Nearing the end or just the beginning…..

The process of learning and teaching is cyclical in nature and for better or worse, it continues as we venture out into the less than perfect environment to share what we have learnt. The experience has been an interesting one and I can safely say that this learning can only be sustained through practice. I still feel that small lament within me that says, there is so much that is not in place to really see this revolution of technology integration work. The most significant thing that I will take away from this though is the understanding of what integrating technology into the curriculum means.” Technology is both a facilitator of literacy and a medium of literacy.” Biancarosa,& Snow(2004). Reading next-a vision for action and research in middle and high school literacy: A report to carnegie corporation of New York. New York: Alliance for Excellent Education.

I am going to use the fairy tale to parallel what this change actually means. Let’s imagine that Cinderella or Snow White or even the Beast decided to live the very same way that they did before their dramatic climax and change. The point being, in their new lives they would now have within their means the resources to make some changes, particularly after coming out of such bad experiences. The tragedy would be that they chose to just keep their new found favor to themselves and not have others share in their good fortune. The happily ever after gets a little tainted and our much loved characters seem a little less noble. The converse is the people coming out of the woodworks expecting an easy ride because there is someone else to do ‘the stuff’
So, let’s promise to share our good fortune and have others join in our maybe not so much happily ever after,but most certainly in the joys of having our students interact with technology in a meaningful and life changing way.

The Plan

This experience has been an informative one in that it speaks directly to our practice. Admittedly, it has been awhile since I have actually practiced writing such an in-depth, detailed and (yes at times an even stressful) plan for a lesson. I know the importance of planning though, so I try to work with an abridged version of lesson planning or something that resembles it.
Oddly enough it reminds me of a book I read ‘A House for Mr. Biswas’ by V.S.Naipaul. The basic premise of the novel is this man spends his entire life trying to have a house for himself.
Alright follow me here, he made some:
shoddy plans.
didn’t do any research into where he was going to live
didn’t exactly know how he was going to achieve this goal
didn’t foresee some of the possible problems he might have
and really the list goes on. The funny thing is when he finally got a house, it still stressed him, he wasn’t exactly happy about it and the house very much resembled the character himself.
Again maybe I’m being a little liberal with the novel (okay plenty liberal) because there were many extenuating factors that just made the task even more difficult and the novel quite entertaining. The point is as much as he complained about this house that he wanted, he got all that he put into it and unfortunately some extra.
I know “food for thought” so happy planning!
Feel free to add the book to your “to read” list, it is very enlightening.

Research Part 2

The understanding of how learning happens is constantly changing in spite of the efforts of some to vehemently hold on to certain practices. In the article ‘Writing to learn across the curriculum: Tools for comprehension content area classes.’ from the The Reading Teacher, 59, 414-424 by Knipper & Duggan (2006), "Mastery of content is demonstrated not only through reading but also through writing. Integrating writing with reading enhances comprehension" Brandenburg, 2002. (Knipper & Duggan,p.462). Technology can provide the needed support for students and enable teachers to give that instructional scaffolding and guidance necessary.

Strategies can be employed throughout the reading process itself, making the attributed connection even more practical. There are strategies to prepare for reading assignments, those to review and summarize and also critical and creative writing-to-learn strategies. Web2.0 tools facilitate this process and allow both the teacher and student to be fully engaged. A distinction between learning to write and writing to learn can outline ways in which the teacher develops follow-through activities.Writing-to-learn strategies invite students to think about and interact with texts, encouraging more thoughtful reading while creating more conscientious learners (Knipper & Duggan p.469).

The issue of the connectedness of these language skills, makes the acquiring and processing of content knowledge more meaningful. The limitation to this approach is the assumption that students are able to write at this level or that they would want to write at all. Hence, the infusion of technology which serves as a motivational element for students.Writing to learn across the curriculum helps students to think critically and creatively ( Knipper & Duggan p.467).It makes for a fascinating insight into the processing of the thoughts of students. It enables both the teacher and student to gauge the actual knowledge base and concept development in the content area.