Blog Post #11

I was in shock when I watched the Little Kids... Big Potential video by Ms. Cassidy's first grade class in Moose Jaw, Canada. These students have so much knowledge about the technology they are using in the video. I enjoyed watching the video of Dr. Strange interviewing Ms. Cassidy in 2010. I know that the technology has progressed so much since the interview and I would love to see how she is incorporating new technology in her classroom. I love how Ms. Cassidy is using technology in her classroom. It is a great way for parents to see progress and see examples of their students work. Ms. Cassidy is doing a great job protecting her students' identities through only using first names and not matching pictures with the names of the students. I also think that she is practicing ethically through getting parent/guardian consent before allowing them to post on their blogs. I love that Ms. Cassidy is allowing her students to write on a blog and learn how to write for an audience. This is a concept that many students do not grasp until late in their education. This gives the students a purpose for writing because the students can see that there are people from all over the world reading and responding to their blog posts. Ms. Cassidy also uses Skype to interact with other classrooms all over the world. In her interview, Ms. Cassidy discussed using Skype to do Reader's Theater with a 1st grade classroom in Gadsden, Alabama. This helps the students see where they are academically compared to other students in different territories and countries. I think that it will be good, in my classroom, to meet my students' interests through their assignments. I could give a project assignment that allows them to choose which kind of technology they want to use for their assignment based on their personal interests.

In high school, I like the idea of posting information about assignments to a class blog and/or sending a text message to all students to inform them of a change in due date or reminder about an assignment. Facebook/Twitter is also a great way to communicate with students who are caught up in the current technology. Ms. Cassidy suggested that the students create a separate Facebook/Twitter account to be used for school and it would be wise for the teachers to do the same. I had a teacher that used Facebook to communicate when I was in high school and I found it effective and a great way to communicate with her and other classmates about an assignment. I would like to incorporate Skype into my high school class to conduct interviews and help prepare students for the real world. This would be great education on communicating with adults in job/college interviews that they will have in the near future. I would also encourage my students to follow professionals on Twitter in the field that they plan to go into as an adult. This would broaden their PLN and give them references for future jobs.

I know that I will face many challenges when incorporating technology into the classroom. Not all students will be able to work on the computer every day in a high school classroom. I can't expect all of my students to own a laptop, iPhone, and/or iPad. I know that it will be years before the school system provides technology for all students to use without having to visit the school computer lab. So, I know that I will be able to assign online assignments, but I will have to give my students plenty of time to complete the assignment in case they need to visit a library to get access to a computer. I can request to get a set of computers for my classroom, but I know that it would be unlikely with all the budget cuts in education. Another problem that I may face in the classroom is a website, such as Blogger, Facebook and Twitter, being blocked by the school system on all computers to keep students on track with their classwork. In order to have access to these websites, I would need a password to override the websites, which I could obtain through the school system after showing them what I intend to use the websites for in my classroom. I could enter the password onto all of my computers to allow access to these sites in my classroom.

I think that taking Ms. Cassidy's approaches in my History class will make learning much more interactive and enjoyable for the students. I always dreaded having to write a paper for class, but writing a blog post would give the students a reason to post. They would do their best work knowing that they have an audience from around the world reading their assignment. They can incorporate pictures, videos, and links into their paper. Students at the high school level would also benefit from using technology because it improves their typing skills, interview skills, and communication skills. There is so many ways that students and teachers can benefit from using technology in the classroom.