Realizations

When I first came into the world of Education, I was told that you teach how you were taught not how you were taught to teach.  I always wondered how true that was.  I didn't have an education background so I had never been taught to teach.  I went to graduate school to get my Masters in Library and Information Sciences and I didn't even get my School Media Certification until a couple of years later when I actually made the switch to the School Library.  That said reading the 21st Century Skills Education and Competitiveness: A Resource and Policy Guide really helped me put things in perspective.  At times, I have been guilty of wanting to teach how I was taught.  I went to Catholic school and the nuns lectured and we listened.  We didn't do too much group work, no differentiation and we listened.  Even towards the end of my stint in grad school and during my certification program at RU, I had lots of group work.  I think because I rarely did group work when I was younger, I didn't enjoy it when I was older.  Now, our children have no choice but to learn to collaborate, be innovative and step outside of the box as far as problem solving.  If we continue to teach the same old way, then they will not be prepared for the challenges ahead.

Also, when I was younger I knew many people who didn't go to college and were relatively successful.  This document points out that now a College education will be the minimum requirement.  Having a clearer understanding of what the expectations are for future and why things need to change made me view all the reforms in education differently.  In the article, Skills and Strategies for E-learning a Participatory Culture, by Walker et al, the issue of trying to keep up with the technology and figure out how to best fit it into the educational sector poses a real issue.  It isn't as simple as just teaching the teachers how to utilize the technology.  After that you need access to the technology as well as time to teach the students how to utilize it and how to best implement it into the classroom.  I like that one of the questions in the sample blog challenges us to think about how can we utilize this technology in our classrooms.  Overall, moving forward I realize that the undertaking of implementing the technology, finding one I like that isn't block by my school's filter and one that does what I need might be challenging, but I know that it has to be done.  The kids now are being prepared for completely different jobs than we were.

One site that I love to use is Padlet.com.  I think it used to be called Wallwisher.com but the name has changed.  I will include some links to how I have used it in various settings and with different grade levels.  I want to do some more research because I'm not sure if this would be considered a blog or wiki.
Spine Poetry
Website Evaluation
Bird Poetry
Book Recommendations
I love this site because it is easy to use, I can control the content and it isn't blocked by any of the school districts that I have worked for.