Thursday, December 8, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Session 5 Blog Post
Online/ digital literacy activities can be integrated into the classroom as early as pre-k. Children growing up in the 21st century should be exposed to all the fascinating and powerful digital literacy activities at an early age because it will only benefit them as they grow up in this advanced, technological era. There are so many wonderful websites for young children to access. The kindergarteners and first graders at my school use a free website called Starfall. Starfall promotes phonemic awareness and is a very kid friendly website for students to use independently. Children can work on a specific skill, such as short a vowel sounds and even follow along to stories read aloud through audio. Another powerful website that I personally use in my classroom for students who need reading intervention is called Headsprout. Headsprout is a K-2 supplemental program that ensures reading success for every child. As a teacher, I am able to look up all my students’ profiles to track their progress.
I also came across another free website for preschoolers to use called Jumpstart. On Jumpstart, children can access thousands of activities and games, practice hundreds of skills for school all while exploring a safe and secure online world. Birth to age 5 is such a critical learning stage in a child’s life so it’s important to expose them to valuable learning experiences to help aid them in the future, and why not start with digital literacy activities.
A 21st Century Learning Environment is “the support systems that organize the condition in which humans learn best-systems that accommodate the unique learning needs of every learner and support the positive human relationships needed for effective learning. (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 3).” 21st century learning environments address the multiple and interconnected learning needs of the whole child.
A 21st Century skill that I would like to cultivate in my classroom is, facilitating communication and collaboration through technology. After creating the website for class, I would love to use this in my classroom to effectively communicate and collaborate with both my students and their parents. Having this website to support the home-school connection would be essential for children’s academic success. On my website I would have links to the above websites I recommend for my students to access from home, as well as homework tips and suggests for parents to use to aid in their child’s reading development. I would also think it would be interesting to have a blog posted on my website for children to use, to respond to a reading question once a week. Rather than write their answer on a piece of paper, I think it might be exciting for them to respond on the blog. By doing this at home, their parents can assist with the typing, which too will be beneficial for the future. According to the NETS-T Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, “Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments” (ISTE NETS, 2008).
References
The ISTE Nets and Performance Indicators for Teachers (2008). Retrieved from http://www.itse.org.
Partnership for 21st Century Skills. “21st Century Learning Environments.” Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/le_white_paper-1.pdf.
A 21st Century Learning Environment is “the support systems that organize the condition in which humans learn best-systems that accommodate the unique learning needs of every learner and support the positive human relationships needed for effective learning. (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 3).” 21st century learning environments address the multiple and interconnected learning needs of the whole child.
A 21st Century skill that I would like to cultivate in my classroom is, facilitating communication and collaboration through technology. After creating the website for class, I would love to use this in my classroom to effectively communicate and collaborate with both my students and their parents. Having this website to support the home-school connection would be essential for children’s academic success. On my website I would have links to the above websites I recommend for my students to access from home, as well as homework tips and suggests for parents to use to aid in their child’s reading development. I would also think it would be interesting to have a blog posted on my website for children to use, to respond to a reading question once a week. Rather than write their answer on a piece of paper, I think it might be exciting for them to respond on the blog. By doing this at home, their parents can assist with the typing, which too will be beneficial for the future. According to the NETS-T Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, “Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments” (ISTE NETS, 2008).
References
The ISTE Nets and Performance Indicators for Teachers (2008). Retrieved from http://www.itse.org.
Partnership for 21st Century Skills. “21st Century Learning Environments.” Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/le_white_paper-1.pdf.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
"Web Resources For Your Classroom" Response
After viewing all the different websites listed in Free Web Resources, the two sites that I would consider using in my first grade classroom were, “The Literacy Web at Uconn” and “National Library of Virtual Manipulatives”. I really liked that both the web sites were specifically organized around the grade level that you teach, for example Pre-K-2. Each website is tailored to one specific content area, reading or math. According to the NETS-T Standard 2 “teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes” (ISTE NETS, 2008). I am always looking for websites for my students to explore and use during our computer lab time. Since I do teach five and six year olds, I also wanted to find sites that my students could easily access and manipulate on their own, whether at school or at home.
I found that the “The Literacy Web” offered a lot of valuable information and resources. This site offers easy access to a wide assortment of literacy ideas customized for use by students and teachers in the primary grades (2007). Through this homepage, students can visit websites appropriate for their grade level, visit other K-2 classrooms around the world, and even learn more about their favorite books and authors. I would specifically use this website when conducting an author study. The authors listed on this website are age appropriate, and authors that my students have been exposed to. When conducting an author study on Robert Munsch, I would first use this website to gain information about the author to share with my students, and then I would have the students explore his website individually, by looking through his books as well as listening to stories read by the author himself, http://robertmunsch.com/books. Most of the sites provide interactive games for students to use, while learning about a particular author’s books.
I really liked the “National Library of Virtual Manipulatives” because it provides interactive games for students to complete on their own. It also covers a wide variety of important math topics that first grade students will be exposed to throughout the year. The site is very kid friendly and applicable to all students. The topics vary, so this could site could be easily be differentiated based on the needs of the student. I would use this website in my classroom when I take my class to the computer lab. I would use the skill that I am currently teaching at the time and have my students complete the activities on that topic, for further reinforcement. For example, my students are currently exploring the number line in order to solve addition equations. I would have them all visit this site to get additional support. I am always looking for free math sites for my students to access at school, and would love to share this site with parents so that they too can have their children practice at home.
References
The ISTE Nets and Performance Indicators for Teachers (2008). Retrieved from http://www.itse.org
The Literacy Web at the University of Connecticut (2007). Retrieved from www.literacy.uconn.edu/index.htm.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
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