This inquiry project will be based on my current position as a grade 5 teacher at an independent school in Calgary, Alberta. I entered the teaching profession 6 years ago because I have a deep appreciation for knowledge, and I have a constant desire to learn and experience as much as possible in the world around me. As a teacher, I emphasize the importance of being a lifelong learner in my classroom, and I hope to model this concept for all of my students. I have discovered that as a teacher my personal life has become intertwined with my professional life. Therefore, the overall purpose for me in this project is to enhance my knowledge of Web 2.0 tools and to allow me to feel more comfortable using different tools between personal and work situations. Up to this point in my life, I would say I have become very comfortable with many technological tools and have discovered ways to incorporate new technologies into my everyday life. This project will provide an opportunity to investigate a variety of tools that I have had little to no experience with up to this point, and to discover uses for these tools in my everyday life both personally and professionally. The tools I have chosen to investigate are Twitter, Google Reader, LiveBinder, Pixton Comics, Shelfari, and Google Art Project. I believe this selection of tools will enhance my teaching practice as well as encouraging my desire for lifelong learning.
Goals
In his book, The Socially Networked Classroom, William Kist states, “a crucial first step in helping students negotiate the Web is for the teachers to become part of the world of Web 2.0 themselves.” (2010, pp. 71-72) From my experience in using Web 2.0 tools, I have quickly discovered that everyday day can be a new first step because of the constantly changing software and tools. My goals for this project will center on my desire to incorporate my knowledge and use of Web 2.0 tools more effectively and consistently into my classroom. By the end of this unit I hope to achieve the following four goals. I hope to develop a personal database of resources, which can be accessed quickly by me and shared with colleagues and students. I want to develop more useful experience with Web 2.0 tools. Through this experience and practice with the tools, I would like to create a more cohesive link between technology and my teaching practice. Finally, I would like to use this new knowledge to improve my teaching practice by creating more engaging experiences for my students and being able to share information with them more efficiently.
Twitter
Of the six tools I have chosen for this project, Twitter is the one tool, which I am most familiar with, but I feel I have only scratched the surface of how it can be used. I have used a Twitter account for the past 6 months primarily to stay up to date on my favorite cyclists. I am just starting to recognize the huge potential Twitter provides in regards to gathering useful teaching information from very experienced teachers all over the world. Throughout this project I will be using the Tweetdeck app to track hashtags such as #mathchat and #edchat in order to add to build my teaching resources. I will be highlighting weekly finds on my blog throughout the duration of this project.
Google Reader
While I have been following blogs for a few years, I am curious to see how Google Reader will help to make this experience more efficient for me. I have not been the person who checks blogs regularly, but I can see how I can potentially use this tool to tap into the shared knowledge of experts and enthusiast around the world. Using a tool like Google Reader will be most useful in promoting my personal professional development at work as well as allowing me to continue my passion for learning. As I have stated, my hopes are to use my personal blog as a database of information I find useful in regards to a classroom, and I will use Google Reader to discover articles that can be posted to my blog for this purpose.
LiveBinder
I have only recently heard of tools such as LiveBinder and Diigo, which allow a user to create a space that records websites and online tools for the purpose of accessing the sites from any computer. I am most intrigued in experimenting with LiveBinder with the purpose of creating a database of educational resources that can be shared with my students and classroom parents as well as with my colleagues. I often run into the issue of trying to track down websites that I may have bookmarked on my school computer, but not on my personal computer. I believe a site like LiveBinder will help to put all my resources in one place. My progress on LiveBinder will be tracked on my blog by making a post every two weeks, which highlights changes and additions to my personal binder.
Shelfari
Since taking the time to look at this website a few days ago, I have found myself searching through my bookshelves at home and school to find books to add to my “shelf” on the Shelfari site. I have a passion for books, and I made it a personal goal three years ago to read as many children’s books as possible in order to be able to provide personal recommendations for the students in my class. I am excited to explore this site with the purpose of being able to share it with my classroom students and parents in order for them to search for books to read. I will be working throughout the project to update my shelf by adding books and creating personal information about the books to help guide my students when they are searching for something to read. Shelfari has already been attached to the bottom of my blog as a gadget, and can easily be reached by anyone who accesses my blog. A long term goal I have for this site would be to have students create their own Shelfari page with the books they have read in order to share with other students.
Pixton Comics
One of my personal interests is graphic novels and comics, and I have noticed in my classroom that students are also engaged in reading graphic novels such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Bone. I was immediately drawn to this site with the intention of using it as a tool in the classroom to engage reluctant writers who may feel more interested to present complex information as a comic. I can also see the benefit of creating comics myself that I can share with my students when presenting new information such as how to do long division. I have only used the site briefly so far, but it is my goal to create three comics that can be used to cover content in my classroom before the end of this project. The comics will be posted to my blog for others to use throughout October and Novemeber.
Google Art Project
I have been using Google Earth for a number of years both in my classroom and for personal use. I was overwhelmed when I first saw Google Art Project, and immediately started to think of ways I could incorporate it into my classroom. Google Art Project allows the used to take a virtual tour through famous world museums, and to view a high definition image of famous paintings. I find myself amazed at exploring museums I may never see in my life, and I am hoping to use the Google Art Project site as a source for critical thinking response practice in my classroom. This site will also provide inspiration for art projects that are completed in my classroom. By the end of this project, I will create two lessons, which provide my students with the opportunity to utilize Google Art Project. These lessons will be posted on my blog when completed by the end of October and November.
Timeline
I have made an effort to choose tools that I will be able to utilize on a daily to weekly basis, and I feel my blog should reflect updates of my experiences every week. For the duration of this project, I will utilize the blog to demonstrate my findings, experiences, and frustration that I encounter during my daily practice. The completion of my project goals will be measured by examples of new resources I have collected and by a thorough representation of the tool being used.
As a classroom teacher, I see first hand how our ability to gather information and to educate ourselves is rapidly changing. I am excited about taking this opportunity to create my own personal and professional development with the hopes of continuing to blog and explore past the project deadline.
Works Cited
Kist, W. (2010). The Socially Networked Classroom; Teaching in the New Media Age. Thousand Oaks, California, USA: Corwin.
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