I agree with the beginning of chapter 5 that students need to learn skills when it comes to empathy to anyone that is not them. Students need to realize that people around the world work completely differently than them and that is perfectly fine if they don’t agree with that. Students need to realize that it is not my way or the highway when it comes to any aspect of life, work, and education. Students need to learn that being a key board warrior and anonymously attacking people on videos is not what using the internet all is about and people can think different than them and they just need to accept that not lash back. Different is good in many ways because not everyone is wired the same and thus differentiation will occur and it occurs because it works for whoever utilizes it. Once students have mastered empathy then they can begin to share with others around the world and not only on an educational level but a personal one as well. I liked the example shown for Ms. Zavon’s class that every student had a job either in front of or behind the camera and it is true most students will probably know more than their teacher when it comes to technology it is the teachers job to steer them in the right direction. Allowing student’s autonomy like Ms. Reppert’s class stops hindering students from just one type of classwork and fosters more motivation and excitement from the students, something that can be lacking in some class settings. Students need to find different perspectives and interact with them leading to a greater experience for the student who then has that experience to use later on in life. The last chapter of the book really shows how important proper use of the internet is for students because if it is done correctly the student will forever be a lifelong learner. Students need to know that they should find something they are passionate about and be a part of that section online. If a student likes to draw there are probably thousands and thousands of people on Reddit that have the same passion and will encourage each other to better work. If a student likes video editing there are probably thousands of videos on YouTube where the student can watch and learn and comment during the process. That student can then upload their video to help others out. Overall this is a great book that really hits home the ease of classroom strategies merging with technology and gives great examples so the reader knows that it may feel a bit weird at first but it has brought back tenfold in classroom motivation and student work. I really like the student scribe section because it made me think how great it would be to have one person or small group per day getting all the information down for the rest of the class. I would like to go one better and have another student deciding what the most important information was and why. All of the strategies seem to work perfectly together and slowly evolve the student to be a better collaborator, a more effective speaker/writer, and a more empathetic person that is exposed to the world. I am really excited to create a class blog but I am worried about the issue of having all that information online each year and students perhaps utilizing the previous year’s notes instead of creating their own unique notes. But with all of the examples given I think students will just be excited to make that online connection and have fun doing so. I would love to also spend a couple days in a computer lab with students giving examples of what they are not looking for when it comes to research and give them a little assignment to test their online fluency. This book should be a must for all teachers new and old to help change their classroom more based around project based learning but not going all the way there like some charter or magnet schools do. I give this book two big thumbs up!
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Bryan AndersenJust a teacher candidate that is super excited to impact students lives Archives
May 2016
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