Another valuable skill that I learned was how to interact with all of these new tools and it has helped me to feel like I can teach my students how to interact with these media sources as well. After all, education has veered toward needing to be more learner centered and not as much teacher centered. Our kids know how to use these tools for their entertainment, but we have the capability to use them to help students connect with the standards that we are trying to teach them. The bonus of doing it that way is that the students are leading the way because they can ask more questions and research and write about their learning. They can really develop their independent thinking skill that will prepare them for the world that they are going to enter. I think that is how I will better teach my kids. They will be prepared to work in this 21st century world.
As for goals, by next year I would like to be operating a class blog that kids are interacting with regularly and they are using it for a writing platform. I would also like to be able to post responses to their thoughts and be able to even create assignments on the blog for extra credit. I would also like to have at least 3 new student lead interactive projects become part of the curriculum in my classroom and even ad more later. It is imperative that my kids become efficient in using the media to find and present information, but it is also important that they are the ones teaching each other. We all know that students learn better when they have to teach others what they have learned on their own. I would like to say that my checklist is the same as it was in week one but I cannot seem to locate it. I really think that I have learned a great deal from this course, and we will see if my new knowledge will bear fruit in the classroom.
