Check out these compositions

My music students have been composing 20th Century Music. Go to http://craverband.blogspot.com and listen to some of the examples.

Week 8: Conclusion: A New Mind-set - Reflection

Walden University – Masters in Education
EDUC-6710I-1 Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society

Some final thoughts…

In what ways has this course helped me to develop my own technology skills as a professional teacher?

This class has allowed me to learn new technology applications that are applicable to EVERY class I teach. I have not had the time to learn podcasting or wiki space presentation. I doubt that without this course, I would have learned it this year. I already use a blog for each class I teach, and I find it to be a great way to develop interaction between classmates how would not normally talk to each other.

In what ways have I deepened my knowledge of the teaching and learning process?

I have come to learn that teaching and learning are interchangeable. I find that I can learn about the latest technology from my students if I just get out of the way. Students are often so much more eager to share how things work. I am quickly learning that it is not so important to teach with the latest technology as it is to teach with the best technology for the lesson. Sometimes that technology might be as simple as a pencil and paper or as complex as 3d street scenes from Google Earth. But not every lesson requires the student to be completely plugged in; they just need to be “powered on.”

In what ways have I changed my perspective from being teacher-centered to learner-centered?

I have always tried to teach my classes in a collaborative manner. In music, it is the student who makes the music. There is no “music” in my room. You can’t go to a file drawer, open it, and pull out extra “music” when you need it (Yes – sheet music, but that is just a paper with symbols on it.) I have tried to step beyond the traditional educational approach of speak, memorize, assess. My first teaching assignment was at a charter school based on the Paidea Philosophy of education, where student centered and student directed learning is the norm. That experience has helped me greatly in my role as a public school teacher. This Paidea approach is now becoming more integrated in our local district and I feel that I was lucky enough to get a head start.

In what ways can I continue to expand my knowledge of learning, teaching, and leading with technology with the aim of increasing student achievement?

A few years ago I was fortunate enough to take part in the Intel Teach to the Future technology course for teachers. I wish that there were more of these courses offered. I know that the use of technology is not readily accepted by all teachers – some consider it just a fad, but I will continue to investigate and research in my classes how best to provide instruction and content with technology that not only inspires me, but also my students. My Promethean board may not make content delivery easier - but at least it keeps students attention.

Set two long-term goals (within two years) for transforming your classroom environment by which I may have to overcome institutional or systemic obstacles in order to achieve them. How do I plan to accomplish these goals?
My first goal is to train another teacher in my building in the “ins-and-outs” of the technology systems used by our school. I am the sole technology resource in the building and I am constantly being called to fix this or that. If I wait until after school to work on a technology problem, I run the risk of our district technology ER being closed. Having another staff member familiar with the hardware and software will benefit not only me, but the school. By training other staff members, I hope to provide additional support to technology not only used in my room, but by all students in the building. The second goal is to begin to teach my Earth Science and American History class in the computer lab on a daily basis. I would like to move to a paperless class in two years. With computers, internet, and Wi-Fi, my students will be able to communicate and collaborate in both real and virtual time. I am in the process of finishing the wiring for a second computer lab in our school that should allow me to begin this process next year.

Technology Interview

How are today's students using technology?

I recently conducted a survey of all my students (110 out of 178 in the school). I asked a number of questions and collected the results using Promethean Board Activotes. This kept responses anonymous and instantaneously recorded the data into easy to use graphs and charts.

Results were varied, but not surprising. Boys used computers for gaming, girls for commuication. Boys watched more TV than girls. 8th graders watched less TV than 6th graders. 7th graders reported that their cellphones were the most important piece of technology they owned. (Follow up questions reveled that most of the 7th graders received a cellphone for Christmas.) Over 70 percent of ALL students families own more than one television.

Since our community is located in the mountain foothills, cellphone reception can be spotty depending on location. Students responded that they spent more communicating with friends via IM (Instant Messaging, MySpace, FaceBook) than with cellphone texting. Our school sits in a relative "dead zone" for cellphone coverage, so we rarely have a problem with texting in school. Most students bring cellphones to school for use as MP3 players.

