It’s time to reflect on my progress towards my goals. To do so, first, let me repost my goals.
1) At the end of the summer semester, I will have established a platform upon which to build my professional learning network.
2) At the end of the summer semester, I will be able to identify and use four new web 2.0 tools for improving my professional learning network.
3) At the end of the summer semester, I will be able to infuse newly acquired knowledge into weekly lessons through the 2018-2019 school year to improve the learning of ALL students.
So far during this summer semester, I feel that I am making adequate progress towards these goals. Goal 1) I have begun creating my PLN through this blogging site by adding many, but not too many, RSS feeds. These include Twitter and blogging feeds. In addition, I have been conducting searches and adding quality sites to my Symbaloo webmixes. Goal 2) prior to this semester, I had not used Symbaloo, Blogger, Weebly, or Twitter for PLN purposes. I plan to continue to improve my use of these sites as well as look for others that will enhance my PLN. Goal 3) my knowledge of these platforms has definitely opened my eyes to how I can incorporate them into my classroom. For one, I have discovered that Weebly has an education component that provides teachers with the ability to create a class website and the ability to manage student accounts. Using curation sites such as Symbaloo and Scoop.it allow students access to teacher recommended sites for games, research, worksheets, online links, etc. I especially like the ability to differentiate links based on the needs of individual students.
This week I have read articles related to the importance of having a growth mindset. (I have needed a growth mindset since the beginning of this summer semester.) It is easy to become overwhelmed and frustrated with technology and the complexities of the platforms associated with them. It’s easy to have a fixed mindset. However, we must remind ourselves that old dogs CAN learn new tricks. Carol Dweck tells us that our "brian is like a muscle and can grow over time." Being an old dog, I need to remind myself of this fact. In her article "Even Geniuses Work Hard", Dweck encourages teachers to embed the word "yet" at the end of "I cannot do that" sentences. "I do not know how to embed a live Twitter feed into blogger yet," or "I do not know how to create a Weebly site yet," are personal examples from this semester. By adding that one word, I give myself the power to persevere and find ways to overcome these deficits. The greatest benefit of this technological age is having access to tutorials via YouTube, websites, Q and A’s with those more knowledgeable, and other self-help resources. These resources help us overcome the “yet.” There is great satisfaction in completing a task which you previously could not do or were scared to attempt.
1) At the end of the summer semester, I will have established a platform upon which to build my professional learning network.
2) At the end of the summer semester, I will be able to identify and use four new web 2.0 tools for improving my professional learning network.
3) At the end of the summer semester, I will be able to infuse newly acquired knowledge into weekly lessons through the 2018-2019 school year to improve the learning of ALL students.
So far during this summer semester, I feel that I am making adequate progress towards these goals. Goal 1) I have begun creating my PLN through this blogging site by adding many, but not too many, RSS feeds. These include Twitter and blogging feeds. In addition, I have been conducting searches and adding quality sites to my Symbaloo webmixes. Goal 2) prior to this semester, I had not used Symbaloo, Blogger, Weebly, or Twitter for PLN purposes. I plan to continue to improve my use of these sites as well as look for others that will enhance my PLN. Goal 3) my knowledge of these platforms has definitely opened my eyes to how I can incorporate them into my classroom. For one, I have discovered that Weebly has an education component that provides teachers with the ability to create a class website and the ability to manage student accounts. Using curation sites such as Symbaloo and Scoop.it allow students access to teacher recommended sites for games, research, worksheets, online links, etc. I especially like the ability to differentiate links based on the needs of individual students.
This week I have read articles related to the importance of having a growth mindset. (I have needed a growth mindset since the beginning of this summer semester.) It is easy to become overwhelmed and frustrated with technology and the complexities of the platforms associated with them. It’s easy to have a fixed mindset. However, we must remind ourselves that old dogs CAN learn new tricks. Carol Dweck tells us that our "brian is like a muscle and can grow over time." Being an old dog, I need to remind myself of this fact. In her article "Even Geniuses Work Hard", Dweck encourages teachers to embed the word "yet" at the end of "I cannot do that" sentences. "I do not know how to embed a live Twitter feed into blogger yet," or "I do not know how to create a Weebly site yet," are personal examples from this semester. By adding that one word, I give myself the power to persevere and find ways to overcome these deficits. The greatest benefit of this technological age is having access to tutorials via YouTube, websites, Q and A’s with those more knowledgeable, and other self-help resources. These resources help us overcome the “yet.” There is great satisfaction in completing a task which you previously could not do or were scared to attempt.
If we, as adults, are finding great satisfaction in using new tech tools and learning new things...then imagine how our students will feel when they complete tasks that they are scared to attempt in the classroom! I think it's important to remind students that learning is a lifelong process and that we, as teachers, don't know or everything or have all the answers. The power of technology and having unlimited information at their fingertips gives the students of today a unique advantage that students in the past did not have. The advantage is that they can educate themselves to a certain extent. However, it is our responsibility to teach them how to use technology in a responsible manner that is conducive to learning. If we can inculcate a growth mindset in our students, then technology will only help them advance their own education (i.e., they can go online to learn about classroom topics that interest them or view self-help videos for any given subject...it is just our job to engage them on these topics in the first place)!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am not a teacher, I have two children who are in middle school and with all the research and projects they have to do throughout the school year having their teachers establish a PLN where they can post tips and information for help would be a great asset. Like you, I wasn't too familiar with curating site except when I'm just surfing the internet. I never knew what Symbaloo was until last semester when my professor created one for a project we had to complete. I am excited to learn more about curating, PLNs, and blogging because I never used or created either of these before. I think it is important for teachers to curate information for student use especially as a one stop source for help with projects and research.
ReplyDeleteI am highly encouraged by your dedication to learning how to implement these new tool sets, even going so far as to look up separate tutorials. So many people simply look at applications they don't understand, decide it's too complicated, and move on to something else. This is the fixed mindset, and it's far too common among people when facing things they haven't been exposed to before. I agree with you that all of your goals seem achievable, especially if we work together to master the applications in these courses. The sky is the limit! Hopefully we walk away from this course not only improving our student's education with our newfound technical skills, but by imparting the growth mindset as well.
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