Web 2.0 Influence

With everything that teachers are asked to do today asking them to shift their literacy instruction from a traditional pen and paper based exercise to a monitor and a keyboard, is a difficult transition. Imagine if that same teacher has been teaching for over 20 years and is unfamiliar with the new technology, getting that teacher to attempt the switch is nearly impossible. In order to make the transition (from the traditional to the modern) meaningful for the students it requires teachers who are committed to the cause. That commitment has to come from a teacher who is aware of the direction our world is taking. This means that we have to look at what is happening outside of the schools walls and beyond our test results. Ultimately the question has to be, have we prepared this students for the next step of their lives?

Internet communication has changed the way many of us communicate. The fact that entire courses can be completed without a student ever leaving home is something that could not have been imagined twenty years ago. E-mail, chat sites, and blogs have all contributed to a change in the way we communicate with each other. Writing skills are improved just by the increased volume of writing we do in our daily lives. Some argue that the use of acronyms and the new form of short hand many students use in their communication, can negatively affect their writing, but the role of educators needs to be teaching students the appropriate time and place for that kind of communication. For instance, an email to a close friend should look very different next one to for your boss or business associate and our job as educators would be to explain and demonstrate this difference for the studnets.

The extent of Web 2.0 technologies and their influence on education is only touched on here. There are countless areas of literacy that have been touched by technological advances. As mentioned previously newer technologies are being developed so quickly that it is too fast to even get a true grasp of the impact on literacy. Like with most new phenomenon the true effects are hard to gauge, but you can be sure there are good and bad effects associated with technology in respect to literacy development. Teachers need to make their best judgments when using technology and try to counteract some of the bad effects whenever possible.

Some More Recommedations

Webliography

Regents Prep

http://regentsprep.org

Summary

This site helps students prepare for New York State Regents exams.

Commentary

Terrific for extra review practice. This site uses questions from past regents to help students get a feel for the questions they might encounter when they take the actual regents. I love this because this can be done from home without any extra effort. 5 out of 5 stars


The Democracy Project

http://pbskids.org/democracy/

Summary

Students can take a tour of government, follow the President for a day, and decide which election issues are most important to them.

Commentary

PBS has made learning about the election process fun and interactive in order to help students understand the process and what it means to them. 4 out of 5

PBS for Teachers

http://www.pbs.org/teachers

PBS offers teachers many resources as well as students. This site provides teachers with some helpful information.

Commentary

Lesson plans, ideas, maps, and diagrams are just a few of the things you can find here. I love using this site when Im trying to come up with some ideas. I used a lot of the information when I was student teaching.

Multi Genre Writing in History

http://www.learner.org/resources/series192.html

Summary

This is a write in the middle resource.A Workshop for Middle School Teachers is an eight-part professional development workshop designed to help teachers learn effective practices and strategies to use with middle school students in writing instruction.

Commentary

I was incredibly impressed when I watched the workshop. It had a ton of information I found to be useful. Writing is a difficult skill to teach and learn and should not be left to the ELA teacher only.

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/families/

Summary

This webesite can help you find the resources you need for projects. Check out the “Main Reading Room” to search the many resources available. If you’re having trouble, “Ask a Librarian” allows you to e-mail a real person or chat online with a librarian from 2–4 p.m. Eastern Time.

Commentary

This website offers information ranging from literature to pictures to current events. Navigating through the site took some getting used to but the information that it provides is worth the search.

YouTube

www.youtube.com

Summary

This website is wonderful for viewing any TV programs on the history channel. The content is unlimited . This site allows you to view anything from thousands of years ago to today.

Commentary

Advantages is that you have a wide range of information at one convenient website, disadvantages is that since the website is so vast many schools block it because it can allow access to inappropriate material. In addition some of the material needs to be checked for accuracy as this site allows anyone to post videos.

Robert Marzano Instructional Strategies

http://www.marzanoresearch.com/research/researched_strategies.aspx

This site includes many of Robert Marzanos researched methods and instructional strategies. I have listed a few of the ideas below just to give you an idea about what you might find on his site.

Advance Organizers: Providing students with a preview of new content More data available

Building vocabulary: Using a complete six-step process to teach vocabulary that includes teacher explanation, student explanation, student graphic or pictographic representation, review using comparison activities, student discussion of vocabulary terms, and use of games. More data available

Complex cognitive tasks: Working on complex tasks such as investigation, problem solving, decision making, and experimental inquiry

Cooperative learning: Students working together in small groups

Cues and questions: Using hints and questions to activate prior knowledge and deepen student understanding

Scholastic for Teachers

http://www.teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/lessonplans/instructor/social1.htm

Summary

Another great teacher resource providing ideas and lesson plans. Includes printables and student activities and many other helpful resources.

Commentary

A wonderful site that includes the benefits of using historical fiction in the classroom. Reasons to do so and the best books to use when you decide to do it.

Best History Web Sites

http://www.besthistorysites.net/

Summary

Best of History Web Sites is an award-winning portal that contains annotated links to over 1200 history web sites as well as links to hundreds of quality K-12 history lesson plans, history teacher guides, history activities, history games, history quizzes, and more.

Commentary
This link provides quick access to a number of useful history sites. The web is too vast to possibly find all of the best sites on your own. Personally I have found many useful sites right here.

History Teacher

http://www.historyteacher.net/

Summary

Listed as one of the top ten history sites on the web. Over one hundred links to helpful sites covering both global history and U.S. history.

Commentary

Incredibly helpful resource for a teacher and student to have. This site includes helpful research sites for students to use when assigned a research project. Here are just a few more

I have a secret one I'm dying to share with the world. For a teachers it is as valuable as anything we could ever hope to have. It is the secret to success and the elixir of life. For our students it is a window, one that reveals itself at the end of a long dark hallway. The problem is that it cannot be manufactured, bought or sold. It can however, be contagious. Do you want to know what it is? I know you do.

It is passion, you have to bring it with you everyday and drop it on your kids like a ton of bricks. Where can you find this passion, you ask? That is the other secret. Only you know what you're passionate about. I find my passion for history in stories. In the words written by authors who help me relive a time, place, a life. What was it like to be an African American child living in the Mississippi during the Great Depression? No one can tell us better than Mildred Taylor's Cassie in Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. How about a soldier during the Civil War? The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara could not be a better source. Imagine if our textbooks were written like novels. Can you truly appreciate the fear of living through the Holocaust without hiding in the attic with Anne Frank?

The goal and hope I have in creating this blog is to share my experiences as I continue to relive history in the books I read. I want this to be a place where anyone who shares my passion can explore and find literature that speaks to them. I will share lesson ideas useful teaching and learning sites and student work as I collect it and it is my hope that other will do the same.