Growth vs. Fixed Mindset: Stanford University on iTunes

Growth vs. Fixed Mindset

After watching the podcast video interview of Dr. Carol Dweck on itunes, I can see a lot of the problems having a fixed mindset could create in a classroom. Dr. Dweck, a Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, recently wrote a book entitled, "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success" in which she explains her theory that in order to perform optimally, we need to learn from our mistakes. The belief that you can't improve stunts achievement. She states that people in a fixed mindset, often stagnate and don't try new things because they feel they will fail. They base their activities on whether their intelligence will be shown. Failure, they feel, will make them appear less intelligent. Failure, Dr. Dweck states, is where growth happens. The belief that you can overcome your mistakes will help you to grow and learn. You are building new neuron connections which leads to the ability to improve your intellectual skills.

I believe the fixed mindset can be created during the elementary years by well-meaning parents and teachers with the use of labels. Labels, even though positive, can be harmful because they may lead to a fixed mindset. Labeling a child as smart puts so much pressure on them to perform that they may give up because they feel they can't live up to the label. Because their intelligence has been praised rather than their effort, they are afraid of looking dumb in front of classmates. Praising a child for their intelligence rather than effort, saps their motivation. Instead, it is better to praise the effort they put in the work rather than how smart they are. An example of this could be: "Susie, I appreciate how hard you worked on this project" rather than saying, "You're such a good artist" or "You're so smart".

I think we all tend to put labels on people but this is something I want to make a conscious effort to try to avoid in the classroom. Once a child is labeled, it is so hard for him or her to overcome the labels. I think the labels also make us a little biased in our evaluation of the student, knowing ahead of time that the good student is going to hand it quality work so maybe we just expect it and the same goes for the underachieving child where we just expect them to hand in poor work so maybe they don't try as hard. We need to always have high expectations for our students and try to turn a fixed mindset in a child into a growth mindset by always encouraging them to go beyond their own expectations, out of their comfort zone, even if there is a chance they'll make mistakes and fail. Mistakes are what help us grow.

To view this video

electronic contact info

Anyone still looking for a teacher or class to contact for the assignment try:

Teacher Lingo blog

Another hint: Try emailing the teacher on the blog you found for either U.S. or international blog use from our blog assignment on Sept 4th and 8th. I did this and got a response.

Teacher's Domain Video Podcasts on itunes

Solar System view through infrared camera

Grades K-5

One of the video pod casts from WGBH (which is the Public Television station in Boston) that I found interesting was called "Infrared: More than the Eye Can See". In this video, Dr. Michelle Thaller, who is an astronomer, explains how infrared camera enable us to see light that isn't visible. In it, she explains that light you can see with the naked eye is called visible light, but another kind of light, infrared, you can only see with an infrared camera or goggles. Objects give off heat and that is what is shown on the infrared camera. Warm objects appear brighter on the infrared camera and cool objects appear darker. She showed us many examples of this in the video. Astronomers are using infrared to detect planets that give off their own heat but you are unable to see because they are not near a star that gives off light.

I watched two more videos in this age group, "Energy Flow in the Coral Reef" and "A Night in the Coral Reef". I loved both of these videos because I think children are always interested in learning more about underwater creatures. The Coral Reefs are located in tropical areas and near the surface of the water because they need the energy from the sun to survive. Some of the creatures living in the reefs are the Moray Eel and the Octopus. These two creatures are nocturnal, another fact I didn't know. They come out at night to hunt for prey and return to their caves during the day. Some of the other fish eat the coral to get at the small, small creatures that are living inside.

These videos reminded me so much of an IMAX movie I saw on a field trip last year to the National Naval Aviation Museum at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola with my son's third-grade class . It was called "Deep Sea" and was narrated by Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet. In this film, you felt like you were really under the water and that's how I felt watching these videos.

Grades 6-8

I also watched a couple of videos in the 6th-8th grade age group that I found interesting. "What is a Planet" explained what characteristics a planet must have to be classified as such and why Pluto is no longer considered a planet. They also said in the video, there may actually be 10-12 planets total though some have not been classified yet.

