Many people have the skills to complete many complex tasks but how many can actually teach these skills? A tremendous aspect of being a teacher is not only being able to demonstrate the required skills but also to possess the proper skills to reach and connect to your students. In Saskatchewan in order to be considered a fine teacher it can be argued that the most important skills a teacher demonstrates include: practicing culturally relevant pedagogy, accommodating to students as well as being life long learners.

Culturally relevant pedagogy is defined by American education philosopher as, “a pedagogy that empowers students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by using cultural referents to impart knowledge, skills, and attitudes.” In Saskatchewan this is especially important because our province is so filled with aboriginal culture. In fact, studies have shown that one half of all students in schools will be from aboriginal decent within the next decade. In terms of teaching these statistics will mean that teachers will need to adopt a more culturally relevant pedagogy in order to see success from students. To do this, teachers need to add culture into many different facets of the curriculum as well as educate themselves in regards to the history of each student’s culture, their family history as well as their own personal interests in order to be an exceptional teacher that will see positive results from all students of all ethnicities.

Secondly, teachers will also see success in students through accommodating to their needs and recognizing any special requirements. A fine teacher will understand and sympathize to different student’s needs in order to make sure they feel comfortable around the teacher and comfortable in the classroom. In Saskatchewan there is a high number of poverty stricken families which may mean the students do not have the proper home support they require to see success in school. The support needed will then become the responsibility of the teacher to spend extra time assisting or intervening in any personal problems.

Finally, in order to be the best possible educator a teacher must be committed to being a life long learner. To do this teachers need to be willing to collaborate with teachers in their school, community, province, country and worldwide. Personally, as a pre service teacher I have had the opportunity to collaborate with a classroom in Nelson, New Zealand. There are many ways to collaborate technologically such as: Twitter, Facebook, Ning, and many other social networking sites. By doing this teachers open up their classroom to a much larger number of possibilities and allows students to collectively learn from a team who may present the material in a manner that is better understood by different students.

To conclude, to be a good teacher there are many other qualities that could be mentioned. However, the most important aspect is to keep the student’s best interest in mind. A good teacher will work hard to make all students feel included in a number of different ways including practicing culturally relevant pedagogy, accommodating to students and committing themselves to being lifelong learners in order to ensure students learn in a number of different ways

My first project was an introduction video of myself to the class. I used Final cut pro with the help of a 4th year film student. I found final cut pro really easy to and much easier to cut and splice clips together then Windows Movie Maker. However, the program is very expensive to purchase so it was a nice experience but I think I will have to stick to Imovie or Windows Movie Maker.

My second task was to create a video explaining that I live far away and what I would have to do to come see them. I then asked the question of what we would do when we were there. The students answers were very cute!

My third task was to talk about ways people connect. I created a glog that showed many pictures of ways to connect as well as different audio sections the students could click on.

My fourth activity was to participate in a global flashpoint meeting held by Allanah to talk about how she has connected with many people around the world. She showed many examples that I will take into my classroom and she really demonstrated why a classroom blog can be so important. I was happy to be a part of such a worldwide collaboration!

I have also decided to continue working with Allanah’s class. My next subject I am going to talk about is how we are opposite in seasons and how our seasons are so different. I plan to try a few new tools to do this. I may try voicethread out again but am open to suggestions of tools that you think would best highlight my points for such a young group of kids.

To conclude, I want to thank Allanah and her class as well as Dean Shareski for making the connection for me!

So here it is… My final reflection but not my final blog!

View my glog here.

Another problem I personally have with these bans is the fact that the students may miss out on a lot of great resources. I understand there is a lot of garbage out there but the school divisions can block all these  sites should there not be a way to only block the garbage? Teachers in these school divisions do have access to these sites but do you think it is enough? I believe that the teacher can show a video or help a student collaborate but why shouldn’t the student get the opportunity to explore and make connections?

Here is my question: What are your  thoughts on the bans? Do you think they are the right thing to do or do they cause a loss of learning? Can you pose any solutions?

I don’t know the answers to these questions nor do I know what is right. I do however believe some sort of change should be imposed.The video below is one that I found of a class implementing twitter and other networking sites that could be greatly beneficial to a wide variety of age groups if permitted!

1.What are your thoughts on the use of cell phones in the classroom? Do you think they are beneficial in the learning process? Why or why not?

Diana said that cellphones can be beneficial but do have some limitations. Some ways they can be used are outside the classroom to collect audio or still pictures that can be brought into class. Diana was also involved in a project surrounding the 2008 election to view this click here.

2.Have you ever had difficulties with parents, admin (etc) when trying to integrate any types of technology into the classroom?When she began trying to integrate technology into her classroom back in 2002-2003 she had some difficulty as some parents were a bit skeptical as to how it could be used and for privacy issues but she quickly won them over and now works in a fairly tech savvy school where technology is heavily integrated into the students day.
3. Where can you see technology taking your classroom in the next five to ten years?

Diana said that she doesn’t look where technology is going to go and what it can do for her classroom because as she told me her school allows for every student to have a MAC book( I think that is pretty awesome!) So for her she wants to see technology be able to blur the boundaries between school and home and allow for more learning to be able to happen elsewhere.

4. When introducing new technologies into an activity how do you share time between the actual task and the learning of technology?

In Diana’s current setting she says she spends almost no time teaching technology as the kids have a pretty good feel for it due to their setting. In her old setting, she did find herself teaching it a bit more but she would give them whatever they needed to get going and then allowed her students to collaborate together to keep discovering technology.

5. a lot of parents, teachers, principals, and school boards are hesitant to embrace technology in all of its forms (such as facebook, you tube, and cell phones) due to privacy issues and the lack of control they could have by allowing these technologies to exist in classrooms. Do you think these are reasonable concerns and do you believe the authorities are reacting correctly by banning the uses of these particular technologies in schools/classrooms?

Diana believes banning anything is generally a bad idea especially when speaking in terms of sites. She believes banning such sites just makes it a game for kids to get into them and as a teacher you end up spending more time trying to catch them or stop them from doing it.

6.Has there been any challenge for you in implementing technology in your classroom?

One of Diana’s biggest challenges was in her old setting and that was getting the devices she needed in her classroom and finding the tools required that would be best suited for the children. In her new setting she doesn’t believe she has any challenges with technology because they typically have the kids working on their own lap top whenever they want them to.
7. How has twitter allowed for you to collaborate with other teachers?

Diana said that Twitter has absolutely allowed for her to collaborate with teachers. It got her a job at her current setting, put her in contact with people all over the place for ideas regarding her teaching and has also allowed her to connect with people to help her class that she normally would have no idea how to get in contact with. Click here to see a blog post about why her class loves twitter!

My thoughts..

After talking with Diana I have really be reinspired to explore and implement technology into my future classroom. I have also been re convinced that twitter can be a really great tool for collaboration in education. I think her passion for technology and teaching is very evident and I hope to implement some of her ideas and values into my future classrooms!