beckyward: November 2009

BP4_2009121_Web 2.0 Tools

The Web 2.0 tool I researched is http://www.walletproof.com/. This is a free tool that my students can use to practice balancing their own checkbooks. I was shocked when I recently learned that most of my students have no idea how to balance a checkbook. Many of my students either have a job or are getting jobs and therefore, have money to manage. Not only will this tool teach my students how to balance a checkbook and correctly keep track of their money, but it also teaches them how to budget their money.

One of the activities I am going to complete with my students throughout the semester is letting them choose a career, a house and a car, along with other expenses that they think they will be faced with. For the four months that I have them, we are going to spend a few minutes each class period paying the rent/mortgage, car payment, car insurance, school loans, groceries, utilities, gasoline, just every day expenses in general. I want them to know what it means to live on a budget and how to balance a checkbook so that they can start off their lives with at least that knowledge. We will also talk about those students that don't have enough money in their bank accounts, yet spent it carelessly and now have to pay bounce check fees. I am going to try to make this as realistic as possible for them so they have an idea of what they are getting into when they start making money and take on the responsibility of having to manage their money. I actually really look forward to this and think it is going to be a lot of fun and educational at the same time.

BP3_2009121_Google Reader

At the beginning of the year, my principal approached me and asked me if I would be willing to teach three sections of a new class called freshman cornerstone. This class is designed to help the incoming freshman learn how to take responsibility for their grades and their learning so they can receive good grades and as a result graduate on time.

We decided that the main reason why students struggle in school is because they lack organizational skills. Therefore, as part of this semester long course, we discuss organizational strategies as well as study skills and test taking strategies. We also read a book written by Sean Covey called, 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens.

The best part of teaching this class is that there isn't a real curriculum for it yet. Therefore, as part of my action research project, I am going to use a lot of what I learn in this program to begin creating a meaningful and useful curriculum that will provide these freshman with the tools they need to not only be successful throughout the remainder of their high school career, but also their college career and/or their adventures in the workforce.

The five RSS feed's I selected all relate to the above mentioned class. I will list the feed and a brief description of why I choose that feed.

1. Get Your Game On in Instruction: This feed discuss the use of gaming strategies in education. I am not familiar with how gaming strategies work, but I know my students like to play games and I think I would be able to engage many of my students if I can learn more about it.

2. 15 Productive Uses for a Wiki: We are just starting to learn about wikis and their many uses and benefits. A couple of our professors in past classes, mentioned the use of wikis in staying organized. Again, I would like to learn more about wikis and how they are used as organizational tools and in education in general.

3. Weblogg-ed - Using Weblog and RSS in Education: This feed talks about using Web logs in education. I want to incorporate more blogging in my instruction, but I want to explore how others are using it first. I want to have solid evidence of the benefits of blogging when I present the idea to my district.

4. Study Skills, Information Skills & How to Study Articles Mind Tools: This is a feed about study skills strategies. This is one of the things I cover in the class in preparing the students to succeed in their education.

5. Powell's Books - The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens: This is a feed about the book that we are reading in class. I am reading this book for the first time with my students this year, but have agreed with every part of it so far. Unfortunately, our district could only afford the book, but not the workbook that goes along with it. Therefore, I am trying to find ideas of projects that I can do that will help my students see how they could personally use the 7 habits.

These are the RSS feeds I am starting off with, but I'm sure these will grow quickly as I progress in this program. I like the idea of feeds and I am excited to see how this works for me.

BP2_2009121_Blogger

I have already discovered a lot of benefits in using blogs in education. In our last class, our team had the pleasure of presenting the discussion approach to instruction. In this instruction approach, a discussion platform is used to facilitate learning. The teacher presents a topic and provides media assets that the students respond to. The students post their responses in a blog format on some type of shared discussion platform. In this environment, students get to speak their minds and attempt to persuade their classmates to see their point of view and to agree with them. Of course in this discussion platform, there exists rules and regulations students have to follow, so they can't say whatever they want. However, participating in this type of education environment is a form of blogging and shares many of the same advantages of blogging (Reigeluth and Carr-Chellman, 2009). I will definitely incorporate this type of learning into my lesson plans.

Renee Flierl and Heather Fowler (2007) provide numerous examples of educators that are integrating wikis and blogs in their lesson plans and offer several websites for educators to use as resources. They discuss the importance of incorporating wikis and blogs in education, but as I said above, I'm already sold on the idea and I am anxious to start fusing these Web tools as part of my instruction. My favorite site that Flierl and Fowler examine as a resource to educators is edublogs.org. This is a site that enables teachers and students to easily begin their own blogs.

Although blogging and wikis are a new concept to many educators, I truly believe that it is just a matter of time before it is the norm and a regular classroom practice. The benefits are far too great for educators to pass up.

References

Flierl, R., & Fowler, H. (2007). Educational Uses of Blogs and Wikis. Phi Delta Kappan, 89(3), C3. Retrieved from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts database.

Reigeluth, C., & Carr-Chellman, A. (2009). Instructional-design theories and models: Building a common knowledge base Volume III. New York: Taylor and Francis.