Implementing Technology in the Classroom

Since my last post, I received a phone call from my Vice Principal, telling me that I would be moving from my "home" of 11 years in Kindergarten, and moving to a whole new world, Special Education.

I had requested the change, in light of budget cuts and knowing there would be many changes in our school in order to rearrange teachers to fill empty positions left by retirees and refugees to other careers. (Sad, but true.)  It won't be easy to leave what has defined me for so long, but I'm taking the opportunity to focus on my excitement for what's next in my professional development.

Immediately, I began thinking of capitalizing on ways to implement technologies I have learned about in grad school.  In just two semesters I have been introduced to so many options that I was previously blind to - I stayed in my little kindergarten bubble.  There are infinite directions to go from here, but I plan to jump right in, and the article, Do Web 2.0 Right, by Daniel Light, gave me great insight as to some things to consider when beginning.

According to Light (2011), there are three crucial elements to keep in mind:

1. Instituting daily practice
2. Carefully considering the audience
3. Teaching and enforcing appropriate behavior

Possibly a no-brainer, the way to ensure that your students are gaining what they need to gain from Web 2.0 tools is to make sure they are using them daily, rather than only on special occasions, like for specific projects.  Light says students may use the tools in a different manner that adults, like their parents use them, or in a different way each day, but the most successful classrooms used them every day.

The audience is a significant consideration especially in middle school or high school students, but every child will be nervous to publish something to the public.  A private blog only shared between the student and the teacher will ease the anxiety about sharing one's work with the entire class.  Some assignments can be collaborative and shared among the group, or Light suggests choosing selected work, approved by the student, to display in a more open forum, but not every assignment should be expected to be published for the world to see.

As we have seen in the ISTE NETS, we have an obligation to model and enforce appropriate behavior, and this will always be the expectation.  Light's third element revisits the idea that we as teachers will show students how to comment, critique, and applaud constructively, while being respectful of fellow classmates' feelings.

In light of my new job assignment for next year, I would like to begin with a journal-like blog, that will be private, as Light suggested.  I will have my students (that are age-appropriate to be honing their writing skills) to use this daily to discuss their day, thoughts on class content, or questions with me.  I would like it to be open conversation between us, with no pressure of classmates' eyes on their feelings or writing.

I also plan to create search engines with both relevant and irrelevant results, so that my students will feel as if they are using real-world search tools while having to do a little bit of sifting to determine which results are beneficial.  I could embed my search engines to a class blog or webpage, so that they will have somewhere safe to access information even if I am not in the room with them.

The whole year will be a learning experience for me, but with transition catapulting me forward, I hope to use this change as an opportunity to jump in and use some of the great technology available, and even to share ideas with other teachers.

Reference:

Light, D. (2011). Do web 2.0 right. Learning and Leading with Technology, 38(5), 10-12.