I also watched ""Earth as a System" because I love physical geography and learning about biomes and atmospheric changes. In this video, different characteristics of the earth were used to explain why we have different climates in other parts of the world in addition to volcanoes, earthquakes, El Ninos, etc.

I found all of the videos from Teacher's Domain to be very educational. I would use these videos in a classroom to help with science and geography lessons. Some of the videos are very short and only cover the basics but they could be used to introduce a topic such as weather or astronomy to a class before the lesson was presented.

Another useful thing I discovered from the going to itunes to watch the video casts was the Teacher's Domain website. On this website, a teacher can download the videos, which also come with an attached essay explaining the information. The resources can be saved on your desktop or in a folder in which you can share them with other teachers. To use the resources on the website, you only have to register and registration is free. The topics covered on this website range from The Arts, Language Arts, and Mathematics to Social Studies and, of course, Science. This is definitely a website I will be using as a teacher when I get in the classroom.

My Visit to an ACCESS Lab

Today I paid a visit to the ACCESS lab at Mary G. Montgomery High School in Semmes. Another student from our class, Hannah Callais, accompanied me. We were greeted by Mr. Roger Rose who is in charge of the ACCESS program at MGM. He is currently teaching an online AP Psychology class using ACCESS. The ACCESS lab had about eight students in it, some from other high schools, doing online learning. They were studying different subjects such as Art History, AP Psychology, Literature and Statistics. While in the lab, the students are monitored by a program facilitator, Mrs. Brown, who keeps track of their progress.

Mr. Rose showed us around the lab and how the different equipment is used. He doesn't have an IVC (interactive video conferencing) class this term but he told us about it. Video is streamed from his classroom out to classes around the state of Alabama. He is allowed to have 29 students in each class but they can be from different locations. He can see the students and they can see him. Using this method, the instructor and students can interact live. Mr. Rose said this is almost as good as being in the classroom with one exception: he can't always tell if the students are "getting it" (understanding the material) because through the video stream you lose some gestures, non-verbal communication and nuances of being in the room with the students. Some students are also afraid to ask questions because they know they are on camera. Students are also able to take classes at MGM from instructors outside of the school using the IVC. It works both ways.

There's also other tools used for the IVS: Smartboard whiteboard and ELMO (not the furry, red monster). ELMO is a visual presenter that allows documents, three dimensional objects and text to be viewed on the IVC screen. Everything Mr. Rose does on the boards shows on the screen. It looks similar to an overhead projector. Wow, there's so much technology that I didn't even know existed!

We also met three of the other ACCESS lab teachers: Mrs. LeGrone, who teaches Chemistry, Mrs. Stroud, who teaches Physics and Ms. Hart, who teaches German. They are currently teaching the online ACCESS courses, but may be doing some of the IVC teaching next semester. It was felt by all three teachers that in theory, the ACCESS program is a wonderful concept but in actuality, there's some kinks in the mix. The lessons they use are prewritten and sometimes they don't have access to them until the first day of class (little time to plan). They use the lessons and power points that came with the software that was purchased with the program. The teachers would like a chance to create some of their own material but unfortunately that would be too time- consuming and expensive. Another drawback is the way the program was set up, not all students enter it on the first day or sometimes even the first week. Getting all the students coordinated when they are at different stages in the quarter is difficult.

The good news is that, hopefully, by the end of the school year, all the high schools in Alabama will have fully equipped ACCESS labs with teachers trained to run them. I envision, with the right training, this will be an incredible opportunity for our children to take classes they never dreamed they could such as Russian or Chinese, possibly taught by a teacher on the other side of the state. This is an excellent program to prepare our students for college. So many of the college classes now have web-based elements or are completely on-line. I believe this will give them an advantage in the future.

