Blog Post #11

I think the most interesting educational use that is non-computer-based technology is simply writing utensils. Although many teachers today try to find activities that are not paper based (hand written), it is still the best and most convenient tool. Teachers can find all sorts of activities rather than just worksheets and tests to do in the classroom, which involve the use of many different utensils. Also different utensils give children a chance to be more creative and I think that is important in elementary education. If teachers allow children to be creative it gives them a chance to express themselves more and they can do this by using different writing utensils like crayons, markers, colored pencils, gel pens etc. Writing utensils also give children a chance to simply learn how to write which leads to better literacy skills and also gives them a chance to express themselves in writing and saying how they feel. This writing then leads to better writing skills. Heather Benson, author of the article “Emergent Writing” from pbs.org PBS Teachers, said, “It is as important for teachers to provide a variety of authentic writing experiences as it is to provide opportunities to explore and learn about reading. Incorporating writing into your daily schedule is essential to supporting children's emergent literacy.” Most writing can simply not be done without a writing utensil (pencil, pen etc) therefore I think it is a very important tool to have and always keep within the classroom. I also feel that it is very important to keep a wide variety of different utensils, even some from other countries!

Blog Post #10

Overall, I think that the ERIC presentations (so far) have gone really well. The one thing that really stinks in my mind that I learned the most about, that I never really knew about were the AUP’s. All of the other information was either obvious to me or things I have already heard (for the most part). I think that the group who had “Technology Integration in Science” had some really good ideas. Other than just hearing about technology and its pros and cons and things like that, I like hearing about ideas we as hers can actually use within our classroom. Like the farmer activity etc. Those are the things that I think are most helpful and valuable. I also really like the different websites the “Internet in Technology” group showed us. I think they will be very useful in the future, and definitely websites I will save. Again, overall I think that all of the presentations have been very good and similar but very different. One thing I am glad though, I am glad we split this up into different days, because to be honest with you, when the last group went up to present my attention span had started to decrease. I am not saying the last group was bad by any means, but my attention decreases after hearing so many presentations on the same thing: technology. But again I think they have gone really well and I am interested to hear what the other groups have to present on.

Blog Post #9

The article I found was the in NY times and is called, “In the Classroom, Web Logs Are the New Bulletin Boards”. It is not directly about technology in education, but it focuses specifically on web logs in education. The article goes through and just talks about web logs and how teachers use them for different things. One second grade teacher (Mrs. Dudiak) used it so her students could write short entries on their field trip. She said, “It allowed them to interact with their peers more quickly than a journal, and it even the playing field”. She also found that the students who tended to be quieter in the classroom, tended to come alive online. Some teachers use the blogs so students can show how they solved a math problem, post observations about a science experiment and even to display different projects like art projects. Another way teachers aid they used the blogs was to continue discussions that were not finished in class, and to also prolong question-and-answer periods with guest speakers. The bogs were also used for modern-day pen pals. One high school teacher used the blogs to study the Holocaust with other high school students in Poland. The article also talked about how teachers like using blogs because, “they require little effort to maintain” and they are easier to use and start than websites. Teachers also said that the blogs allowed them to give students feedback more quickly than just writing back to them in journals, and not only can they react to what they say faster, but also that students can respond to each other. “Teachers who use blogs say that students put a lot more though and effort into their blog writing, knowing that parents and others may read their work on the web.” On the other side, some teachers tried to get the blogs to stay alive over the summer and many failed to have that happen. This makes teachers who are critical to blogs question, has technology actually done anything to interest students in writing? They also worry that blogging may encourage bad habits for students, that are hard to break. The second grade teacher, Mrs. Dudiak, argued that, “blogging is a different form of writing … they should proofread, but we are more concerned about the content, not grammar.” The article even mentions how one school district in Cincinnati is requiting teachers to maintain blogs for their classes. Lastly, the article states that, “Teachers become receptive to blogs once they see how easy it is to se one up” and “If it gets kids excited about learning, we might as well try it.”
After reading this article, and actually others that I used for my ERIC project, I have learned a lot of opinions about blogs and also electronic portfolios. I agree with most teachers opinions about blogging and that it allows students to carry on conversations after class, to share their work, to help each other, and also to respond to students faster. I also completely agree that it gives students a chance to show their more personal side and open up, more than they ever would in the classroom. With that said, I just worry about one thing. I myself dread blogs in this class, and I find it just something else I need to complete. I rarely get on and look at others blogs and the things they have posted unless I have to, like commenting to others. I can not argue though, after being forced to read others so that I can comment on them, I have learned things from other students and gained new and more ideas about things. So to me there is a positive and a negative side. I just know how I am with blogging and it makes me think that others are the same way. Like I said, there are a lot of good things about blogs and I think it is really more beneficial than writing in journals, and it is easy to respond etc. But I do have to be critical and question if it really excites children about learning, just from my personal experience. If we could make it more fun for students I think I would be totally for the whole idea. I will use blogs in my classroom because I do think they are great and they also give children a chance to use technology and communicate together, I just want to find a way to make it more interesting and fun, rather than just another assignment for them to do.

The link to my article is below:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/19/technology/circuits/19blog.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5090&en=33627811ca310596&ex=1250568000