C4T #4: Google Block Party
Hi, my name is Anna Dumas, and I am a student at the University of South Alabama under professor Dr. Strange. I will be commenting on three of your posts over a week's time. The Google party seems like it was a bunch of fun, but what was the goal of it? I am uncertain as to what ISTE is and would be interested in hearing more about it, and how you will be using Google Earth and the new information balloon template in your lessons. Please feel free to take a look at my blog if you have time.
What I've Learned This Year: Hi, I'm Anna Dumas. I just read your post as an assignment in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. Thank you so much for sharing your 1st year teacher experience. It is so nice to hear that all first year teachers struggle, and that teaching students isn't easy peasy. Your topics of what you learned were great points to talk about because they are important for all teachers to work on. The best one, I think was to remember to continue to learn. I feel like students are more motivated to learn about a subject if the teacher shows them that they are willing to learn more about the subject than they might already know. Learning along with the students calms nerves, and shows the student that if the teacher can do it so can they. I plan on continuing to follow your blog so keep the information coming.
You can contact me on my class blog
Hey Anna,
ReplyDeleteI am like you on this topic because I have my doubts sometimes about my ability to teach and it was great to read this post about 1st year teaching. I agree that students are more willing to learn something if the teacher is showing the students what has recently been discovered or something that is new. I really think that the way things are changing so rapidly today, that it is more and more important for teachers to be up to date and learning new things everyday.
I agree, the idea that you never stop learning is critical. Especially, as Anthony said change comes so rapidly these days it is important for teachers stay current. I know from being a student and a teacher that other people working hard is one of the things that motivates me to work hard. I think if students see their teacher working hard to learn new things many of them will follow. SS
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is very important for teachers to continue learning as well. It is comforting to know that all teachers struggle their first year of teaching, but there are teachers there to help them out. I am glad that Mr. McClung was willing to share his experience too.
ReplyDeleteHi Anna!
ReplyDeleteThanks for tipping me off to ISTE. I checked it out, and the link above is a URL to their program overview. It sounds like a giant convention for teachers who want to learn technological integration strategies. ISTE gets instructors from across the globe to come together in different cities and share what they know! I checked out the block party link you provided and saw that they discussed the google earth outreach-- more specifically lit trips. I can attest that google has made some SERIOUS improvements over the past several months... if you haven't already-- you should check it out!
Hi Anna, Thanks for dropping by my blog and leaving me your thoughts. I was actually quite surprised when you questioned me about ISTE because I had presumed that all American teachers would know what that is!! My mistake, and in fact my most recent post talks about the cultural diffrences between kiwis and Americans and the assumptions we should NOT make about each other. Lesson learned. I find the ISTE conference so powerful that I have tried to travel to it every second year since 2005. It is wonderful having so many teachers, administrators, ed tech folk, university faculty and trade vendors in the same place, all sharing a passion for children and learning. I always leave inspired by new ideas to implement when I get home.
ReplyDeleteDorothy
Auckland, NZ