Mr. Rose also said that eventually, ACCESS labs would also be implemented in the middle schools in Alabama. Here's hoping that that may someday make their way to the elementary schools, perhaps available to the fourth and fifth graders who have mastered basic reading skills. This would also be a great program to implement into the PACE (gifted students) program as a way to keep these children challenged and motivated to seek out new experiences. I can't wait to see what is in store for us as teachers with all the new technological innovations. It's going to be quite a ride!

side note: Mr. Rose also stressed something of extreme importance: if we as pre-service teachers are not technologically savvy, we better get technologically savvy before we graduate. Many of the school districts are now requiring their teachers to have websites and virtual learning labs. It's not the wave of the future- it is the here and now. He said when we compete for the teaching jobs, the graduates with the technological skills would probably be the ones to get the jobs. He suggested we find software (some of it is free) to help us become more technology oriented. I guess it is true-you can never stop learning.

Visit Mr. Rose's, Mrs. Stroud's, and Mrs. LeGrone's websites for some great ideas.

Edutopia Videocasts

The Edible Schoolyard

I really like the idea behind "The Edible Schoolyard". Talk about hands on learning! The children at Martin Luther King Junior Middle School in Berkley, California grow their food and cook it in a classroom kitchen. What a great way to teach the science of plant life cycle while at the same time, teach the students a life skill like cooking. They are also learning about vegetables and how to eat healthy.

The idea for the garden was the brainchild of a chef/author Alice Waters, after having a conversation with the school principal who was unhappy with the current lunch program. Many of the school's menu items just weren't nutritionally sound. She wanted a way for the students to learn how to eat healthy foods while at the same time teach them where food comes from (other than the grocery store). The students are learning about fruits and vegetables that they may not have otherwise been willing to try. The teachers say that after the students grow the food and prepare it, they are more willing to eat it and try new things. Maybe I should plant a garden in my backyard to get my kids to eat more vegetables!

A Night in the Global Village

This is another great program from Edutopia teaching students about world hunger. I like this video cast because they put the students in a situation that would be almost impossible to simulate in any classroom. The students are placed in a camp that is rigged to look like a village in an impoverished area. They are each assigned to a group and are given one of the supplies they will need to survive the night. One group will have the water supply, one the firewood, one some food, one the pots to cook in, etc. They have to work together with the other groups to make their meal for the night. They also have to sleep in huts and shacks with just a cot or a rug on the floor with no electricity or indoor plumbing.

This is a great way to teach students about how people in other parts of the world really live and what we take for granted. They learn that they just can't go to the refrigerator and take out a snack or a soft drink. They learn they have to work with others in the village just to survive.

My Take

Having a garden in the school yard would be an invaluable tool to teach students about the life cycle of plants and where most of our food comes from but it is not very feasible in most schools though. I would like my class to learn more about how plants grow and the different stages and also, be interested in trying new foods. Perhaps, we could plant some vegetables in the classroom in pots so they could get a little taste of what it's like to grow and nurture a living
thing.

The Global Village would be a great project for most students to experience but then again, it would also be hard to reenact in the classroom. I would like to teach my class about poverty and hunger. It is a hard concept for children to grasp when we live in a country where there is an abundance of food. They don't always understand that some children go to bed hungry every night. I would use the resources at Heifer International to show the students what other children are doing to help solve the hunger problem. Perhaps, we could get involved in a community project to help those in need such as Feed the Children or World Vision. I think community involvement is an essential part of the education process. I believe that Edutopia will be a great resource to me as a teacher to help students really get involved in their education and the world around them. Thanks, George Lucas for helping to provide ways to reach students beyond the traditional classroom setting.

The George Lucas Educational Foundation

Jellyfish

Waterfall

Waterfall at Victoria Fall in Victoria, Canada
Picture is from Dr. Strange's Canadian vacation.

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Podcasting

Listening to all the different podcast on itunes gave me some insight to some of the different ways podcasts are set up. The styles differed from a lecture style format with one person speaking such as on The Tenacious Teacher, to a group of people conversing about different subjects in education such as the podcast EdTechTalk Weekly.

The podcasts with the lecture style format were informative and easy to listen to because you didn't have to try to figure who was talking but you only heard one person's point of view. I enjoyed listening to KidCast but it was more in the format of a lesson. The lesson I listened to was impressive though. Dan Schmit presented an idea to help students think beyond the surface level and ask thoughtful questions. His idea was to use the question game where everyone has to converse using only questions. He applied this lesson towards Bloom's Taxonomy and how to help students achieve all levels of the pyramid.

