I want to welcome you all to my new blog. I have tried keeping blogs in the past but for some reason I can never keep up with them. Since this blog is for a course, I am hoping to solve that problem, and maybe figure out how I can maintain my own blog, and actually update and keep it. My blog is called "ensenanza es amor" which translated to English means teaching is love. I think that it is very important for teachers to act through love and kindness when teaching in order to never lose sight of the main goal of education - the better the lives of our students. (The name is Spanish because I studied Spanish Literature and Culture as an undergrad at Rutgers— go RU! and I find that it is sometimes easier for me to express my ideas in Spanish.)
First, this is my first time using Blogger. I have experimented with other blogs in the past (most notably Tumblr- which I was planning on using for this project, but it just did not work out). One of my favorite aspects of the “Read, Write, Web” is the ability to create a space that is solely yours. Here, I can relate all of my thoughts and feelings and the space can truly represent myself. I feel that when I have a key goal in mind, I am more likely to stick to updating and using my blog.
Next, I would like this post to focus upon technology in education and the outcomes that we hope to see when these skills are used in the classroom. Ultimately, the use of technology in the classroom is supposed to foster higher order thinking skills amongst our students. Blogs, Wikis, Skype…etc. and the multitude of tools available for use on the internet can foster the use of these skills. Specifically, when I reference higher order thinking skills I am thinking of Bloom’s Taxonomy and the skills that exist on the higher- levels of Bloom’s pyramid. (Please see this website for more information: http://www.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blooms_taxonomy.htm)
Above, is the Bloom’s Revised Wheel of Taxonomy. I have used this wheel when creating a myriad of lesson plans. I like how it connects Bloom’s verbs to activities that the students can complete. It bridges the gap from the abstract (the verbs) to the concrete (the activities). According to Bloom, the levels of higher-order thinking are Analyze, Evaluate, and Create. When students are working in these levels, they are not only demonstrating understanding of the topic at hand, but they are thinking about the topic in a deeper, more complex manner. When technology is used in the classroom, it should be used in a way that fosters this higher level of thinking. Some examples of higher level activities that involve technology can be:
1. The students can recommend useful websites to further reasearch on a particular topic.
2. The students can create a commercial about a certain product they they have learned about and put it on YouTube. Then they can pose questions to one another and discuss the video right underneath it.
These are just a few examples of the variety of ways one can use technology in the classroom to foster higher- order thinking.
Currently, I am taking a course entitled "Literacy Development for Middle Grades" at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education. Yesterday in class we read an article entitled, "Exploring Poetry: How does a Middle-School Teacher Begin?" (Shanklin, 2009). This article discussed various ways that a teacher can engage the students in a poetry unit and try to diminish the traditional apathetic attitude that students have toward poetry. This article contained some great ideas for changing up the poetry unit such as partner reading, allowing students to choose their poems to read, and having them present their poems to the class. The part of the article that intrigued me stated,"Keep in mind that you are inventing a poetry unit for twenty first century learners" (Shanklin, 2009). As a result of my coursework in Introduction to Teaching with Digital Tools, I found this sentence to be highly laughable. This article did not suggest any ways to integrate the use of technology into the unit or any ways for the students to use higher order thinking skills. I feel that as a result of my participation in this course, my views on education are changing and I am beginning to become a technology advocate in the classroom.
The picture is from: http://www.cobbk12.org/sites/alt/training/Blooms/circle.GIF.
Shanklin, N. (2009). Exploring poetry: how does a middle-school teacher begin?. Voices from the Middle, 16(3), 46-47.
