Technology Literate Students

After reading the Profile for Technology Literate Students, I feel less upset by the idea of integrating technology into the classroom. I was never horrified by the idea, really, I just felt like it was being taken a step too far. While I still sort of feel that is the case, there are some very interesting ideas laid out in this article. Last week, we read an article that called for creativity in the classroom, but they did not deliver it in the article. That is not the case in this week’s article though. I will be teaching high school students, so I focused more on those topics than the others, and there were some great ones on there. The first one in particular stuck out to me. The task of the students would be to design and develop a learning game, and then test it out. I think that is a fantastic idea, because it trains the students to think of different ways of learning a topic.
The performance indicators of these standards also impressed me. Unlike last week’s article, I felt that they had actually thought about what they were presenting, and what the best way to do that would be. I was largely impressed by the fact that creativity and innovation was the first thing they look at. I found that in school, creativity was saved for the art classes, and was not welcomed or encouraged anywhere else. I would love for this to change. All in all, these were very interesting ideas.

21st Century Skills

This article took an interesting, albeit wordy look at how we are going to need to begin to teach children 21^st century skills if we want them to succeed in life. While I felt as if the article contained some valid points, I feel like if we place too much of an emphasis on technology, we are setting our kids up for failure. As we do not know what the world will bring in a few centuries, decades, or even years, we should still be teaching our children the knowledge they need to succeed without technology as well.

Another thought I had while reading this article is that the 21^st century ideals aren’t going to be around forever. The article seemed to focus on making a concrete plan to help children for tomorrow, while at the same time forgetting that by the time this plan is solidified, we will probably need to incorporate new technologies. Studies were shown in which adults commented that the skills they need today are different from 20 years ago. Clearly even the best laid plans will not help our children in 20 years. While we might be preparing them for a literal tomorrow, in a few years, what we need to know will have changed once more. There are some critical skills we need to continue to teach our children that have nothing or little to do with technology. In “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen, Mr. Bingley comments that “All [young ladies] paint tables, cover screens and net purses. I scarcely know anyone who cannot do this all, and I’m sure I never heard a young lady spoken of for the first time, without being informed she was very accomplished.” It is clear from this quote that after some years pass, needs for certain skills change. We adapt and change to fit these needs accordingly without much structured assistance. So while I do think this article makes some interesting points, all in all, I disagree that we need a structured change to keep our kids equipped with 21^st century skills.

Works Cited

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2006

Kozma, R.B. (2009). 21st Century Skills, Education & Competitiveness. Partnership for 21st Century Skills. http://mrgalusha.org/EdTechDocs/Readings/Module%203%20Reading%20-%2021st%20Century%20Skills.pdf>

Reaction to Dr. Marlow Ediger's Article

Dr. Marlow Ediger’s article entitled “Psychology of Lesson Plans and Unit Development” was an interesting article on problems one may run into in the classroom and ways a teacher can fix them. He emphasized the need for a teacher to truly understand his or her lesson plan, and to be well prepared for class on any given day. He also mentioned the need to be sensitive of student’s needs, learning styles, and health. Learning styles in particular are very diverse, and Ediger covered the main ones that teacher may encounter. Since one teacher may be able to focus on the learning needs of one type of student better than another, it seemed worthy to take a closer look at those styles and how one teacher might be able to cover all of them.

Of course, in any given class, there are far too many students and too little time to reach every need during every day. But throughout the period of a school year, teachers should try and create a curriculum that will reach out to each of these students. The first type of intelligence Ediger covered was verbal. As an English teacher, these students will probably be the easiest to cater to. Verbal learners do best with reading and writing, so handing them a book and asking them to write an analytical response to it may not instill the same fear into them as it would into another type of learner. The next type Ediger writes about is the logical thinker. These students often enjoy math or science. They like things that are concrete and have a definite answer. I had an English teacher who once said he could not understand why a student would prefer math over English for the sole reason that it was more logical. English, he said, is much more logical than math, especially when you find out that i is an imaginary number, and some problems have multiple answers. Perhaps taking this mindset and trying to apply it to English would make it more helpful for some students. As a teacher, I could try and point out what about English is logical. For instance, we are never going to say “I have the coat red.” It is not the way we speak in English and that is not going to change. Showing students ways like that to look at things would hopefully help them learn. The next type of student is the musical/ rhythmic student. By incorporating projects into class that deal with music, these students would be able to tap into their best learning style. Instead of a written paper, perhaps they could compile a CD that relates to the book we have read in class, and explain why they chose each song and how it pertains to the book. Interpersonal/ intrapersonal learners will hopefully be stretched during the class, as I hope to do both group work and individual work during class. Those who learn best bodily or kinesthetically will perhaps be the most difficult to teach. They learn with use of gross motor skills and enjoy sports or other activities. Perhaps an open-ended project where a student can design a game that relates to our reading would be appropriate. Scientific intelligence is another difficult learning style to nurture in an English class. It would be an interesting idea to think about during the year, and to explore ideas that would benefit this learning style. The final style Ediger writes about is the artistic learner. This person uses art to best understand concepts. Fortunately, I often think of English and art as going together. Students will be encouraged to create cover art that shows the main or underlying concepts of a book, or to create something like a sculpture to go along with a presentation on any given topic.

A teacher must be in tune to all the learning styles of the classroom, and this is what I sincerely hope I will be able to do. It would be ideal to have a lesson plan that incorporates all of the learning styles throughout the year, and I will strive to make this possible. At the same time, I will remind myself that it is impossible to address every single style of learning in every class, and I will be content in knowing I am trying to reach as many as I can on any given day. The article by Ediger was informative and brought up some valid points which I hope will stick with me through my teaching career.