Another podcast I really enjoyed (probably my favorite one) was Smartboard Lessons Podcast hosted by Ben and Joan, both award winning teachers from Canada. They have a back and forth type format conversing about the lesson being taught. In this episode, Joan presented a lesson on Clouds, Stars and Saints. she described how the Interactive Smart board lessons and slides enhance the learning process. She also talked about Wordle, a program you can use to make word clouds (I went to the website and tried it. It's a lot of fun). I was unfamiliar with the Smart boards so I went to Ben and Joan's website to learn more. There is a vast array of information available plus links to other websites to obtain lessons. I would be interested in obtaining more information about the use of interactive white boards in the classroom.

Although I liked the podcast featuring David Warlick (Connect to Learning), it was hard to hear some of what was being said due to background noise. Mr. Warlick was interviewing a librarian who had some great ideas for teen book reviews but due to the talking and music in the background, it was hard to focus on what was being said.

EdTechTalk Weekly was also a good podcast for a future educator to listen to. The podcast featured four speakers from four different geographical locations: Ohio, Prince Edward Island, New Jersey and New Hampshire. It was easy to listen to (quiet background) and was set up like a conversation. There were references to tools and helpful hints available on their websites (great for a visual learner like me). I think this will be the format we may want to use for the podcasts we will be doing in class since we will have three speakers. The only problem I could find with this podcast was sometimes I didn't know who was speaking. That could just be me though since this is my first experience listening to podcasts. This technology is all very new to me but it is definitely something I want to learn more about. One think I did like about this podcast though was getting all the different viewpoints.

The two Apple directed podcasts, MacBreak Weekly and This Week in Photography, were the podcasts I enjoyed the least. MacBreak started out with commercials and then went into stock market reports on Apple. I guess if you owned a MAC or Apple stock, you would find this podcast very interesting. This Week in Photography also featured commercials (I guess that keeps it free) but was more of a tool to be used for photographers. There is a lot of information available through this podcast on photography so it would be good for someone in that field or had photography for a hobby.

Overall, it was very enlightening listening to podcasts for the very first time, especially the education-based ones. The different formats add variety and are geared towards what the podcaster likes and different listening preferences. I feel like I have a better idea now how podcasting could be a useful tool to an educator. I would like my students to be able not only to know what podcasting is and how they can learn from listening to podcasts but also be able to teach them how to create their own. To be able to connect to classrooms, students, and teachers all over the world in this way is mind- boggling.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

Wow, what an inspiration Randy Pausch's Last Lecture was! He accomplished so much and he was my age. He's an inspiration and what a great attitude he had even though he was dying (I loved the part where he did the push ups). I think it was his positive attitude towards his students and his sense of humor that impressed me the most. It is incredible how many of his childhood dreams he actually accomplished. Most people are lucky to attain one of the goals they set for themselves. I loved how he said he learned the most from the dream he didn't accomplish..playing in the NFL. "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted".

He gave his students the freedom to accomplished even more that he imagined and they didn't let him down. The projects they worked on were incredible. He used criticism to inspire the students to push themselves beyond their self-prescribed limits and it worked! When they blew his mind with first assignment he had to find a way to raise the bar and they just kept performing and performing! It is a testament to Dr. Pausch as an instructor that the students are being promised jobs even before they enter the program...now that's something! He has the program set up so the students learn while also having fun. What a great way to motivate students.

Randy Pausch also gave us some great advice. My favorite tip of his was to decide whether you are a Tigger or an Eeyore. Do you want to enjoy life and have a postive attiude or be a gloomy gus? Randy Pausch was definitely a Tigger in a world full of Eeyores, a bright light in a dark room. I like the head fake concept. I think a lot of what children learn is indirectly. As a parent I also think that children learn more from what you do than what you say.

His second head-fake took me by surprise. The lecture could have been directed at any college class, any group of students or at a teacher's conference but it wasn't. The lecture, his last, was his legacy for his own children. I was really moved the way he accomplished so much and became so wise in his short lifetime.

