A Vision of K-12 Students Today

Today, technology is everywhere. It has changed the way we live, communicate and learn. The majority of populations who are known to adapt to and manipulate these technologies are children or adolescence. As the video shows, now, they are requiring that instructors use this new method in their teaching.


During the period that I taught elementary school kids, I was the one who used the computer and software in teaching but hardly let my students use them. I was afraid that these young kids become addicted to computers and the internet, since I have witnessed many students who suffer from chatting, game and the internet addiction. I believe that children should go out and explore by running and playing. However, these new technologies are so fascinating and powerful, children are easily absorbed in it, not knowing that how to control themselves.


This video might have changed the way I think about children using technology in learning. It says we need to actively adopt the benefits of it so that our kids explore the world outside, communicate for more information and keep the pace with new changes. I feel I need to teach how to benefit from the technology. Saying them not to be too friendly with the computer is not enough. They need to know how to use it more wisely.

Safe blogging

When I read about safety tips for blogging, I remembered big mistakes that I made. I was a bad role model that shows how personal information can be invaded. Me and my studnets had a small classroom homepage on the Web and students needed their username and password to get access to the site. However, most of them forgot thier usernames or password since they created the account years ago. So, I let them know mine so that they can post their homework on the classroom homepage. Well, I was very disappointed when I found that one of them had changed my password. So, my number one for safe blogging will be,

• Teaching the importance of keeping personal information safe: invasion of personal information can result in getting spam mails everyday or more seriously cyber crimes.
  
  
  The details are as follows.

• Do not share information about themselves with people that they meet on the internet especially through instant messages or chat rooms.
• Be careful about commercial sites that require one’s personal information by offering things such as lottery. (at the same time teachers should guide kids to the safe, non-commercial and beneficial sites.)
• Avoid using their real names for username, or nickname that can be identifiable the gender.

Most of all, parents and teachers always talk about safe blogging with their kids so that they can help them when something happens. And as myself, I will never give my username and password even for good purpose to my students to become a good model of safe blogging.

Using blogs in my teaching

1. to reflect on my teaching experiences
Since I became a teacher, many predecessors have recommended me to write a journal that records daily classroom events so that I can get closer look at my students as well as improve my classroom management skills through reflection. However, in my five years of teaching experience, I never wrote a journal, making excuses that I was too busy with more important works to do. Last semester, I could realize the importance of recording what happens during the class through my own experience of meta-cognitive learning: writing weekly journal about my English learning. While I was reading the chapter 2, I thought that I can use my blog for this purpose. In this case, I believe this blog is to be very personal, so I won’t let anybody read my postings. I can make use of the posting when I consult with parents for reference.

2. to communicate with parents
Elementary school students are needed parents’ help. Sometimes I give them homework which requires their parents’ participants or help. I do write down detailed instruction on the blackboard giving them oral explanation at the same time, however, some of students just miss things or cannot understand, especially when they are younger students. If I had my blog that enable myself to communicate with parents, I did not need to spend as much time to explain what my students should do for homework. In addition, I can use the blog to announce my philosophy as an educator and the classroom policy & system to parents at the beginning of the semester. Each year, when new semester starts, we have open classes and have time to talk to the parents. But majority of parents could not come to school on the day. We exchange the ideas for better education but that is only one time event at the beginning of the year. In my culture, parents can be never comfortable when talking to their children’s teacher. Blogs can be a good method that relieves the uncomfortableness of saying their opinion at any time of the year.

3. to create a dynamic teaching site
I am kind of a teacher that always tries to spend more time with students who are slow or have some problems. Those students are usually behind in terms of their schoolwork, so I ask fast students to help these students. I give more feedback on these students. But on the other hand, I am very sorry for who cannot get my attention, those who are smart and can do things by themselves. For these students, a blog as a dynamic teaching site will provide good feedback: further information that they could dig in. I do not want to use blogs for something that all students should participate in. I want to use it for extension of what we learned by linking the real world, for something that we want to discuss from our own interest. The contents will vary according to what’s happening in the world and the classroom and students can participate in freely with their interests.