It seems to me that no matter what I read this week for the class, it all seemed to mention somewhere about the need for professionals to sit down on a regular and consistent basis for planning and curriculum development. This seems like such an easy fix to make and I wonder why so many schools don't seem to be doing this. We have NO common planning time where I work and now I feel like I am not fully meeting the needs of my students because I don't have the opportunity to sit and talk about the curriculum on a regular basis. Talk about what I am doing in my classroom, what the others are doing, what do we want to try, how can we improve. Why don't we have more common planning/meeting time during the work day?
After reading Curriculum 21 I really enjoyed the globalization chapter and what we need to do to make our students more globally prepared. I thought it was well-organized and easy to understand. I think it still seems overwhelming though. To me I think the biggest obstacle in getting this new global education in terms of connecting with other schools globally is the technology piece. How are other countries meeting this technology need? Are they really meeting it for all, or are they just meeting it for those students who live in the most populous areas? On the resources available to teachers on p. 24, I could only check off 4 of those items as being within my classroom. I alone have a laptop computer at my disposal. The other two computers sitting in my room are rather old and run sluggishly. I have an e-mail account. I have a digital camera, but one I bring in from home because the one the school has provided is a battery eater and outdated. Then we have an IPOD and IPOD docking station for our classrooms. How do we get all of the technology that is out there to do these wonderful global ideas? How do we reach the rural areas? Maybe I am wrong in my thinking that we need the technology in place first before we can easily and readily globalize our curriculum like it was described in the book.
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Our school system is very similar, we also have very little common planning time. I agree, seems like it would be an easy place to start. I also work with young children and technology does not seem to be the focus of instruction at our level. Most of my colleagues have been teaching for awhile (like myself) and find integration of technology an event rather than a natural occurrence. And your right, it is hard when the equipment is non-existent or outdated. I have challenged myself with using a new form of technology each week. It still is an "event" but I have to start somewhere.
ReplyDeleteTime and resources...and both are critical needs. Ironically, it may be easier to get the resources than the time, even though we should be able to control the time.
ReplyDeleteFor example, how could we get more time to meet collaboratively? That would involve moving activities around in the school day and week...no big deal...but different from what we typically do.
The technology has to be more than an event as Deb indicates. It can't even be integrated into the curriculum...it has to be part of the curr.
I was struck with an idea while reading your blog. If the technology isn't there yet, nor the skills to use the technology (especially for 1st graders) maybe we can work around it. As for globalization, what about the old fashioned "pen pal" idea? A re-vamped version, yes, but it could still work. Students could even draw something that represents their culture rather than using words. Or, since you have an IPOD and your laptop available, what about pre-recorded voice chats for the students?
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