I also think the head-fake is a great way to approach teaching. The students are learning indirectly- they think they are learning one thing when they are really learning something else. My favorite way to teach would be the methods he used where the students are having fun and don't realize they are learning....and working! This is something I want to try to do myself when I get in the classroom.

I also believe, like Dr. Pausch, in giving students some freedom to explore and discover what they are capable of. I love open-ended assignments where students are given choices and allowed (and encouraged) to think. When approaching learning in this way, the students will almost always surprise you. I loved how Randy Pausch's students blew him away but he couldn't let them know that. Always have high expectations for your students and help them reach beyond what they think they are capable of and they will accomplish more than they (or you) ever dreamed!

It's Not Just For Music Anymore

Using iPods for Educational Purposes

The popularity of iPods has now made its way into the classroom. Students in classrooms ranging from elementary school to college universities are using iPods to further their learning experiences. Duke University issued incoming freshmen in Fall 07 iPods with orientation material to enhance their college experience. This year, Duke is handing out uploaded iPods with class materials, lecture notes and supplements for specific classes such as music and foreign languages. The students are expected to retain the ipods for any future classes where an ipod is utilized. Students there will be able to use the iPod all the way through their senior year.


IPods are also being used in elementary classes. The itunes store also has six Sesame Street podcasts available such as "A is for Asthma" or "Talk, Listen and Connect" which is about separation from a parent. These are videos available for free download that teach younger children life lessons.
For the middle or high school student, Sparknotes are available from an online database. These contain summaries and analysis of literature such as "Tale of Two Cities" or "Wuthering Heights". For the student preparing for the SAT, a vocabulary list of words likely to be on the test is available for download.

My Take

There are so many tools available now to a teacher to use in the classroom that just weren't around when I was a student. There's also so much material that I, as a college student, can take advantage of. I think a teacher should try to become familiar with all the technology possible to enhance the learning process for his or her students. Computers are great but there is so much more you can use such as iPods. There are many educational videos and podcasts that can be downloaded to an iPod for students to use at home. Also, I think the iPod is a wonderful tool to use for those classes where listening is just as important to the learning process as reading such as a foreign language or a music class. I would like to be able to use an ipod in my classroom as a supplemental instructional aide to be used both inside the classroom (podcasts and videos) and also material for students to use outside of class. This would be used to reinforce or to elaborate on lessons presented in class. The videos and podcasts would also be a good way for students to see and hear what other students in other schools are doing.

Check out 100 ways to use your iPod to learn and study better at the Online Educational Database website.

My Presentation

Dr. Alice Christie's Website

Dr. Alice Christie

GPS and Geocaching

The part of Dr. Christie's website I enjoyed the most was the GPS and Geocaching Podcast. Dr. Christie introduced an activity she has created using a GPS (global positioning system) to locate caches that are hidden around the country. She has a website you can go to to locate coordinates for the cache you wish to find. You put coordinates in your GPS and locate the cache. The cache is usually a plastic or metal container filled with trinkets with some significance to the person who hid the cache. Once you find a cache, you read the logbook in the cache, take out one of the items in the cache and replace it with one of your own. Then you fill out the logbook stating the exchange you made and put the cache back in its hiding place.

I think this would be a great way to introduce a geography lesson to the class. In order to find the caches, you have to use directional clues such as latitudes, longitudes, and NSEW. This would be a good project for a field trip for a social studies class. We would have to go to the website to see where some caches are hidden near our school. We could then use a GPS to find the caches. We could then take something out of the cache and replace it with something from our school. Once of the students could fill out the log stating what we took and what we left behind.

It would also be a fun project to create our own cache and hide it somewhere. Each student in the class could bring something from home, an inexpensive item of significance to them to place in the cache. We could then hide the cache somewhere near our school and register our cache on the website. We could go back later to read the logbook to see who has found our cache.
This activity is a good lesson in using technology (the website and GPS) and also in social studies (find the coordinates of the caches).