Over 80 percent of those surveyed have access to a computer at home. All students responded that they get at least one hour of access to computers at school. 32 percent of students have their own laptop or computer in their room.

I interviewed 3 students and asked them some of the same questions I asked in the schoolwide survey. Kaitlyn, Katelyn, and Michelle provided some interesting insights into their use of technology at home and at school.

CLICK ON PICTURE TO LAUNCH INTERVIEW IN THIS BLOG

OR GOTO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAh39u6IXKc to view on YouTube.

Teaching to the future...

I recently took the time to research the website created by The Partnership for 21st Century Skills http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/. I am somewhat familiar with the purpose of this group and its initiative to better prepare students to not only succeed in classrooms of the future, but to prepare students to enter the 21st century workforce.

The web site provides lots of great resources – pages, videos clips, pictures, etc. But you have to look. It can be time consuming to look through all of the papers and files for the information you need, but the site does a good job of presenting ideas of how to teach “outside the box.”
Looking further, I was surprised that Colorado is not listed as a 21st century initiative state. After looking at the list of partner organizations, most of those companies have workforces based in Colorado. Our state prides itself on its high tech workforce and its military presence. I would have thought that Colorado would have been one of the first state of the list. I assumed that Colorado was on the list because teachers attended an inservice last year by this group. I did not realize that governor and the state department of Education are the driving force behind qualifying a state for initiative status.

While it is easy to think that students only learn while in the classroom, it is safe to say that just as much learning these days takes place outside the classroom as well. Students will rarely go home to hours of chores, they go home and “plug in” to the rest of the world. They are bombarded each and every day by hundreds of images, sights, and sounds of the world. Gone are the days of researching a paper or project in the bowels of the local library – using outdated encyclopedias. Students have access to the latest news, maps, and blogs of every corner of the globe. Remember when we were encouraged to write to pen pals in another country – and wait weeks for replies. Today it is possible to communicate in real time with another classroom thousands of miles away. Add a video camera and joint labs or music concerts can take place in front of a world-wide audience.

How I use blogging in my classroom

January 11, 2009

Back in October, I decided to try a new approach in my science class. We were studing ecology and renewable resources and a question I posed to students was how could we - at Craver Middle School - become more environmentally friendly. Answers ranged from turning off lights in empty rooms, to lowering heating levels, to recycling plastic milk bottles. But one student suggested that teachers should post all tests and assignments on-line rather than making hundreds of pages of photocopies each month.

What a concept- so I began to think how to implement this in my classes. I choose to design a class blog "spot" and post a weekly question for all studnet to answer. This is part of the class grade and I modeled it after the class discussions we have in our Walden University classes. Students answer the question, then check back later in the week to read responses. I also use the blog to keep parents updated about upcoming assignments and other information.

When our district server crashed in November, I simply started a school blogspot which filled in for the school webpage. It is so easy to update and change that I never bothered to create a new web page.

We have just started back in school. so I am just beginning to get students ready to start answering questions. I have found that sstudents who refuse to answer questions or take part in class discussions will type pages of words on a blogspot. And I have found that a class blog is a great way to get to learn about my students likes, dislikes, and backgrounds.

Feel free to watch how my students respond on the following blog:
http://www.craverscience.blogspot.com

Welcome

January, 2009

Welcome. I have created this personal blog. But feel free to browse the other blogs I have set up for my school classes. I post a new question each week for students to respond to. I have deleated some, but will start new posts when school gets back in session next week.

The picture on the right is our family. Kai Lin was adopted from Wuxi, Jaingsu China in March 2006. Li Hong was adopted from Fuzhou, Fujian China in November 2007. Both are 5 years old and FULL OF ENERGY! This picture was taken at our favorite Starbucks in the world, Shamian Island, Guangzhou, China. (Lattes are still $4 - even in China)

Kerry and I are enrolled in the Walden University Master of Education program together. Our children help us with all of the technology issues and hardware problems.

Todd