Question due Nov. 17

Week 3

1.      Now that we have unlimited capabilities to share and celebrate student work we need to take advantage of them. The first step to doing this is simply to start celebrating student work and achievements. We need to take the time to make a big deal about students doing well and putting in their best effort. With the development of all our new technologies we have had many doors opened to us in order to share and praise student work. Celebrations on student work no longer has to be contained to the classroom, we are able to share it with the outside community in multiple ways. Parents and other family members can now have a chance to see all sorts of students work on display through the use of the internet. I think the best way to share this work is to create a safe place where students and parents feel comfortable sharing their work. Students would be able to publish not only finished pieces but also work that was in progress. They could receive feedback on their work as they are working on it! Parents would have a chance to see not only what their student is doing but what the class is doing as a community. It would also give students a chance to share with relatives who live far away or parents they don’t live with.

2.      There are many ways to helps students create authentic work and relationships with the global community thanks to various technologies available. If teachers are willing to take the time to reach out to the global community themselves and learn some of the newer technology available there is no end to what students can use. One of the most basic ways to create relationship is to establish pen pals. Instead of writing letters back and forth to each other however students have the opportunity to speak to and see their pen pals through the use of Skype. Pen pals would also be able to work on projects together, read books together, have discussions on current events by using blogs, wikis, and various other discussion forums. Students also have greater opportunity to apply what they are learning to the real world. If students are learning about ancient Egypt they can watch real time videos of an archaeological dig or Skype with an archaeologist. Gone are the days of students simply reading about things in a text book. We now have the opportunity to transform how students learn we merely need to take advantage of it (November).

3.      If every teacher were to have a website, the most efficient way for them to share best practice would be through a blog. A blog gives teachers a chance to interact instead of just post information. Teachers would have a chance to interact with parents, allowing them to ask questions and get answers in a timely manner. Teachers can interact with students, posing question to be answered either in a short period of time or for students to think about over an extended period of time. Blogs also give teachers a chance to communicate with other teachers. They can get feedback on lesson ideas, and create relationships with teachers all over the world (November).