Integrating Technology in a Middle Years Classroom
I keep becoming inspired by articles I read, people I talk to and blogs I read. However, I continually hear other educators complain about not having enough time to integrate technology into their day. Instead of thinking of technology part of what we do it becomes an add on. My most successful integrations are when I keep the technology simple.
Blogging in my Classroom:
Students walk in to start the day at 9:00 am, if they haven’t come in early to blog, and get to work on the morning tasks. Each morning six students have assigned blogging time. Bloggers respond to a teacher prompt then are free to write their own blogs.
Each Friday the writing assignment is more formal. My collaborative partner and I take turns giving the students their assignment. The students read the assignment on the teacher’s blog. The first draft is written in a notebook then edited and revised. The final draft is written on the student’s blog. I respond to my partner’s students in North Battleford and he responds to mine. Two month’s ago Wendy Fisher and her class from Pennsylvania joined us in our Friday writing which has added another dimension to our collaboration. The students now receive feedback from two teachers, which is a great form of encouragement for their writing.
During the week there is additional time for reading and responding to our other blogging partners.
Great example of classroom blogs:
Dragon Blogs in Seattle
Jim Ellis in North Battleford
Wendy Fisher in Pennsylvania
Bob Greenberg In Conneticut
Classroom Collaborations:
1. We’ve just finished working on a collaborative project following the Iditarod Trail Dog Race. The project was tied to our Social Studies, Science and Language Arts curriculum. This is the second year of the collaboration with the project beginning in early February . Students worked with partners in classrooms in the United States and Canada. The feedback from the project was great. I hope that I provided enough classroom time for the students to complete their tasks and post their work on their group wiki.
Iditarod Project VoiceThread Reflections
2. Completing various “Projects by Jen” and posting them on our wiki.
3. Working with our grade 2&3 classroom on their class blog as mentors.
4. Working on a partner project with our grade 2&3 classroom as they collaborate on a Dragon Literacy Project. They will be working with the Global Learning Institute whose students are children of Cirque de Soleil performers in Tokyo and Parkview Elementary School in Quebec.
5. I’m currently working on a project using the novel “The Breadwinner” by Deborah Ellis on Wikispace.
6. Working on our second Blogging Challenge.
7. We’re also working on a year long Global Citizen project. Feel free to join us any month
8. We’ve skyping around the world with the project “Around the World in 80 Schools”
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