Technology Integration Matrix

In returning home from the ITEC Conference tonight, I am boiling over with even more ideas of how I would like to see my classroom evolve into a 21st century learning environment.  Students are capable of expressing themselves in a variety of ways and I intend to work my hardest to engage them in opportunities that allow them to do so.
Dr. Leigh Zeitz assigned a task through our Selection and Integration class, part of the Instructional Technology Master's Degree program, of identifying technology integration activities and classify them using the TIM Matrix.  The five activities I chose are all activities I have used in my 3rd grade classroom.  In reviewing these activities, classifying them, and thinking about how to take them up a notch on the matrix and incorporate Punya Mishra's TPACK theory involving technology, pedagogy and content, I created a chart of my own.
After attending many of the sessions at ITEC this year, I feel even further behind than before.  I know where I would like to see my instruction, what I am not sure about is how to get there. It is hard to not focus on the tools, when students are coming to my classroom without any knowledge of Web 2.0 tools.  Therefore, when the content and pedagogy is identified, I have to teach the technology before we can proceed. The additional barriers brought on by the lack of support in the district and working technology brings on even bigger frustrations.  This morning, Steve Hargadon stated that you can't ask teachers to teach 21st century skills if they aren't in a 21st century environment themselves.

Studies in Media ~ Intro Blog

Happy New Year!

 As we enter the Chinese New Year, there are many things I’ve been doing to prepare for our upcoming trip to China.  I’ve been researching the country, travel tips, touring ideas, and shopping.  I have also been searching for other elementary participants to connect with, integrating multicultural activities into my classroom and having my student prepare projects about our culture to share.  My mind has been so consumed with all things Flat Classroom, China and getting ready to go, I never even saw the train coming until it smacked into us.  My 15 year old daughter had been complaining of being really thirsty for the past few weeks and we discarded it as the dryness in the air, accompanied with basketball and volleyball workouts.  That is until last week when she came home sick from school Monday with a headache and then again on Tuesday with the same symptoms.  She was very tired and having some dizziness, so we made a doctor appointment at our local family practice.  They tested her for several things, thyroid, mono, etc and her blood glucose came back at 653 and her A1c was 13.7 along with large ketones in her urine.  They gave us a copy of her labs and asked that we get in the car and drive her to the emergency room at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics about an hour away because they had the best pediatric endocrinology department in the area.  They admitted Dayton and she was diagnosed with type 1 Diabetes.   So now we are in the process of adapting to a new lifestyle, or life support system as they call it, of counting exact numbers of carbohydrates for each meal, checking blood glucose levels, and giving insulin injections.  It has been extremely overwhelming and I’ve had to stop at several instances and just take deep breaths.  Dayton has been absolutely amazing and is adjusting so well and I am so proud of her.  However, with the beginning of this Chinese New Year, the life of this full-time teacher, graduate student, and single-mom just got even more interesting and we will be starting a new life along with this new year. 

The Juvenile Diabetes Reseach Foundation is close to a cure and you can help with this by donating on Dayton's behalf at the following link:  SUPPORT ME!

Shop til We Drop?

      A group of us from the University of Northern Iowa Instructional Technology cohort is taking a trip to Beijing, China for the Flat Classroom Conference next month.  We have been recieving lots of information about all things China, but of the most interesting so far are the shopping markets.  We have been told that our Dollar is going to go pretty far on our shopping excursions and I am truly looking forward to this.  Below are some of centers in Beijing that might be of some interest to us.

The Hongqiao Market
The Silk Market                                                  
Other shopping in Beijing

photo: ilookchina.net

Flattening My World

Julie Lindsay gave an amazing 2 day workshop in St. Louis on Flat Classrooms. She allowed me the opportunity to attend as a virtual participant. Live video streaming through Ustream and a Backchannel chat through Chatsy, provided a feeling of actually being there. I was able to collaborate with a team on a Flat Classroom project idea and made a few connections with elementary teachers for later projects in my own classroom. I am in awe of the possibilities for connecting classrooms and the motivating learning experiences it can allow. Not only have I flattened my own world through my PLN (professional learning network), Diigo, and Web 2.0 tools, but I am so excited to provide such experiences for my students. Global learning and collaboration is at our fingers tips and all we have to do is reach out and grab it!


Photo: http://makingmaps.net/

Blooming Technology

Photo: http://www.classroom20.com/profiles/blogs/blooms-taxonomy-amp-web-20

Eight or nine years ago, when I was pursuing my teaching degree we discussed and went over the importance of Bloom's Taxonomy. Yada yadaaa yadaaa, was what it kind of sounded like coming from the professors at the time. Today, there is a whole new perspective with the integration of technology and more importantly Web 2.0 tools and applications. It is very interesting to see the ways that these tools can be using in assessing different levels of Bloom's. The picture gives a great visual and could be very helpful when presenting tools to other educators.

Mom Madness

Photo: www.tweedlehop.com


As I traveled across town this evening to meet a friend for dinner, I was fretting about all the other things I could or should be doing this evening. Still, I ventured over to a little Mexican spot for some delicious dinner. Upon returning to my cubical of a dorm room, I broke out my laptop and sat it down in front of me... What to start on first: Updating/finish creating my PLN (personal learning network), RWLD (readings, watchings, learnings, doings), work on a project, read and respond to blogs... decided upon writing my own blog post of thoughts from today.

The last month or so I have felt so completely overwhelmed by the ending of my school year and all the wonderful things that go along with that, my daughters softball games, my nephews soccer & baseball games, cooking, cleaning, finishing a privacy fence and landscaping in the yard, running, working a second job, etc. etc. etc. Oh, and taking two graduate classes. I have to say that it has really been kind of wonderful to be up here on campus and be able to focus a one of these responsibilities whole-heartedly. The information that is being presented and explored throughout this class is astounding, I love it! I'm really thinking..."if we are being exposed to this much knowledge in the first class of this program, by the time I am done in two years I'm going to be soooooo intelligent!!" You might think this sounds silly, but I really thought I knew a lot about technology before I came here. Wow... so much more to learn and I can't wait for it to be pounded into my brain. I don't know that my brain can even hold all the information available but Dr. Z provided me with an article link about increasing brain power and its rather interesting. I think I might just try some of the suggestions.