First, I love to read. Since the age of three I read anything and everything, especially nonfiction. When I do read fiction, I usually choose one author and read everything written by that person. During summers as a child, I used to walk to the public library; now I use the internet. The problem is that I simply cannot read everything. So, a few years ago I began to use RSS feeds. There are so many new gadgets to make RSS feeds even easier to access. I love my iGoogle page, and especially NPR.org. Sometimes I need real world connections, not just education articles. NPR provides just that.
The next step in the world of blogging about my profession is to improve the RSS news feeds on my blog, which I just did! Blogging requires time and constant change, however, the more I blog, the more I want to required blogging for students.
As an educator, it is difficult to keep up with news and trends, so linking iGoogle and Blogger are good ways to continue to be proactive about literacy, technology, and other trends. Sometimes, however, the personal and professional lives become interconnected to the point it is hard to tune out. Is that possible in the 21st century. As educators, we have to keep up with the way teens live and think. If we don't develop new ways of motivating our youth to read and think, we cannot begin to reform our education system.
The politicians need to find ways to incorporate more money for technology into school budgets, and to be sure there is equity in all of the schools. Teachers and administrators need to use technology, and to keep up with professional development, and to integrate technology into the lessons. There are so many free resources, including district level training. I am amazed that some of the young teachers may have not had access to technology in schools, including universities. If social media can cause political upheaval, THINK what teachers can do.
The next step in the world of blogging about my profession is to improve the RSS news feeds on my blog, which I just did! Blogging requires time and constant change, however, the more I blog, the more I want to required blogging for students.
As an educator, it is difficult to keep up with news and trends, so linking iGoogle and Blogger are good ways to continue to be proactive about literacy, technology, and other trends. Sometimes, however, the personal and professional lives become interconnected to the point it is hard to tune out. Is that possible in the 21st century. As educators, we have to keep up with the way teens live and think. If we don't develop new ways of motivating our youth to read and think, we cannot begin to reform our education system.
The politicians need to find ways to incorporate more money for technology into school budgets, and to be sure there is equity in all of the schools. Teachers and administrators need to use technology, and to keep up with professional development, and to integrate technology into the lessons. There are so many free resources, including district level training. I am amazed that some of the young teachers may have not had access to technology in schools, including universities. If social media can cause political upheaval, THINK what teachers can do.
You are so right with the tuning out and blurring of the lines between work and home. I could easily see myself requiring students to blog versus keeping handwritten journals in reading. That way I can leisurely read and track their progress. That might be a starting point for me in the coming year. In the long run students and parents would benefit more from a digital version as long as students have access to the technology at home. I know only about half of my second graders actually had a working computer that got onto the internet at home.
ReplyDeleteI think your point about keeping up with news and trends is very important. In today's ever changing world, it is hard to stay up-to-date on what is important. I can see where the RSS feeds can help with this issue. I do enjoy how everyone has complete control on what feeds they receive. Unlike you, I do not enjoy reading long books. I enjoy short articles or stories that I can finish. Hopefully, these feeds can keep me informed of the trends.
ReplyDeleteI loved what you said about politicians coming up with funding for schools if we want to become 21st century digital teachers and learners we need adequate funding to get the proper training and they really need to take a serious look at that. Teachers should definitely explore more ways of enhancing thier lessons by using technology simply because we have to keep up with the new trends that are ever changing around us.
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