Ready ...Set... Connect!

Today’s learners are like the crawling babies at our annual family Christmas Party. Each one comes with his/her own initial conditions, and spends large amounts of time observing their environment. All of this is simply leading up to the learner’s opportunity to demonstrate understanding, from their exposure to various learning methods. Will their observations, decision making, and actions done lead to knowledge and externalized task completion? Not to mention every choice made by a learner could affect the quality of their new information along with their capacity to learn more. Most eight-month-old babies probably would not understand the previous question, but they are engaging in these types of learning experiences everyday. It may seem like a lot but our entire society is overloaded daily with new “information”. The ability to decipher between fact and fiction is another task we must do better. Seimens stated that connections between disparate ideas and fields can create new innovations.(2005)

The challenge lies in helping learners develop the foundational skills needed, while making connects to rapidly changing people and tools. Connectivism offers a broad idea behind how learning can occur with a focus on how connects between individuals, society, and environment can affect learning. It’s not enough anymore to learn without being actively engaged in the process beyond letter grades or careers. In Connectivism:A Learning Theory for the Digital Age,
Seimens suggest we make a cultural shift toward educational learning opportunities that are designed to adapt and move us into the next century of knowledge.

Challenge for America

The Did You Know? video contained information that I was aware of from reading through educational journals and attending professional development conferences. The video made me think of the end of a Spike Lee movie centered around college students self discovery. At the tail end of the movie Lawrence Fishbourne yells, "Wake Up!". Young people , and adults in our country are often so unaware of the truth about our society. B.G. ( Before Google) is just a little dose of how rapidly technology upgrades. The other information about google is also accurate, however I would like to know the amount of hits that google receives a day now...since the video was produced in 2007. Its no secret that many foreign students who attend American universities major in the STEM (Science, Math and Technology) fields. The increase in the demand for oil from China and India indicates the growth in these countries is continuing. As a parent I have always been a firm believer in studying as a means to prepare for learning. I have always supplemented at home in various topics for my children. As a teachers I always assign homework and encourage students to spend time at home reviewing their notes from school. College students who chose majors like Engineering, Pre Med, and Statistics need to be familiar with studying at length in order to be successful in these fields. The day before I watched the video I heard on NPR's Tell Me More

that, many american high school students are not used to studying for more than an hour per night, which effects there performance in college. Last year I attended a school board meeting to encourage the Williamsville School district to offer Chinese language as an option to students. My 11 year old daughter has attended Chinese school for the last 3 years and she really enjoys it. Our neighboring district of Clarence added Chinese this year and the city of Buffalo has it at several schools. To be competitive in the changing world we must prepare our children for the jobs of tomorrow... the video speaks to this very clearly. We need creativity to take us into the next century and our engineering workforce is falling behind other countries, along with our debt. We must encourage our children to rise to the challenge by demonstrating hard work and determination through our actions. The music from the video says it all right here ...right now!

WIth Fun Comes Responsibility...

Students want to use the internet in school and teachers want them to learn and be prepared for the future. So combining learning with use of technology allows the best of both worlds. The internet is a infinite space filled with endless amounts of information. As educators we must direct students to portals on the internet that help them focus on content , while using a medium that they often enjoy most. Our guidance on the web is critical due to the large content of unregulated, and harmful info available at the click of a button. In order to provide students with learning opportunites that include using the world wide web, there must be regulations established in classrooms( often at the district level ) designed to keep them safe. In my classroom the most important internet safety rules would be:

1. Do not share personal information

Students have become targets to predators and keeping them along with there families safe should be top priority.

2. Filtered searches should be only allowed and adjusted according to grade level

Curiosity is a commonality amongst young people but if they are limited then this can eliminate so many problems.

3. Time limits

Understanding that the use of the internet is for a purpose with other goals will help keep students on task and also help them make smarter use of their computer time.

Freedom.....but with limits

The internet comes with so much freedom. The power behind that "choice" draws so many people in, especially children. As early as age 2 , children are using computers with limited understanding and simple functionality. Once these children reach the classroom in elementary and then middle school, more "choices" await there curiosity about the internet. Most districts establish policies that are meant to help keep kids safe and remove the possibility of branching off into more adult content.

3 Basic rules for me for blogging

1. Let them use youtube

As a parent and an educator I think students should have access to sights like youtube due to the large volume of media available. I am aware of the " inappropriate content" , but if teachers are attentive and students are focused with scalffolding then they will stay on task.

2. Limit time use on the project with smaller deadlines

Students need to know that they will be held accountable for work. Assign smaller deadlines to keep them on task and deter them from goofing off.

3. Post and use design

Remember to post. Be creative.... this is often forgotten in blogging. Students should understand that visual appeal is important to attract readers interest. Its ok to let your artsy side shine through.

Professional Development

I remember my first year of teaching and all the exciting experiences that came along with it like: lunch duty, study hall, proctoring, and professional development(pd). Most of my coworkers described it as one or two days where we sat and listened to someone tell us how to be better teachers. It turned out they were partly correct. Lecture was about 85% , and hands-on held the other 15%. Blogger would have been so useful vs the traditional pd method of you talk and we fall asleep. There are great features about blogger such as easy access from any device that can use the Internet. Just imagine using your blackberry, to refer to something you learned at a pd meeting. Another great advantage to blogger is the ability to store large documents, images , and files for free. Teachers love paper and this can help with distribution at pd meetings. Feedback is another great feature that you gain from blogging. Critique and creative criticism help to make our ideas and thoughts clearer and ultimately to reach our goals. Often professional development is thought of as something one experiences at work but wiki defines it as skills and knowledge attained for both personal development and career advancement. Blogger really allows for these two types of growth to combine for a successful outcome.

Mrs.Crumpler Webpage

Welcome to the web site of Mrs. Crumpler,

This site is designed to be a resource for students and parents.

Parents and students:

Please look through this site to find out about what we are studying in eighth grade math, what the assignments are, ways parents may help their children in completing their assignments, classroom expectations , upcoming tests, important dates, and websites that may help students to improve their skills or challenge their thinking.

I am available Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday after school when I don't have meetings or classes myself. Students can also make an appointment to come in early for extra help.

I am looking foward to a great year during the 2009-2010 school year.

Please use the links below to find information for any information for your class

Assignments

Course Syllabus

Links