Technology Unit

One of the main goals that we center around in third grade Social Studies is being a good citizen.  The first lesson in our book is titled "Being a Good Citizen."  We spend a lot of time discussing ways in which the student can be a responsible citizen.  After brainstorming the many ways that the students could become better and more responsible citizens at Costner Elementary, we decided to adopt a recycling program at our school.  With the help of Sunoko and the City of Gastonia, we started a recycling program in which the students and staff work together to recycle paper and plastic on our campus.  We started with a guest speaker that informed the students of the importance of recycling and how they could help.  We then obtained three large drums that sit inside our school building in which plastic recyclables are placed.  Each week the students take the drums outside to the large bins that were placed in the rear of our school and picked up bi-weekly by Sunoko.  The students created Animoto videos showing the importance of recycling and shared the videos with staff members via e-mail.  The students worked in small groups to create the videos and have since had time to re-visit and make corrections and additions to their videos.  The attached are the finished products that were shared with the school.

Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4

10 minute presentation

If I were to have presented the topic of Mixbook at my school, I would have definitely had the staff follow along with me on their computer.  We would have gone step by step from the beginning starting with creating a user id and password.  I probably would have had my teachers come with some knowledge and pictures of a unit that they would like to create.  With pictures and content, the teachers could ideally walk away with a finished project.   I would also mention the NETS and how they impact the lesson and/or the project that they would create.

Characteristics of Adult Learners

This article agrees with everything we've been discussing in our Pinnacle Year 2.  We know that adults do not learn like students and that they are problem based learners.  We've talked many times about informing adults of the end outcome before we even start our staff development and this article speaks to the same thing.  The article says that adults seek education that applies directly to their needs as does the other article that we read.  If adults don't think that the material you're presenting is relevant to their needs, they will not benefit from the staff development.  From this article, we as Pinnacle leaders make sure that our staff development works to meet the needs of all our learners no matter what their ability.

Pinnacle Reflection Day 4 Homework

In response to the article "Teaching Teachers,"  I agree with the authors in the fact that we as teachers do best use our professional development when it reflects what we are teaching.  Professional Development should reflect on what we are teaching and it has to be practical to use.  I think that when we don't view the knowledge as "practical," we won't use it.  It must directly correlate with what we are teaching and what our standards reflect.

Pinnacle Reflection Day 2 Homework

What an interesting article......What grabbed my attention was that the "model" classroom was in nearby Mooresville, NC.  Who knew this was going on in our own backyard?  I think that to become 21st century learners, our students would benefit from having a personal device on which they can access the internet and create documents.  However, I don't think we're to the point in our county to which we can try to recommend that all students come equipped with such a device.  Some would, but I don't think it's practical.  I think we're  working in that direction with the addition of more computers in our classroom.  I know in my own classroom, with the addition of the new computer, I'll have seven computers which is much more than most.  I'm also fortunate enough to have extra technology equipment which benefits my students' learning but I also know that I'm not the average teacher.  It would be nice to somehow get to the point where everyone was on the same playing field.