The best part of Dr. Christie's website is she gives you ideas for lesson plans using a GPS and Geocaching. She also has a tie-in for a lesson in national parks. Since the caches have to be hidden on public land so anyone can go to them, a national park is a great place to hide a cache or to find one. Alabama has numerous national and state parks where caches can be hidden so this would be an awesome field trip experience for a middle or high school class.

Click here for the Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Website

WIKIPEDIA

NPR and WIRED Stories on Wikipedia

The articles on NPR and WIRED about Wikipedia are not really surprising. I think the majority of people know that the information on the Wikipedia is not reliable since anyone that wants to contribute to the site can do so. I found some of the comments by readers about the wikiscanner created by Virgil Griffith interesting. One poster claims that Wikipedia already has a system in place to track the contributors to the site long before Virgil Griffith thought of it. This poster claimed the article was propaganda. Even though they can track who is submitting and editing information, though it might slow down how much is posted to Wikipedia, it will not stop the fraudulent misuse of the site. It is easy to just use a computer that can't be traced back to a specific person or company.

It isn't surprising though that companies, such as Wal-Mart are submitting information to Wikipedia that makes them look good. But since anyone can contribute to Wikipedia along with the ability to edit someone else's submitted information, it will be a long time before we can trust Wikipedia to give us accurate information. Until the day when the submission of material on Wikipedia is more controlled, with a fact checking system in place, this online encyclopedia will remain an unreliable source for information.

Fischbowl: Best of 2007: July Blog

NECC Reflection #1: Where were the students?

Karl Fisch's best blog for July was about a conference he went to with some other teachers from his at the NECC (National Educational Computer Conference). The purpose of the conference was improving the computer use in the schools. Karl Fisch wondered where the children were. There were a few high school students that spoke but the majority of the participants were adults. He thought a conference involving the education of children should include more children.

He then toyed with the idea of bringing some of his students with him to the conference the following year in San Antonio but there are some liability and cost factors to consider. It costs each of the teachers attending about $800 so it would be very difficult to justify paying that for some students to attend. he also considered bringing some of his students to the 2010 conference which is in their hometown of Denver but that is two years away.

The teachers of Dr. Fisch's school, Arapahoe High School in Littleton, CO, want to include the children more in the planning and implementing of activities and lesson plans at their school. I agree with this whole-heartily. I think if the children have some say in the actives and lessons presented (while still sticking to the curriculum) they may have more interest in their school work. His goal is to include the children but in order to do this he needs to know what they think.

Karl Fisch's Best of 2007 Blog-September

Is it ok to be a technologically illiterate teacher?

This blog was the Edublog award winner for Most Influential Blog for 2007 and for a reason. Dr. Fisch brings up some very important issues and some great points. Teachers should be computer literate but I think to what extent? I agree that it is more than using a computer to enhance a lesson such as Internet research or power point presentations as one of the comments suggested. In many of the classrooms, the students know their way around a computer better than the teachers. How can we teach what we don't know? Maybe it's time for the teacher to go back to school. I think if we want to raise children and educate students to grow up to be successful adults, we need to give them every advantage possible. Technology is a way to bridge the gap between us and the rest of the world. Giving students a way to communicate with children and young adults in other schools, cities, states, and countries can only enhance their learning. They can find out first-hand what is being done in other schools and share with other students what they themselves are experiencing. It's like having a world-wide classroom.

I agree that to some of the older teachers, the idea of using technology in the classroom might be scary (computer phobia). I admit that when I went back to school after many years, tackling web-based assignments and using Internet tools was a bit intimidating. I learned though and am continuing to learn. This is an on-going process. The day we, as teachers, stop learning is the day we should stop teaching. We need to stay current, fresh, 21st century with our students. Where technology is concerned, there will always be something new and we as teachers owe it to our students to give them the best that we can.

New Handouts

Ms. Avertt has distributed some interesting articles on RSS Feeds and Podcasting. Click on the links or visit the class blog to read the articles.

