In her two videos,First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class and Skype interview with Ms. Cassidy, Ms. Cassidy shows us how she works with her students to show others how they use technology in their classroom. I must admit that even I was a little skeptical about the students playing Nintendo DS' in class. I loved to hear the students defending their playing games in class so much that I soon forgot my misgivings. As they put it, it teaches them teamwork and sharing as well as problem-solving. It amazes me that First Graders are blogging, making internet videos, and working on the internet to learn and grow in such an amazing way. I wonder how I will be able to use this in my future classroom, as I hope to work in the eleventh and twelfth grades. If students are doing this in first grade, how good will they be at it by the time that they reach me in the twelfth grade? Will they be board with blogging about specific works of literature? Would they even find it tedious to make a podcast about what they learned from reading Mythology or Tom Saywer? Are there any Nintendo games on college preparation grammar? I guess I will need to look and see what all I can find as far as material. I do think I can find new ways to challenge my students though, because there is always something new and innovative out there if you and I are willing to look.
I also love the idea of using the class blog as an online portfolio of the students work. I agree that this is a huge help to teachers to prove how well the students are doing in their classes. I am not a big fan of the no child left behind act because it shifted the responsibility of learning off of the shoulders of the students and their parents and placed it on the shoulders of the teachers. This act had good intentions but I feel that since its implementation many students have done what humans are so prone to do , coast through life on the path of least resistance. This also means the least amount of learning, unfortunately. By using the resources available, students can show how much they truly understand about the subject and you have a written record of what has, or has not, been done in the class. I also think that it will help me as a teacher to see how much my students are applying themselves and how they can show me what really matters to them.
I think the greatest roadblocks I will have in using technology in class will be school boards.I don't think that parents will be against the use of technology in classes because they will be able to check their children's progress and see this as a stepping stone to college learning. I think that the school boards and administrations will probably cause the me the most trouble because they may be set in what they think is the right way to teach. I will try to overcome this by showing them what we are doing, giving prompt updates about our progress, and inviting them to come in and monitor any of our classes. The trust that will result through this and not through sarcasm and complaint will give me the opportunity to help my students and stay out of the politics as much as possible.
Hello Sidney,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very thoughtful post! I really enjoyed reading it! I am an advocate for using gaming platforms or consoles in my classroom. I think we can always find games that can help students learn while having fun. It can be more like a "center" for the kids just like how Ms. Cassidy used the computers/laptops as a center since she only had 5 of them. I couldn't believe they allowed the Nintendo DS either! It makes me want to use it too! I think people tend to associate games with violence too much and that is why it's always been a "no-no" in school. Games certainly helped me with not only education but in life. It doesn't even have to be Nintendo DS. It can be simple computer games that relate to education. By the time they reach twelfth grade, I don't think they will be bored with anything you listed. As long as it's fun, interesting, and new, the student will learn. Humans tend to remember or recall the "good and fun" memories. As for college grammar preparations, you can have the students create their own game! I am sure there are apps for college grammar preparations as of right now. You can use those apps and create a game of your own for the students. Like you said, there are always something new and innovative out there. You just have to go look for it.
I liked the different levels of vocabulary that you used! Your links work, you have images, bold headers, provided image source, and organized paragraphs! However, you do have several grammatical mistakes and awkward sentence structures. I am not perfect with grammar myself but here are some examples:
“In her two videos,First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class and Skype interview with Ms. Cassidy, Ms. Cassidy shows us how she works with her students to show others how they use technology in their classroom.”
You do not need to capitalize “first graders”, need a space after commas, a lot of “show” in one sentence. In her first video, it’s a recording of first graders demonstrating the uses of technology in the classroom. In the second video, it’s an interview. She is not showing us anything but telling and chatting with us. I think it should be two separate sentences.
"If students are doing this in first grade, how good will they be at it by the time that they reach me in the twelfth grade?"
Suggestion: If the students are doing this in the first grade, how experienced will they be by the time they reach twelfth grade?
"Will they be board with blogging about specific works of literature?"
Board or bored?
I do think I can find new ways to challenge my students though, because there is always something new and innovative out there if you and I are willing to look.
Two sentences instead of one.
Suggestion: I think I can find new ways to challenge my students. There’s always something new and innovative out there if you and I are willing to look.
"I also love the idea of using the class blog as an online portfolio of the students work"
Student's instead of students since it's possessive (singular).
"This also means the least amount of learning, unfortunately."
Unfortunately should be an introductory clause followed by a comma.
Suggestion: Unfortunately, this also means the least amount of learning.
"I think that the school boards and administrations will probably cause the me the most trouble because they may be set in what they think is the right way to teach."
I would remove "the me" after "cause".
Like I said, I am not perfect at it. Proof-reading will help. I usually do a Microsoft Word spell check but remember they don't recognize context so this requires you to proof-read it yourself again. I do it 2-3 times to make sure but that is me! I hope this helped one way or another! Feel free to read my posts and check for mistakes as well! It is very helpful to receive feedback from classmates.
Good luck!
Regards,
Anna Zhuo
Sid,
ReplyDeleteYour post was very creative and effectively written! You have improved! Also, as a reader I could really tell your dedication and commitment to educating. Your students will be lucky to have you as their teacher because you are willing to do what it takes to go against "the path of least resistance" and make sure that they do the same.
Keep up the passion for teaching and the excellent writing :)
Carly