R/W Post #8

Bless...I loved reading through everyone's blogs post, I am constantly in awe of the talent you all possess. I want to take this entry to focus on Sam DiPerna's blog page, specifically entry #7. Sam wrote about the power of technology in the classroom and how we can smoothly integrate it into students learning. She specifically addressed how many teachers use pieces of technology but do not go beyond their comfort zone, which as she expressed can hinder student success. Sam then goes into detail about how she believes blogging can be a powerful tool used in the classroom, and not only that but actually used it with her students! It is quite impressive how quickly she is learning these strategies and putting them to practice. As she wrote about how her students tackled their blogging project she talked about the excitement she saw in her students and how engaged they were with the task at hand. Sam not only provided this multimodal opportunity to her students, but she also created a writing workshop (like ours) to scaffold students into self-monitoring their writing process throughout the project. While technology can often be seen as a distraction or off topic, this example by Sam was a beautiful example of how technology, specifically blogs, can be integrated into the classroom in a meaningful way. 

 

Address... You talked about how seeing your students engage with this technology impacted your motivation as a teacher. How might incorporating blogging motivate other teachers? How so? (especially if they are not well versed in technology to begin with). 

Press... You mentioned how excited your students were about using this technology because they rarely get to use it in an academic sense, how do you think this use of the technology can impact younger students? Will it empower them in the same way you saw with your seniors?

While some teachers may not be motivated or excited by the use of technology in the classroom it is evident it is crucial for student engagement and success. In what ways can we make teachers feel excited by technology?

With the incorporation of technology we cannot ignore the technological gap between districts, schools, and specific students. What do you do with students who may not have the same technological access as others? How do you plan to address this technology gap?

P.S. I would absolutely love to see some of your student work if you are able to share! I think this is an amazing idea to use in a classroom.