- Building Reading Communities (more specific ideas under this umbrella)
- Digital Discussions (much like this one!...but other more specific ideas under that umbrella)
- Inquiry (more specific ideas under the umbrella)
Tell me what of these tools you would like to or plan to incorporate in your future class. Choose at least one per section if possible, but the more, the better!
Remember, digital literacy is here to stay. Two of you made comments about how it's not always a good thing and that the more kids are on their phones, maybe we should teach less, not more. That would be a little like saying, "Well everyone has a car, so we don't need to teach people how to drive." Just because they have phones and devices doesn't mean we shouldn't teach them how to use them. It actually means it is more important than ever. We can teach them about netiquette. Better yet, I love to show them the video of what looking down at their phones is doing to their necks/spinal column. For example, did you know that if you bend your neck down with your chin within 3 inches of your chest, it's the equivalent of having a bowling ball on the back of your neck? Over time, it causes serious kyphosis and long-term effects can result in early onset arthritis...so even when on devices, look up! Every time I share this in classes, you can see folks straighten and stop looking down as much!)
I had originally said to post by Wednesday, but I didn't make it live in time...sorry! Post by Saturday July 1 at noon and respond by Sunday, July 2 at midnight. Also don't forget to go back and post and respond on any past blogs you haven't. These digital conversations are really important! :-)
Under the section titled Building Reading Communities, I really liked the video book review ideas. This is one that I would incorporate in my future classroom. Although, all of the ideas were awesome and I will definitely be using all of them. The video book review really stood out to me because I think this would be a great way for shy students to present their work. I am a shy student (believe it or not ;) ) when it comes to presenting and if a student can record themselves giving the presentation, and then okay it for the class, they will probably feel a lot more comfortable and all around do a better job than if they stood up in front of the class and spoke like you do when giving a speech. I also think these video reviews will be good practice for making videos because this will come in handy in the future for these students. Practicing how to do it now, will only help them do better in the future.
ReplyDeleteUnder the section Digital Discussions, I really liked the cross-classroom discussion. I think this is an excellent way for students to interact with one another and will be fun for them to get to discuss reading material or other materials, with students in other classes or even schools that are reading the same titles as them. The teachers can also benefit from this because they can get ideas from each other.
In the Inquiry section, I liked the section inspire through video clips. I think this is a great way to continue the lesson and expand the education the students are getting. After doing a lesson, having them watch a video will really wrap up ideas for them or expand even further. This will also be a great way for my visual learners to learn.
I also really liked the classroom discussion. I did two years of my high school in Norway which had students coming from 100 different nationalities. It was an eyeopening experience for me. Coming from a small town in India I realized there was so much more to learn. In most of my classes, we had classroom discussions where I was able to learn new things everyday from all of my classmates. I think thats when I learned to respect others opinions and see the world in a completely different perspective.
DeleteI also think Cross Class discussions to be very useful for students to interact with students from other classes and other institutions. For instance, students will have larger audience to share their work and ideas with, which exposes students to different ideas and prospective that they would have seen otherwise. Students will also have bigger opportunity to make connections and find students with the same passion as them.
DeleteBuilding an interactive academic community where students share, comment, discuss their work, and inspire each other is important for learning. And fortunately, this chapter provides some great tips to use technology in the classroom to build an interactive academic community. One of the tools discussed in “Building Reading Communities” that I would like to use in my future class is video book reviews. This tool doesn’t only help students practice the process of summarizing and synthesizing their thinking about their reading, but it also improves their skills of expressing their ideas in an interactive medium. It also prompts students to first understand the materials in the reading before making videos about their thoughts and what they have learnt, and I will use this tool when I assign readings and projects for my student to follow their thinking process and understanding.
ReplyDeleteAnother tool from “Engage in Digital Discussion” section that I plan on using in my future class is Problem-solving discussions. This tool provides students with a platform to share and discuss their reasoning, proofs, and steps in solving math problems. These kind of discussions help students build interactive groups where students explain their thinking, explore different approaches of problem solving, and support each other. I think this tool will be very important for me since I am planning on teaching courses that involves a lot of math. Another tool from “Foster Inquiry Across the Curriculum” section that I would like to use for my future class room is Inspire Wonder Through Video Clips. Teachers can share video clips even prior to class to introduce students to the topics that will be discussed in class and have them come to class with questions. Video clips can also be used to spur their curiosity and then encourage them to discuss in groups and search further answers in the web. These tools are very helpful in building interactive classes, and I will definitely employ them to provide my future students with a collaborative environment where they can share, comment, discuss their learning and work.
I also talked about the Problem solving discussions in my blog post. I think you would agree that in both chemistry and math, we focus on getting the right answer instead of questioning yourself why and how. Most of the times, students struggle with giving reasonings and proofs to the answers obtained. Therefore I think its very crucial to encourage students to learn how to share, explain and brainstorm ideas to come up with new strategies to make learning fun in an interactive way.
DeleteI also will use the video clips as a way to give my students a preview and also a video at the end of lessons for students to come back to when they are home working on homework. I am teaching 1st-6th grade so this will be handy for them!
DeleteIn Building Reading communities section, I liked the Digital Reading “Wall” idea. Not only is this a platform to share the list of books you have read but I think it a great strategy to build a strong classroom community. The book also talked about Padlet which is a website that helps you set up a wall on a class account. This app lets you add links to blog posts, author websites and share with your colleagues by scanning a QR code.
ReplyDeleteUnder the Digital Discussions, what stood out the most to me was the Problem- Solving Discussions. Having majored in Chemistry, I was required to take many math courses and other science courses where mathematical problems were always involved. Even though you yourself understand the concepts and theories behind those problems, sometimes explaining what you know and learned becomes a struggle. So, I think encouraging digital conversations to students at a young age will not only help them think clearly but it will also push them forward to seek new strategies and improve their digital communication skills. I also liked the Cross- Classroom Discussions and I believe that such activities will not only help students see new perspectives but also learn to appreciate his/her classmates’ viewpoints. Moreover, it will help the students connect with each other and build stronger relationships.
In the inquiry section, I liked the idea of helping students expand their thinking skills by exposing them to short video clips. Showing video clips to introduce new topics help students retain the information and it is probably one of the best learning resources one could think of. One of the examples could TED talks and the fact that they always invite speakers coming from different backgrounds, their life stories and experiences make us think outside the box.
I also think I will have my students make their own video clips. This could be a way to have them turn in a project for example. Instead of a book review or a pamphlet of information, they can create a video.
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