Reflection to “Designing New Learning Environments to Support 21st Century Skills” by Bob Pearlman

          In order for the education system to enter the 21^st century, the school must teach 21^st century skills and the atmosphere of the school must change. Instead of the teacher having all of the control in the classroom the students should collaborate with each other and learn in a collaborative environment. I agree that students need to learn in this type of environment but how are all the schools in the U.S. going to change? I am observing now and my mentor teacher allows for group work but as I walk around to help, either the group is working individually within the group or one student is doing all the work and everyone else is copying. I tried to stop these behaviors and I tried to get the group to work together. Students are so trained now that I think it would be difficult to change their ways. I think it will be challenging but not impossible. I think individual teachers need to read articles like this one and change their ways in their classroom.

        Changing the environment of the school will be a little difficult for the teachers. The teachers must receive help from the administrators. I believe that schools with an inviting learning station will allow for exciting learners. The setups of the schools that were mentioned in this article were very interesting. I liked how the New Tech High had a floor plan with “collaboration zones” and “learning environments” (135). This floor plan just shows that the school was made for student learning and collaboration. These students at this school definitely will learn 21^st century skills.

        The world is changing so why aren’t schools changing? I love the traditional ways of schooling but I definitely agree that these ways are in the past and must change.

Reflection to "The Tech Commandments" by Adam S. Bellow

I believe that these tech commandments should be read by educators, administrators and everyone involved in the schooling system. Knowing these commandments can really help everyone see the importance of technology in the classroom and how to effectively use the technology. I agree that training is really important when new technology is added to the classroom. Training should definitely include ways for teachers to use the technology in an educational way. In some ways, teachers can use the Smartboard just like a whiteboard but if they only use it in this way then it is pointless to have. Teachers need to learn how to use the Smartboard so that it is used in an interactive way.

The internet is full of dangerous material but if students learn what sites are good and how to avoid the bad sites then everyone will be ok. Restricting a lot of sites in school is a little intense. I was observing a math class the other day and the class was doing logic puzzles. The class went through all the examples that the teacher had very quickly so the teacher decided to go online and find some more. The school blocked all the sites where the logic puzzles were. Why? This just shows that the blocking system is not that good. It sometimes blocks sites that are perfectly fine and educational.

In this society, collaborating is a very important skill to have. In schools students should collaborate so that they get more out of the learning process and so that they are prepared for the real world. I remember that in elementary school we had pen pals from another country. We wrote letters to each other and learned about each other’s culture. Now I think it would be so cool to have a pen pal because of all the different technology tools that can be used. Using Skype would be so cool because not only could I have heard about the culture but seen some of it.

All ten tech commandments are equally as important for all to know!

Reflection to Marc Prensky's Article

Article: Backup Education?: Too many teachers see education as preparing kids for the past, not the future by Marc Prensky

                According to Marc Prensky, having a “backup education” is not the way to go. He believes that teachers should focus more on technology and the future of their students rather than resort back to teaching the basics. Prensky believes that the basics should not be taught the way the basics used to be taught because with all the technology that is out there, there is no need to memorize most things because students can just look it up.

                I have mixed feelings about “backup education.” I agree that with all this technology, students should be taught how to use this technology and be taught using this technology. I believe that students should be taught 21^st century skills. Students must be able to live in this world. Teachers must prepare students for the future.

                I believe that technology is very useful but I do not think that students should be dependent on technology. As a teacher, I would want my students to be well rounded. Today, well rounded means able to use and function with the technology that is around us and be about to think critically and use the knowledge that they have. Students can always look things up when they need to know something but I believe that students should know the basics off hand. Students should be able to do addition, subtraction, multiplication and division without a calculator.

                “Technology will become a billion times more powerful, likely more powerful than the human brain” (Prensky 3). This is so scary. Teachers should teach students so that their brains are the powerful source of knowledge. I know it would be silly to memorize everything that the computer or your phone can simply give you in one second but I still believe that students should learn some of the basics so they are not dependent on this technology but at the same time students should learn how to use the technology so they know how to look up the things that they want or need to know.

