Techstanding Instructional Challenge 1
It is very evident that students are engaged and committed to their communication with friends. We see them updating their status through Facebook, posting every action on Twitter, constantly listing to music with their ear buds in, and playing online games. If we try to shut down this excitement that exists within the halls of our school, how do we expect the students to stay excited about instruction? I believe that the exploration and projects that students do within the classroom can mimic the excitement they feel during their own free time. If we disconnect their ways of communicating, we are choosing to give students picture of the classroom being a quiet place. I believe that learning will be most effective if it can relate specifically to what the students are used to and enjoy.
According to an article written by MIT (Klopfer, Osterweil, Groff, & Hass, 2009) , social networking users very in age range, but the most users appear to be within the ages of nine and seventeen. They site research that says 60 percent of students admit to using these social networking sites to discuss topics having to do with education. More than 50 percent say the same sites are used to discuss or work on homework. (Klopfer, Osterweil, Groff, & Haas, 2009) This should be something that as teachers we are taking advantage of. If students are already using these tools to talk about school, why don’t we incorporate that into our school day?
The document shown below is an excellent tool that should be used within the classroom when setting up the use of technology tools. It helps the teacher organize how to properly integrate technology, taking into consideration all elements such as the school, students, and the teacher. Once this is filled out it can best guide the type of instruction that will be successful within the classroom. It also gives a total score and space to use the rating to brainstorm ways to better address the needs not being met through current lesson plans. This guide will be a good tool to use in order to get these essential technological tools into the classroom.
My first idea to integrate this excitement in the classroom is based off of a CNN news story that was done on a school in California. A teacher there has been using Twitter successfully within his classroom. Here is a picture of what it looks like.
In order to specifically adapt this idea for my fourth grade classroom, I would have students be set up in our computer lab. From there I will pose a question to the students that they have to think through using what we have learned. My first example will be to challenge them to think about our nutrition unit we are currently doing. As a participation grade for the day I would ask students to consider some changes they could make to the meals they ate yesterday that were recorded in their nutrition logs. Students would then be required to post up on Twitter an example of how they would make a better change to what they did the day before. Students can see the ideas of their classmates and are able to comment and support the ideas of others. This will be easy because I will be posting our class experience on the large screen. Students will have a specific Twitter tag to post to and all will show up on the screen. Additionally, students are free to simply type their ideas to add to the discussion rather than speaking out in front of everyone.
Another idea of how I could make the classroom an interactive and collaborative place that mimics the hallway atmosphere is based off the concept of giving students their own identity. According to the study cited in the article from MIT, the one thing these social networking sites have in common is that they give students an identity to use while online. (Klopfer, Osterweil, Groff, & Hass, 2009) They have their own online life and personality to share with others. The specific use within my classroom is giving each student their own avatar in order to use for selected activities. These characters can also be used outside of the classroom to do homework and turn in special projects. Here is a great example of how the use of avitars are used in order to improve students' feelings regarding oral exams. It seems to almost turn the negative opinions into positive through allowing the students to speak using avitars instead of the pressure of standing in front of the room. Please see below how the attitudes of students can improve through an example of avitar use.
For my own specific use within my fourth grade classroom, I will be using the idea that is seen below. This classroom has used a Voki character for each student to do proofreading on the computer. Currently in our class, we are beginning to create three longer writing pieces for a publishing book on family traditions. We will be going to the lab and each student will create their own Voki. Once on Voki.com the students are simply going to be required to type in a paragraph of their writing into the site and listen to the Voki say it back to them. Through the reading aloud by the Voki, the students will be able to see changes that need to be made. Spelling errors, run on sentences, and grammar mistakes will be evident through the reading aloud of their writing. My implementation within the classroom will look very similar to that seen in the following video.
Lastly, I would like to touch on my current idea for classroom management. Using this plan daily within my classroom will provide the greatest amount of inclusion of that energy and buzz of technology that is seen in the halls each day. Using www.classdojo.com, I have uploaded each of my 27 students’ names. The students will go on to the site and create their own avatar that will be what represents them in the classroom. Here is a picture of what it will look like.
This site allows me to take the students negative and positive behavior and add “points” to the students throughout the day. The students’ positive behaviors such as collaborating with another student, showing respect, contributing to class discussion are all listed as topics on the site. I can use my smart phone to add or take away points marked against these categories on the site. Each day students can see their levels change and can reflect on where their behavior needs improvement and where they are showing positive behaviors.
From the minute the students step through the doors of my classroom they will find comfort in knowing that their own personalities are being represented and appreciated through our www.classdojo.com site. There is a constant interaction with the students and the technology each day. I believe that these few steps are a few ways to keep the collaborative and social aspects of the children’s lives alive and well within our 4th grade classroom!
References:
chaserboy82. (2011, Jan. 22). Conferring with an Avitar: Using Voki for Proofreading. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9gHpIH9RTA&feature=related
evansspanishteacher. (2011, Oct. 27). Voki in the Classroom. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao9KQltMkP0&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLAFFB2BD506ED26FC
http://www.classdojo.com
http://www.voki.com
Klopfer, E., Osterweil, S., Groff, J., & Haas, J. (2009). The Instructional Power of Digital Games, Social Networking, Simulations and How Teachers Can Leverage Them. The Education Arcade, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved from http://education.mit.edu/papers/GamesSimsSocNets_EdArcade.pdf
LearningCoach. (2011, Sept. 23). CNN Twitter. Retrieved from http://www.schooltube.com/video/1aa687d903d4caf2e335/CNN%20Twitter
