As I reflect on my time in class I realize how much I have come to understand during the past seven weeks. What I thought were great teaching practices, were not. Prior to Walden, I was a teacher with an open mind, but this class made me push to actually make changes within my classroom. Change does not occur overnight, but little steps mean an impact on the future. Some realizations that continue to play in my head:
- · Technology stimulates students, yet technology should not be used just to use it. It must have a purpose.
- · Collaboration is necessary! (Teacher to teacher, student to student, and between students and teachers)
- · 21st century skills will be needed for many years to come.
- · Most classrooms are not ready for today’s students – mine being one of them.
- · Having a finished project gives ownership to the students. (Wikis, blogs, RSS readers, Posting, Podcasts)
Twenty -first century skills related to problem solving, communication, teamwork/collaboration, leadership, creativity, professionalism, and life-long learning will continue to play a key role in the lives of our students (Laureate, 2010). Students will be required to use these skills when seeking employment, while completing a given job, or to make a decision in the direction a business will take.
One issue educators quickly realize when beginning to plan a lesson containing 21st century skills is that the skills are not specifically listed in most state standards, or even tested on final exams. Have a list of standards that will be tested, how do educators have time to teach, mold, and develop these 21st century skills in our students? After all, if states do not list them, then they are not important - right? Completely incorrect! What will develop the skills, and cover the correct material, comes down to strong and in-depth planning on the educator’s end.
In Marc Prensky’s opening of Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants he states, “Today’s students are no longer the people our education system was designed to teach” (2001). Students no longer pay attention in school because adults say they need to. Students need to feel there is meaning behind what their administration and teachers ask them to learn. While daunting at first, it is not too difficult to attach meaning to lessons today. With the web, teachers are able to pull up videos, articles, or applications that show the students how they can relate to the information. The difficult part is finding the time to put in the work to find the videos, articles, or applications for our students to use as starting points. Teachers cannot continue to teach the same way they always have. Yes, it is difficult to learn new technologies, but in the end, the teacher’s job will be much easier if they are not fighting kids to stay awake in class, to do their homework, or to show respect for the subject.
Students today want to have a say in what and how they learn. It is their education after all right? Yes, they should continue to take the normal math, English, history classes, and they should be covering the standards the states require for learning, but the way they learn the material will help with remembering the material. If they find the material online through a webquest, they most likely will remember it better than if they were taught the material during a lecture. The webquest also allows for deeper understanding, because students can quickly research more material, instead of being stuck in a desk taking notes on paper.
I look forward to continuing to learn how to best support my student’s learning. I must continue to remind myself that I am no longer expected to know all the answers. My students can do the research. They might need my direction on how to look information up on the computer, but they can report back to the class. I must be prepared with lessons, but everything does not (and will not) be perfect. My role has changed from information giver, to guider.
One goal I have for the future is to put more effort into bringing meaning into the math, especially with Algebra I. Algebra I topics are the basis of a multitude of classes to come. Since it is a basic class, little can be done in showing connections to previous knowledge. Especially, if the students have taken the class multiple times (7th or 8th grade and again 9th grade), the class can quickly become boring at the beginning of the year. By the end of the year, when the material is new to everyone, the students have completely lost interest in the class.
My second goal is to have more collaboration within the Algebra I class. Since some students have had Algebra I before, the beginning of the year would be the time to have them teach the material to their classmates. This will begin to develop bonds between the class, and hopefully a more class enjoyment.
I must work on letting go and become a guider, not a giver.
References:
Laureate Education Inc. (Producer). (2010). Skills for the 21st century. [DVD] Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore, MD
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5).
