Website Partnership for 21st Century Skills Reflection

Being the optimist that I am, I was hoping this site was going to offer tools for me to walk away with and apply into my classroom tomorrow. Not quite the case. Nothing really jumped out at me as new or wowing. It confirmed that yes our schools have work to do, and quite a bit at that. Unfortunately the solutions are not as easy to come by. I received my B.S. in 2002, I can recall having to take one class that required us to create a website, laminate and bind a book, and use a dye cut machine. Two of my classrooms had smartboards in the room, however neither teacher ever turned it on. My point in sharing this is that teachers are not being expected to use technology actively through out their college training. Thus, how are they going to be prepared to come into a classroom and begin using it then...and if teachers are not using it, can we really expect our students to be using it. I am a fairly young teacher, excited to use technology and get my kids using it. Many of my colleagues are timid to try the technology and often use the excuse that it doesn't work every time and they don't have time to waste "fixing" it in class. The part that is hard to explain to them is that the "fixing" it part can usually be figured out by one of the students.

My husband who is in the computer field was laughing at me as I was reading through the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website. He talked about how much easier his job would be if schools educated the students and adults entering the career field using up to date technology. The significant gap between our schools and the expectations of the job market in using technology is not benefiting anyone. It makes sense that the two join forces. My hope for myself as a teacher, for my daughter who will begin her public school experience next year, and for all teachers and students out there is that technology no longer resides as an option for teachers to use with their students, but rather it becomes an expectation.

As a second grade teacher, I could see a connections blog being beneficial to my students on many levels. With my students being younger the connections blog could be a first experience for many of them to blog. Using a blog to share connections would also save time in our class discussions as so many times a connection a student has with a book can end up turning into a five minute story...which then inspires another to have a connection...As a teacher it is difficult at times to balance the need for students to share their connections and knowing it is time to move on. The blog would allow every student to have the opportunity to make their voice heard, while also allowing practice for their writing and reading skills.

A Slice of Who I Am...

This is my eighth year of teaching. My first seven years were all in sixth grade and this year I made the jump to second. I am licensed to teach k-12 with emphasis in mathematics and language arts. I teach in a school district that is actively trying to implement technology. Our goal is for every classroom to have sound, Smartboards, N-computing, and document cameras. At this point my classroom has N-computing and a Smartboard. Our school is trying to mount a new Smartboard in each grade level each school year...sound is the last priority. I love seeing the interaction kids have with the Smartboard and believe it opens up quite a bit of new opportunities for the students learning.