Module 10 - The Finishing Line.

It's been a whole term since I have been on this blog and a term since I completed module 10. Why the pause?? - Well basically for me the last school term was a term to try to implement Web 2 into my classroom and a term to work out how to put it all together.

As the children in my class are still young ( 6& 7 year olds), there have been some aspects of web 2 that I needed to break down to their level. At times I have thought "Wouldn't it be great to have an older class to try this with." However I've also found the benefits web 2 provides to allow for differentiated learning. I have a handful of students who have really surprised me, and have just taken off and are applying their learnings out of the classroom environment.
I get so excited when they come to school in the morning and say to me: "Did you see what I added to our class wiki last night?" or "Would you like to join my Blog/ Wiki Miss?" Their enthusiasm is contageous.

Had a few difficulties at first with Blogger as a tool for students - I needed to piggyback the children and create a class persona (Classmate 2007) to allow students to all sign into our class blog. As with Wetpaint as a wiki site- I love it. However I couldn't use it to create our class Wiki due to children being under age. Solved that by using Wikispaces.

On the other hand, there is still the need to keep the human element in teaching. It's sad to watch our current kindergarten class to be memorized by the SMARTboard but unable to sit still to listen to a story being read to them. It's sad to watch my younger daughter spend ages texting her friends but only having 2 second conversations with her friends on a conventional phone. The web is a powerful tool and the use of it in the classoom by a good practitioner can have a huge impact on learning. But there needs to be a balance.

For me the biggest change I have seen in my classroom is the level of collaboration. My children learn so much from each other. I provide them with the web 2 tools and instructions and they provide the learning. They have become a community of learners rather than just students in a classroom. My favourite quote from one of my students when I was asking them to reflect on their learnings on our class blog was " When we work in our ICT learning groups, you have more brains". I love it!

When I first started this blog I really felt that I was on my "L Plates" - how things have changed. My teaching since starting this course has totally changed. I'm glad that I didn't rush through the course and I took my time to try to implement things in the classroom. This has been real learning for me. My classroom has totally changed too. The children have become critical thinkers, they work together to solve problems and are confident to ask questions because they know what to do to search for answers.

The above applies to the majority of my students, however there are still a few who are not quite there yet. When I ask myself why, I realise that it's not because they don't have the skills because they do - I just think that the students that don't have access to the technology at home seem to have to work harder when they are at school. Becoming proficient in the use of these technologies takes time and practice.

The other thing that has changed for me and has enabled me to change my teaching, is improved access to technology. At the end of last year I disbanded the computer lab and I moved the computers into the classrooms. Further to this we purchased new laptops in trolleys for classroom use. Having these resources at hand has been critical. My students now can access a computer when ever they need it. Give them the tools and allow them to learn

Started as a Blogger on L Plates ........but I think I've moved onto my P's.