Weekly Reading Reflection – 9/7

Article: How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20^th Century by Claudia Wallis

        Over the years the world has changed dramatically but why does the education system look the same as it did many years ago? This is the main question of the article.

        As I read the 21^st Century skills that were noted in the article, I thought to myself that I did not learn any of these skills when I was in high school. But now I realize that I should make sure that my students use these skills in my classroom. With the subject of math, I can bring in many aspects from the world economy or just show how math is all around us in the world. I can allow my students to think outside the box by giving them many word problems or math brain teasers that make my students think instead of giving them a problem where plugging in numbers into a formula will give them the answer right away. There are many great math resources out there but until the students know which websites are legit and which are not they should be careful with which information they use. But where should they learn how to know the difference between legit and non legit websites? In the classroom!! The last skill of having people skills will be taught in my classroom because group work will definitely be used. Students don’t have to be told what good people skills are but with practice with communicating in groups they will pick up what is good and bad.

        Another part of the article that was of interest to me was the part about Google. Why go into detail about a topic if the students can just Google it and read about it themselves? I think the point here is that teachers should not give straight facts but rather connect the material to real life applications or be creative with the lesson and make it more appealing for the students to learn.  I know Google won’t take the jobs of teachers because Google cannot make a personal connection with the students like teachers can. This personal connection and communication helps students learn and feel included in the learning process.

Weekly Reading Reflection – 8/31

Article: Banning Student Containers by Alan November

        I found this article to be very interesting and I believe it is an article that most educators should read. As an inspiring educator I believe that it is important to learn about your students. Know their strengths and weaknesses and learn about their interest in and out of school. This article made me realize that educators should also learn about the technology devices that students use outside the classroom and find a way for these devices to be used in the classroom. These “containers” that the students have access to at home are not being used in the classroom. Shouldn’t the devices that the students learn with and communicate with at home be explored with in the classroom? Allowing these “containers” to be used in the classroom will allow students to be more interested in the learning process. Why not use YouTube or blogs for students to learn about different topics. Teachers can be creative with lessons and incorporate these devices. Students will have fun with it, be motivated to learn and see how what they are learning is connected to the world around them.

        According to Alan November this might be scary for some teachers and I agree with him. This is new but is important for students to learn this way in this changing world. For me, I am scared because I want to make creative motivating lessons with this technology but I am not sure exactly how to do it. But I am learning and excited about taking on the challenge.

Reflection on Wikispaces

I have read a few articles about wikis and have realized that wikis can be very useful in an educational setting. Wikis may have some down falls but as long as the members are knowledgeable and create a space that is safe and educational, there should be no problems. I believe that in the classroom the teacher and the students can produce a wikispace where they as a class can collaborate, about ideas, homework, test related questions, outside the classroom. But from what I learned from Michelle R. Davis in Wiki Wisdom: Lessons for Educators, I would make sure that the teacher and the students are the only ones who can edit the wiki but I would allow the public to see the wikispace. As a class we can regulate what is being put onto our wiki but allowing the whole world to see provides the class with a stage to show what they are learning.

The website http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/wikiideas1.cfm titled Wiki Ideas for the Classroom gave many ideas but I looked specifically at the math section because that is the subject of interest to me. The main point here was that math teachers should use a wiki in order for the students to collaborate on math problems outside the classroom. I think this is a great idea. I know from experience that some math problems can be very difficult to do but what I do find helpful is talking and discussing my ideas with other people. When ideas from different people come together usually a solution is in there somewhere. A wiki is a good place for students to go to share ideas and formulate responses. At times it is hard to get a group of people together because of everyone’s busy schedules but with a wiki people can go on at their own time and contribute or see what is up there to comment on.