14. article reflection

"Guide to Creating Tech-Friendly Classroom Management Strategies"
This article describes different strategies that a teacher can use to be successful in integrating technology into the classroom. The first step is to get the student interested in technology which in this day and era is very easy to do, but as a teacher, it is your job to make sure that technology isn't just for games but can be used for learning. The first strategy given is for the teacher to do their homework. Make sure you do your research and are well prepared for the class lesson you are about to teach. The next strategy is to make sure the students know what they are learning and identify with them what they are suppose to get out of the project. This gives them a focus for the project and helps them learn. The third strategy is to make sure that you take breaks away from the computer. Most students, after some time, will start to get fidgety from staring at the screen for so long. Make sure you allow them time to get away from the computer and do other activities. The last strategy is make sure you let your students explore. When using technology it cannot be as structured as a traditional classroom but, students need to be allowed to explore and figure things out on their own.

These are strategies that I will most definitely use in my future classroom. It gives us a great outline for how we should incorporate technology in a fun learning environment instead of just doing random projects or power points. It shows a really good way of how to use the information and how to make sure the students really learn the lesson and how to use the technology that is so important in this day and age. Future students will need to have computer skills to be successful and this gives very helpful tools to make sure they can be successful.

13. article review

"Why so many kids can't sit still in school"
This article describes how more and more children are being diagnosed with ADHD and can not stop moving in their desks at school. Some teachers even say that there are at least eight students in their classes that fidget and 'act up' during their class but, Angela Hanscom, a pediatric occupational therapist, believed that the issue is much simpler than ADHD. The cause of more and more students fidgeting and needing to move around is because their bodies don't move around enough. Recess has been drastically reduced and play time outside has become almost non existent because of fear. The result is that only one out of twelve students had normal strength and balance. In order for children's brains to function, they need to move around to keep it active, and they need to stay active if they want to build up strength and balance. Children need to move and play for hours at a time. Fidgeting in a real problem in today's classroom not because they are a distraction, but because it means that those students aren't getting the movement they need to stay active and build up their strength.

Reflection: How I plan on dealing with this issue.
The problem at hand is exactly how Angela Hanscom put it, students are just not moving enough. This also isn't something that happened overnight. When I was in second grade not only did we have recess but we had PE too everyday and it wasn't a controlled environment but a chance for us just to move around and play. However, once I got into middle school and high school it was extremely difficult for me to sit and pay attention because we did nothing all day. Sure we learned but it almost seemed pointless. The issue has just gotten worse as the years have progressed. Now second graders barely have time for moving around and by the time they get home it's like waiting for a bomb to go off they are so fidgety and them we expect them to do homework? How I plan to address this is to make sure my students move throughout the day. I will do this with games and activities that enforce the lesson I am teaching. Doing hands on activities and games will keep their mind active, their bodies strong, and will generally make those students enjoy school because they won't need to sit down the whole time. Another thing I would like to do is during the last five minutes of class time, I would allow my students to get up and move. Some days we might do general exercises where other days we might have a dance party for five minutes. As long as they are moving, then the classroom will be a happier and healthier place of learning.

12. Six videos on 21st education

Video 1- Class of Tomorrow

• The issue with this video is it really isn't all that plausible. If you look at classrooms today and how students use their technology, yes computers and phones are sometimes used for notes and for homework assignments however, at the same time there is other websites like facebook or twitter open, and the phones are constantly being checked for texts or other information. I do believe that the creator of this video is correct about technology is going to become more and more integrated into the classroom but the fact that everyone is staying on task? Highly unlikely. I think what will probably happen is the teacher will use technology more and more as a teaching tool but I doubt the students will be able to use technology that freely because they will not stay on task if they do.

Video 2- The Voice of the Active Learner

• This video is extremely accurate. Students now a days are constantly hooked to their technology and most of the information that they learn can be found at their fingertips. When you look at the world and the road it is going down, the creator of this video is right and most of the classrooms will probably transfer to online studies. The issue with this though is that even though technology is great, it can't replace a classroom. If a student has a hard time comprehending a problem or a concept, they can google it all they like but probably will never truly find the answer they need. Students also need both peer interaction and teacher interaction so they can learn social skills and many other skills that they will need to take into the work force. Technology SHOULD be integrated into the classroom because of how students are learning today, but it can not replace the necessary interactions a student needs. I have been the student doing just online schoolwork and it took me a while to catch up to everyone else. 

Video 3- The Future Starts Now

• This video is highly plausible. As mentioned before in the other two paragraphs, students today are hooked on their technology. This can be a good or bad thing. If teachers really started to prepare lessons with technology incorporated in them and use those tools to interest the active technology learners, then students will really start to enjoy it more. Just like the creator, I agree with everything she has said. It's more of a combination then strictly doing one or the other and this is the way I believe the future is heading. Technology is necessary, but it's up to teachers to show students how learning can be fun through it. 

Video 4- Designing Schools for 21st Century Learning

• I have mixed feelings about this video. I think it's a wonderful idea to have a school open like he did and to really sit down and let the students be hands on and just the environment is so much easier to be relaxed in. If all schools could be like this that would be great. Open up those windows, let those students feel like they aren't in prison, however, his reasoning behind this construction is because of the school experience he had. Schools today (or at least not the school I graduated from) were like that. They never just stood their and lectured. They gave us visuals and some gave us hands on experience. I think him judging schools across the board because of his bad experience almost makes his argument invalid. I do however, love his idea and some of those ideas we could really bring into the normal classroom to really enrich those students as well. 

Video 5- Tools and Resources for the 21st Century Education

• This video is just a resource video for teachers. It provide several helpful learning tools to be used in your classroom and also tools that can help a teacher grow professionally. The only way I could really give a review on this is if I go and look up every site that was on the video which I will probably do at some point in time however the ones I did recognize I know for a fact they are good resources for teachers to use in the classroom and outside of the classroom. Based on that, I believe the creator of the video can be credited with giving good resources for teachers and his resources are valid. 

Video 6- A Vision of 21st Century Teaching

• It was really great to read how actual 21st Century Teachers are teaching in their classrooms and the impact they are having on their students lives. I think we can say this is plausible considering these are actual teachers telling their experiences. One thing I noticed in the video, opposed to the first video, is that when they use their phones for things its a very strait forward thing and the students don't have time to roam with them but also gives them the opportunity to take it out and use it. The teachers in the video really showed how they are integrating technology in their classrooms and is a great was to really look at it because I will be a teacher in that setting in the future. 

11. Movie Project