I believe that in order to teach something accurately, you must first be familiar with the topic yourself. Technology is no different. In order for me to model and educate my students on a variety of Web 2.0 skills, I need to be an expert on them first. When using technology for the first time, Murphy's Law always seems to apply. Because of this, my co-teacher and I make a conscious effort to pilot what we are doing with new technologies to ensure that we are prepared for any problems that occur during class. Of course, there might be a few bumps in the road, but already being able to predict what might happen always helps.
This semester, I am looking forward to piloting RSS Feeds and Aggregators in my classroom. Last semester, I began exploring how to add RSS feeds to my class Edmodo pages, but I was not successful. I am hoping that by the end of the semester I will be able to incorporate RSS feeds successfully. I am also interested in discovering what RSS Feeds would have the most impact on my students.
In addition to learning about RSS Feeds, I am also excited about incorporating new technology in my classroom. I ultimately would like to work toward having a paperless classroom in the future, and I am always searching for new Web 2.0 tools to help me move toward this goal. Currently, my classroom already has a lot of Web 2.0 tools in use and I am always looking to incorporate more.
An average day in my class, would have me communicating with my parents and students via Edmodo and our online grade book tool, Synergy. I rely on these two tools to help me keep in touch with parents and students. I have found these two tools more effective than blogs because they place an emphasis on interaction, and by using them I have been able to reach a large portion of my parents and students.
For instance, some nights I will check Edmodo and see that a student has posted a question onto our class group. By the time I can get on Edmodo to answer, several classmates have answered and solved the student's problem. I also like to have students upload their writing on Edmodo because it becomes an automatic portfolio for parents to see anywhere.
This semester, I am also beginning a portfolio project with my students. This will eventually serve as a study guide for them to use for the upcoming Georgia Milestones test this spring. On their password protected Weebly portfolios, students will be publishing their writing, keeping a continuing list of vocabulary words they are accumulating, organize the reading skills we are learning, record information about their Literature Circle novel, and keep track of different grammar lessons that will help improve their writing. I believe this will be a powerful tool to use with my students. Although it has been difficult to set up, students love having their own personal space on the internet.
Recently, our school has become infatuated with Kahoot. My co-teacher and I use Kahoot with our students to help review concepts, accumulate data, and survey students. Our school has found this to be an extremely effective tool because the students enjoy bringing their device to school and it allows to collect the data we need. I love bringing new tools like this into the classroom because I see my students begin to love learning.
I want to continue to engage this technology based generation because I know that they will need these skills to thrive in the world. I also want to make sure they are equipped and prepared for whatever careers exist when they enter the work force. Finally, I see technology bring out a level excitement and engagement in my students that I do not see at any other time.
Web 2.0 plays a huge part in my teaching. I want to ensure that I continue to learn about new technologies as they emerge so I can serve my students in a practical way. I also want to bridge technology with the Common Core standards to provide my students the most engaging Language Arts class possible.
References
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Third Edition.
Thousand Oaks, CA. Corwin Press, x.