Blogging in International Classrooms

Mrs. Cassidy's class

Blogging in Canada

A first grade class in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada has a web page along with a classroom blog. Mrs. Kathy Cassidy's class at Westmount Elementary uses the blog to help invite the world into their classroom. The teacher posts assignments and reinforcements for learning along with what they did that day. The children also post to the blog on a particular topic. Mrs. Cassidy will type in after what the children were trying to say (since they are just learning to write). There are many pictures and videos of the children. This blog is a great way to introduce children to the concept of blogging. Check out this blog for some great ideas in setting up a blog for younger students.


Mrs. M's Class

Blogging in Australia

I was really impressed with the class blog title "2mGems" which is the blog of a class of Year 2's (6 & 7 year old) students in Brisbane, Australia. Their teacher, Mrs. M, has set up a blog folio for each child to post to with some posting prompts. She is introducing the world of blogging to her class. There are also news events with related tie-ins and upcoming important dates. Did you know that today is Father's Day in Australia? This class in Australia has blogging buddies, which are other classes that blog, in Canada (Mrs. Cassidy's class), New Hampshire and New York. There is also a map on the blog that tells where visitors to the blog are from. There are quite a few hits from the U.S. There is also a class wiki to which everyone can contribute. This sounds like something I would like to try in an elementary classroom.

Check out another great blog of a class of ten and eleven-year-olds (5th grade) in New Zealand called "Navigators"

Side note: most of the great blogs I found were international. I'm wondering why the concept of classroom blogging isn't catching on as much in the U.S.

Blog Use in U.S. Classrooms

Mr. Miller's class

Miller Has the Right Idea

One of the blogs I discovered while searching the Internet was created by an English teacher in Branford, Connecticut. Miller's English 10 Classroom Blog and was created by Mr. Miller, a tenth- grade English teacher at Branford High School.
This is a very detailed and informative blog to keep his students up to date with what's going on in the class. Mr Miller posts to the blog at least once a week with information for his students. There are also links on the blog for assignments, vocabulary lists, a classroom wiki (which I loved) and an email link to the teacher. Students are also required to post to the classroom blog periodically, adhering to the school rules. This teacher is innovative and is encouraging his students to use technology to broaden their scope of learning. He wants to not only introduce his students to the technology available but also educate them on it's use. Visit this class blog. You will be impressed.

New School Year, New Blog

I also found in my research a brand- new blog created by a third grade teacher from Michigan. Mrs. Myrmel teaches at Bauer Elementary school in Hudsonville, Michigan. Mrs. Myrmel's blog is a way to welcome her students to third grade and to inform them about what lies ahead (they will be studying butterflies this year). Mrs. Myrmel also encourages the students to leave comments which she will reply to. It is a way to introduce third-graders to the use of blogging which I think is remarkable because I'm not sure most third graders even know what a blog is. This is a great way for them to learn to use the technology. The blog is new this year so it doesn't have a lot of information on it yet. I will be checking back with Mrs. Myrmel periodically to see what new posts she makes. Check out her blog for some great ideas!

From the Fischbowl

Did You Know/Shift Happens

Watching the Karl Fisch video "Did You Know?/Shift Happens" did get me thinking. Are the U.S. school systems really preparing our children for the 21st century or do they lack the technologically skills necessary for our children to succeed in our rapidly advancing world. I worry, as an older student that was not raised in a technologically savvy society if I will be able to instill the necessary skills in my students to survive in a world that is changing so rapidly. The video stated that we must teach our children about a world that doesn't yet exist, about technology that has yet to be created. This is a huge burden on not only on the educators of the world but also the parents, administrators, government and society.

I was surprised to read the statistics at the beginning of the video: 1.3 million college graduates in the U.S. is small compared to India and China. That could have something to do with the population in both countries is so much greater though. I believe though that the youth of those other countries are encouraged to pursue an education knowing that that won't survive in today's world without it. I think it is fantastic that 70% of four -year -olds have used a computer though it would be better if it were 100%. When children enter school, they need to already to comfortable around a computer and have some basic computer skills. The world is changing so fast and children will need be be ready as soon as they start school to jump in.

Our job as educators will be to stay educated ourselves. We need to prepare our youth for the future while at the same time keeping up with the pace in which the world is changing, which seems to be at the speed of light.