My favorite quote from Kevin Honeycutt's podcast that really stuck with me was, "We need to stop teaching technology and begin teaching with technology." That got me thinking of ways I can help students to make connections between what I am teaching and the use of technology so that the learning for them can be richer. As a reading specialist, this is no small task. I was thinking of maybe the creation of a newspaper where each group could be responsible for a different section of the paper. I think if we involved all three elementary buildings, the kids would really get excited and motivated to write more. Of course we all know, when they write more, they read more. Yeah!!! The fifth graders take the DBQ exam in November so I spend the first couple of months teaching reading through social studies curriculum. I did like the idea of the Oregon journals, and could certainly incorportate something similar. We could have a presidential election from candidates from three different schools and each school has to develop campaigns etc.. Another possible idea would be to have a group of my sixth graders write a picture book and have an art class from another building create the illustrations. A third group could be the editors/publishers. Any feedback on these three ideas from my fellow classmates would be appreciated.
I tooked at Kevin's Model T project and thought it was creative and an excellent problem solving activity where students collaborated to create something authentic. However I was surprised when I went to the Model T blog and there were no comments posted on any part of the project. It makes me wonder how many schools have actually begun to give kids these type of choices in their classroom? It will be no small task and it really involves designing curriculum in a different way, but as he said, we have to challenge our kids so that they are prepared for the job market in the future. Maybe as a tech. study group for next year we could share our ideas and help one another get started. I know I would be excited about giving it a try.
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I love your ideas, Lorie. I think it would be wonderful to get students in all 3 elementary buildings to begin collaborating with each other. What a great way to bring us together more as a district and to think beyond the walls of individual classrooms! I'd love to help you in any way I can, since I get into each of the buildings.
I also love the idea of people in the tech study groups maybe connecting with each other and getting the ball rolling on some of these collaborative projects. This will definitely be on the agenda for next year!
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