I'm excited to be leaning new things to try with my own students too! Although I am a remedial reading teacher and therefore do not have a classroom of my own, I do believe I need to incorporate technolgy into my teaching, while also working with classroom teachers to co-teach lessons.
After reading chapter 4 of Teaching with the Internet K-12: New Literacies for New Times, I began to think of ways children could learn and communicate with one another via the internet. My school district has a Sister School in China and administrators have already visited to learn more about the Chinese educational system. Wouldn't it be great to set up "keypals" so students from each country could communicate? Another possibility would be class blogs. Have you ever done these with your students? I am a novice when it comes to technology but I am eager to try new ideas.
Our school district also has a sister school relationship with a school in China. Some of our high school teachers and administrators have visited China. Recently representatives from our sister school in China spent time visiting our school system. Do your students study the Chinese language? My class has a partner relationship with a school in Hartford. We meet at Holcomb Farm 4 times a year and once at Elizabeth Park for community building and science inquiry. We exchange pen pal letters. I have wanted to try a key pal communication system, but the logistics of time and access to computers for our partners in addition for the need for parental consent for this age group (Grade 2) have been prohibitive thus far. As for setting up a blog, we (teachers and students) are not permitted to blog outside of the school. I spoke to my vice principal and he thinks I might be able to set up a classroom blog for my students to use to communicate with each other within the classroom. I was thinking I might use it for book clubs to discuss books or possibly as a book talk sight for students to share some of their favorite books. Once I see if it is feasible, I will share what I am doing and how it is going.
The other World Language teachers and I have tossed around the idea of pen pals in Spanish speaking countries, but they are only in the first year and have very limited vocabulary. If the curriculum allowed for theme based teaching of the language, I think the kids would have more to write about. There would be a purpose for the exchange. When one of the teachers approached the idea as an annual goal, it didn't seem to be well received. An interclass blog exchange sounds like a great idea. Let me know if it works. That would be one way for our World Language students to practice their writing skills.
I'm excited to be leaning new things to try with my own students too! Although I am a remedial reading teacher and therefore do not have a classroom of my own, I do believe I need to incorporate technolgy into my teaching, while also working with classroom teachers to co-teach lessons.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading chapter 4 of Teaching with the Internet K-12: New Literacies for New Times, I began to think of ways children could learn and communicate with one another via the internet. My school district has a Sister School in China and administrators have already visited to learn more about the Chinese educational system. Wouldn't it be great to set up "keypals" so students from each country could communicate? Another possibility would be class blogs. Have you ever done these with your students? I am a novice when it comes to technology but I am eager to try new ideas.
Paula White-Reading Mom
Our school district also has a sister school relationship with a school in China. Some of our high school teachers and administrators have visited China. Recently representatives from our sister school in China spent time visiting our school system. Do your students study the Chinese language? My class has a partner relationship with a school in Hartford. We meet at Holcomb Farm 4 times a year and once at Elizabeth Park for community building and science inquiry. We exchange pen pal letters. I have wanted to try a key pal communication system, but the logistics of time and access to computers for our partners in addition for the need for parental consent for this age group (Grade 2) have been prohibitive thus far. As for setting up a blog, we (teachers and students) are not permitted to blog outside of the school. I spoke to my vice principal and he thinks I might be able to set up a classroom blog for my students to use to communicate with each other within the classroom. I was thinking I might use it for book clubs to discuss books or possibly as a book talk sight for students to share some of their favorite books. Once I see if it is feasible, I will share what I am doing and how it is going.
ReplyDeleteThe other World Language teachers and I have tossed around the idea of pen pals in Spanish speaking countries, but they are only in the first year and have very limited vocabulary. If the curriculum allowed for theme based teaching of the language, I think the kids would have more to write about. There would be a purpose for the exchange. When one of the teachers approached the idea as an annual goal, it didn't seem to be well received.
ReplyDeleteAn interclass blog exchange sounds like a great idea. Let me know if it works. That would be one way for our World Language students to practice their writing skills.