The Physical Geography of the U.S. & Canada

Students, as we explore this unit over North America, I will begin to assign students to blog on certain days and/or topics.  This will be incorporated into your grade.  Each student is responsible for making sure that the blog is completed on the correct day.  Please refer back to the Wiki & Blogging handout that was given at the beginning of the school year.  You may access a copy on Moodle by using the link below. Go to #2.  Feel free to print one if you need it.


http://moodle.bryanisd.org/moodle/course/view.php?id=25&topic=0#section-4


Happy Blogging!!!!

Congratulations!!!

Howdy students!  Thanks for getting your blogs set up and joining our class blog.  If you have not finished this task, please do so as soon as possible!

I look forward to all of us working together to learn, share, and grow by connecting not only to each other but to a global community.  Living in a digital environment has opened so many doors for all of us but it is up to each one of you to walk through those doors with me.  Technology is not going away so we should learn and apply as much as we can to ensure our success in the 21st century.

As we explore the upcoming year, I am always looking for new interactive techniques that can be used in the classroom to engage my students.  If you come across something that you feel is awesome, please let me know.   If there is a particular type of technology that you like, please share this information with me.  You will be introduced to a number of web 2.0 applications (and you may introduce me to a few as well) that can enhance your digital literacy. 

Please take a moment to review the guidelines for using the wiki and blog on Moodle.

pbj 

Student Joining Day

Each student need to send me a message through the comment section of this blog entry.  Thanks, pbj

Using QR Codes in the Classroom

All of you are familiar with QR codes.  QR stands for "quick response."When you shop in stores, most items have a code that allows the scanner to identify the item and its' price.  QR codes are very similar to this.  These codes are now being used in the classroom in a variety of ways.  The following website provides exciting explanations and ideas about the use of QR codes! Go check it out!

http://t.co/0SyDK7G

Transforming Education

The majority of high school students today have been exposed to various social media outlets such as MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter to name a few.  How can these, as well as other web 2.0 applications enhance education?  According to Will Richardson , noted author, blogger, and web 2.0 guru, technological changes are imminent and must play a major role in how we teach today.  We want our students to be life-long learners in a globally, connected world.  If we are to be successful in this day and age, we must "use the power of connections to transform education."

Technology Workshop 2011

The majority (97%) of graduating seniors are not considered digital literate.   According to the National Center of Teachers for English, students should be able to:

• Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
• Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally
• Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes
• Manage, analyze and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information
• Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts
• Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments

In other words, the days of standing in front of the class lecturing, using handouts, overhead projectors, and limited technology like power points are becoming more and more obsolete.  Today's youth are growing up in a digital-world.  Think for just a moment, compare television of old to digital movies today, the way they listen to music, video and online games, social media.  Times have changed and so must the field of education.

As we continue to make sure that our students learn the required objectives to pass state mandated assessments, we must examine the integration of technology in "teaching" these concepts.  Therefore, teachers would be using new strategies to teach required concepts. For many teachers, this takes them out of their comfort zones.  We have got to start teaching outside of the box.  If the use of technology is not a required part of our curriculum, then  we are handicapping children when it comes to learning & thriving in a 21st century digital age.  Children are no longer competing against the kid next door but against the global community.

Another Day of Technology - Wikis & Blogging

I am privileged to attend a workshop today over Wikis and Blogging.  Hopefully this will enable me to make better use of my class blog and wiki.  I will share with you the new information that I learn!