Chad

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My bitstrip reflects Dewey's quote, "transmission occurs by means of communication of habits of doing, thinking and feeling from the older to the younger." The bitstrip plays on the fact that different generations have different vocabularies based on their lives. It's very similar to when my parents would say, "I love this musician!" and I'd say, "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" To me, that musician didn't exist in my world. Until I was forced to take family road trips whilst listening to Papa's Oldies 99.9, I didn't know Tom Jones. I didn't know Johnny Cash and I certainly didn't know Madonna (what a cruel time period in my life that was!). Likewise, until my father listened to Q102 with my sister and myself, he didn't know the likes of Britney, Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga.

The same is true with technology. Both sides have so much to teach each other. Older generations can help us understand how technology evolved (and often times, those older forms of technology can act as a backup plan when new technologies fail!) and the younger generations can help older generations understand newer technologies.

In the elementary education situation, the transmission of new technologies is essential in protecting our children from online predators.

=Bloom's Taxonomy=

media type="custom" key="5694617" In Elementary School, I believe the teacher is primarily responsible for determining which levels of Bloom's Taxonomy are addressed. I also have a hunch that the more comfortable a teacher is with a subject, the more levels s/he will address in the classroom. As for my elementary classroom experience, the subject addressing the most levels of Bloom's Taxonomy was vocabulary. Each week we were given twenty vocabulary words and required to complete the corresponding chapter in our workbooks. The tasks would include such things as spelling the words, identifying the words correct usage, writing a sentence using the word, circling synonyms and antonyms and putting the words into categories. Mathematics was definitely a subject where more levels of Bloom's Taxonomy could be addressed. So often we were only required to "SOLVE THE PROBLEM" (like, spell the word dog) without understanding how to use the technique in real life, how it was different from other methods, etc. Most elementary school teachers seem to be weaker in math than reading (a generalization, I know)--but maybe that's why we touched on fewer levels in math than vocabulary. Another obvious reason is the textbook/workbooks provided. If these components don't offer suggestions on how to employ many levels, I believe the teacher will be less likely to come up with their own.

=** WEBINAR REFLECTION & WORDLE **= = =

= media type="custom" key="5896477" = My Wordle reflects all the amazing opportunites technology has to offer! So often teachers view technology as a time-consuming, ineffective alternative to (outdated) direct instruction. In actuality, utilizing technology in classroom instruction isn't the way of the future--it's the way of NOW! Wasn't the original purpose of schooling to prepare children for work in the factories? Now, most of those jobs have been moved overseas. Our job is still to prepare our students for the workplace--an environment where students will indefinitely be required to use technology on a daily basis. Instead of looking at technology as a time-consuming, inneffective way to teach, teachers must realize it's an imperative tool in preparing our students for their futures!

rss url="http://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/huffingtonpost/LatestNews" link="true" description="true" length="30" number="10" media type="custom" key="6006259" I chose this video because it's a great example of a student reflecting on materials learned about recycling and pollution. Instead of regurgitating facts, the student picked a local area where litter and pollution can greatly effect the habitat. She showed examples of the habitat without litter and then showed what happens when people don't care about the envrionment. This took a broad topic and made it local and relevant. In the elementary setting, you could do a similar project with classroom rules (what the rules are and have students act out what could happen if the rules are broken) or any type of project where directions are involved (such as making a peanut butter and jelly or growing a flower). Any step-by step process would be a great opportunity for students to make a vodcast. media type="custom" key="6073861"