Blog Post #11

Ms. Cassidy is a first grade teacher in Moose Jaw, Canada. She made a video of her class titled:Little Kids...Big Potential. Her video was amazing. The first graders in the video were demonstrating their technological skills. They were blogging, using the SMARTBoard, the internet and Skype. I was amazed how advanced they were at such a young age. In the second video titled: Skype interview with Ms. Cassidy she admits using some of her students from the year before, but it's still amazing even for second graders. In the video Dr. Strange and some EDM310 students do a Skype interview with Ms. Cassidy. They ask her questions about her ideas and beliefs on using technology in the classroom. She discusses how she first started out with a website about ten years ago. She continued to develop more and more applications with her class and started blogging with her class about 4 years ago.

She discusses how the parents like her techniques and how much the students enjoy using all the tools of technology. The students like the fact that they have an audience when writing their blogs. They really like it when they receive comments on their post. They are engaged and having fun. The blogging improves their communication and writing skills. She also mentions the fact that technology is here to stay and to be an effective teacher you are going to have to become technologically literate.

Ms. Cassidy is great example of a 21st century teacher. What techniques of hers would I use in my classroom? I would definitely want to use Blogs in the classroom. I think that it is a very powerful tool for learning and collaborating. Blogging would improve writing and communication skills. Blogging would also allow students to learn and share ideas from other students. I think it would also help them to analyze information. I also think that incorporating multi-media into my lesson plans would enhance the learning environment. I would also encourage my students to use the internet for the unlimited amount of resources. The world has changed and it is not the same as it was when I went to school. I think students need to be able to analyze, critique, explore, create, and understand how to apply knowledge to the real world.

Some problems that I might face would be support from other teachers and administrators. If I didn't get the support I would try to demonstrate the effectiveness of all the tools available. My goal is to be technologically literate so that I will be able to demonstrate the benefits of technology. I know that Mobile County Public Schools already have computers and SMARTBoards so there are some tools in place. The challenge will be to make use of all available tools to the fullest extent. Also to keep learning and applying technology to keep moving forward. In turn we will enable our students to reach their full potential.