Chapter 3

Chapter 3 was called “Creating Classroom Community and Connecting with Families.” The chapter wasn’t the average description of building a classroom community and family involvement, instead this chapter described different activities that can be done using technology. This was an interesting approach, as I have never heard of the many different ideas in this chapter. This chapter had two great examples which both creates the classroom community and gives the families a chance to be involved. 

For me, the part that I want to speak to is how the family is involved in these projects. Creating projects online allows parents and families to go in and view a child’s work. This makes the family feel welcome and engaged in their child’s education. However, the part about this that I find to be one of the best aspects is that family can go in and view these projects and it’s different than just receiving complete papers in their child’s folder. As I have most likely mentioned, I am a nanny for a single mother of three children. Two of the children are twins and just started kindergarten. The papers the children come home with are ridiculous. There are at least 5-10 pages of completed work in each child’s folder every day. This is super overwhelming for the mother to receive every day and at the end of a long school day and completing homework, the boys don’t really care to explain what they did on all of these papers with their mom. The kids have been in school for about 3 and a half weeks now and the stack of papers is getting very high. Of course as a parent you can’t help but feel guilty recycling all of your kindergartner's precious school work, but the stack of papers gets crazy and just creates a mess.  These papers are so overwhelming that they end up being meaningless and just get thrown into the messy stack. But, creating projects online allows the parents to go in and view it, where they can hear the teacher’s introduction on the project and hear their child talk about it. How awesome is this! No cluttered papers, and an interactive, more meaningful experience to view your child’s work. The parents can go in and comment on their children’s work, where the child can then be excited to go to school and see their personalized message from their families. Parents can also include children in viewing their work, where they can talk about it together, and the families have more of an idea of the meaning behind the projects and know what to ask the child about it. 

This is much more meaningful than just receiving papers and projects in a child’s backpack at the end of each day. I have never thought to use technology in such a way as this chapter described, to promote classroom community and family involvement. I am glad that I was introduced to this, as I can now use this in my future classroom and prevent families from messy, cluttered piles of school work! 

Internet Reciprocal Teaching

In chapter 2, a teaching strategy called reciprocal teaching and internet reciprocal teaching was introduced. I loved the idea of this because I think this approach could be very helpful and beneficial in the classroom. The idea of internet reciprocal teaching is for the teacher to introduce a concept or website, and then a student will have to teach the class about it. After the student teaches the class there is typically a project given to the class to be done independently or in small groups. I love how there was a way to turn reciprocal teaching (the same process but not involving technology and instead from a text) into a modern way to teach students about technology. Being able to tweak lessons to fit the most current concepts is very important.

I think that this strategy would work in classrooms for two main reasons. First, when a student knows they are responsible for teaching the class something, they are most likely going to make sure they learn it very well. This allows each “student teacher” to learn a concept very well. I am sure it is something they will never be able to forget after learning about it and then presenting it to their peers. The second reason is because students generally, from my experience, enjoy listening to their peers. It is a change of scenery from the teacher talking to them, and it is somebody their age that they relate to. The student may have a way of showing the information in a way that makes sense to other students their age that they can relate to. Allowing the students to teach the class makes the lesson more exciting, and fun for the class.

This approach to learning new technology is probably best for students at an older level. When I first read about it I imagined it happening in a high school classroom. But, after thinking about it I think it could work in any classroom. I am studying early childhood education, so for me it was important to think about how this could benefit myself. It made me think that even young children can become the teacher for the hour and teach their peers about something. For example, I have seen kindergarten classrooms that are able to reserve iPads for some time. A student, or a group of students could work with the teacher to explore an app and then that student can explain to the class how it works. This could also be done by doing things on the smart board. This teaching method is overall such an awesome way all around for students to learn about new technologies! I can’t wait to implement it in my own classroom someday! 

Shifting My Views On Technology

       

         There was so much information in chapter one that really had me thinking in a way that I have never thought before. So many people, including teachers, see technology as a horrible change in children’s lives. I myself even have had negative views on technology, but after reading this chapter my view has been transformed. This chapter really brought to my attention that whether technology and the internet are negative or positive for a children’s learning, the fact of the matter is, is that it is not going away. Whether a teacher believes in it or not, technology is only advancing and it will only take over education more and more, so to help children learn and develop into the best adult they can be, it is important to use technology in your curriculum and teach children how to appropriately use and learn from it. I have never thought of technology in this way and I am so glad that I was introduced to this new way of thinking.

       Throughout all of chapter one, the page that really stuck out to me was page 12. This page basically described how teachers are not always the most educated when it comes to technology, and that because of this, they often feel “intimidated” and decide to pass all the technological teachings over to the designated computer teacher. The author’s response to this was very true, as the time spent with the computer teacher is not nearly enough time to prepare a child for the world of technology they are entering.  I couldn’t agree more with the point the author made here. Teachers need to stay up-to-date, and educate themselves on as many digital and technological resources they can incorporate into their student’s learning as this is how students are learning today. Instead of feeling intimidated teachers should learn to take what the children offer and research it, because chances are, it could be a great resource that children will take a lot away from.

       The most important and enlightening lesson I learned from this chapter was that whether myself, teachers, or anybody else likes it or not, the digital world is taking over and it is better to prepare students for this than to stick to our own beliefs and set children up for failure in their future. Literacy is just one of many areas that are going digital, and accepting this and using it in the classroom will only benefit children for their future.