what is inside of themselves. Learning should be a vivid and exciting experience, and to essentially turn students from stimulated explorers into anesthetized zombies is cruel and takes away from the experience of learning. Rather than taking students energy levels down, we should increase the energy levels of learning. Learning should not put you to sleep.
Let's face it. The institution of education is behind the times. It is not surprising that this has happened, as technology is advancing rapidly and changing the ways we can learn. What is considered modern today will likely be outdated in 1-5 years. How can we shift the institution of education to match the current trends in learning? Fortunately, Richardson explains that we already understand the fundamental elements of authentic learning, we just need to implement these elements into the classroom. These elements include collaboration, motivation, fun, safe challenges, etc. As I enter the world of teaching, I am optimistic that public education does in fact wish to educate children, and that one day, there will be a shift from this strict, unexciting curriculum, to a more vivid learning experience. I hope to start this shift in my own classroom.
Located below are the videos by Robinson and Richardson that support the ideologies of this post.
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AuthorI am a first year elementary school teacher specializing in educating students with mild to moderate learning impairments. My philosophy is that all children have the ability to learn, but need the motivation and the right type of instruction to fit their learning needs. This is what drives me to be both fun and flexible in the classroom. Archives |