Journal Entry for Class on 11/28

At our first class, we discussed the importance of building community in our classrooms. I think this is an essential part of teaching. Without it, you really limit your students' willingness to make mistakes, express opinions, and take chances. In my job, I talk to many teachers about using technology in their classrooms. Often, teachers are concerned that computers depersonalize their classrooms so they don't believe they are good for kids. They have images of kids in the lab with headphones on zoning out to video games. My image that I try to paint for them is very different. Computers allow us to connect to each other regardless of time or place. Through email, chat, forums, blogs, wikis, and many other tools, we can communicate with each other even over large distances. Other tools allow us to create and share ideas. Tools like Voicethread, Flickr, Google docs, and many others allow us to collaborate and author to the world. This isn't isolating, it is connecting.

Still, we need to keep the goal of building community central in our endeavors. We must ensure that students feel safe, connected, and empowered as they use these tools.

We also discussed constructivism in our first class. I am a huge proponent of constructivism, in large part because that is how I learn best. In my classroom, both regular and lab, I used project based learning as a key part of my classroom. Students researched, organized, and communicated their learning about many topics. They were the experts. They felt empowered by this, and they enjoyed learning. There is a challenge here. It can take a lot of time to help students find a path to the learning you want them to arrive at. However, they often learn other very important skills and concepts along the way. Moreover, they are more likely to remember what they learned because they are constructing meaning out of their activities, not just hearing you tell them something.