One of the classes I teach is AP Computer Science where students learn how to program in Java. My class is a University of Washington in the High School class and also articulated for credit through several local community colleges. Programming relies heavily on math and very detailed that a missing semicolon in a hundred lines will keep a program from running, thus making it a struggle at times. Continue reading Instructional Strategies: Concepts important in my instructional setting
Questioning can be an effective teaching strategy when we move beyond asking students to remember and involve higher level thinking skills, such as analysis, synthesis or evaluation. To be truly effective, questions should elicit prior knowledge, but also challenge students to think deeper. One way to scaffold learning using questioning is through Bloom’s taxonomy. We are provided with a set of question stems to help in developing guided opportunities. Dr. RobertMarzano, CEO of Marzano Research Laboratory states that teachers who ask more questions, are more effective and by asking asking those that require high-order thinking skills, result in an increase in student learning. (Marzano). Continue reading Teaching Strategies: Using Questioning to Develop Critical Thinking
The primary goal of this course is to help you improve your proficiency with current and emerging educational technologies that may enhance your instruction, assessment, and professional productivity. During our time together, we will explore ways to facilitate the use of technology to inspire student learning and creativity. We will learn how to design, develop, and assess digital learning experiences. We will discover ways to model digital-age work and learning. We will practice modeling digital citizenship and responsibility. Finally, we will investigate ways to grow professionally and become connected technology leaders. Continue reading EDTC6433 Teaching with Technology: Meta-Reflection
Question for ISTE Standard 5: How can I exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion and developing the leadership and technology skills of others?
I am convinced that Twitter as my chosen technology for this standard would be a beneficial resource to use with my students. There are many possibilities to integrate Twitter into the classroom. As I read through the articles and researched the educational uses of Twitter, I still didn’t have a good vision of how Twitter worked. I knew that it would help students be engaged and interested in learning, but was unsure how to manage or facilitate the “freedom”. Continue reading Personal Learning Networks: Developing Leadership and Technology Skills
Using PhotoShop, I created a poster based on Digital Citizenship. I found several resources, most helpful was NetSmartz, a website with information on Digital Citizenship. The website presented the information with several different focus, such as educator, tweens or parents. My focus is my curriculum, and what emphasis I use with students in my high school classroom. Even though that seemed to encompass all areas of Digital Citizenship, I focused on what I specifically taught. As a Computer Science/Computer Technology teacher, I have never taught less than 4 different classes in a semester and up to 7 different classes in a year, which creates a need for a broader focus. Continue reading Digital Citizenship Poster: Presenting information in an appealing way
Question for ISTE Standard 4: How can I promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information? The articles I found the most compelling were Educational Leadership in an Online World: Connecting Students to Technology Responsibly, Safely, and Ethically, by M. Ribble and Navigate the digital rapids by J. Lindsay & V. Davis. I found the article by Dr. Ribble to accurately describe the needs that school leadership and staff must address. He presented Nine Elements for digital citizenship with class examples and implementation suggestions. I found a treasure trove of resources on his website, Digital Citizenship: Using Technology Appropriately, http://www.digitalcitizenship.net. Continue reading Digital Citizenship: Norms of Appropriate, Responsible Technology Use
Question for ISTE Standard 3: How can I demonstrate fluency in technology and effective use of current and emerging digital tools with resources to support student success and innovation? The articles I chose are “Balancing the Two Faces of E-Portfolios”, H. Barrett and “Digital fluency: Building success in the digital age.
I found that the article Digital Fluency made sense, Briggs & Makice (2011) wrote “…the development and maintenance of digital abilities requires practice. First-hand experience is critical to learning, the process to become fluent demands an investment of time and patience…” Not only is this applicable to the students, but even more for the educator who is trying to use the technology to meet the educational outcome. E-portfolios allow us to demonstrate and practice our current technology skills, and also to gradually incorporate new and developing technologies. Continue reading E-Portfolios: Supporting Student Success and Innovation
Question for ISTE Standard 2: How can I design authentic learning environments in a high school classroom that allows for students to actively participate in setting their own goals, manage their own learning, and evaluate their own progress? The article I chose is “Teaching with technology: Tools and strategies to improve student learning”, J. Orlando and “The ultimate guide to the use of blogs in teaching” from the Educational Technology and Mobile learning Website.
The first article compared Learning Management Systems with Blogs. Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Moodle, Blackboard, and 3DGameLab are often used because instructors believe they are integrating technology into their curriculum. In reality all we are doing is spending hours of set-up for both student use and curriculum integration to ultimately present the same content in a different way. The systems are the holder of the content, allowing for “topic centered discussion” (Orlando 2011) and viewed by only one other person, the instructor. Continue reading Educational Blogs: Using Comments as a Tool for Reflection
There are several aspects that I considered when researching the International Society for Technology Education (ISTE) Standard I for students. How can I model and promote innovative thinking in my subject area while using technology to facilitate my students learning through communication and collaboration? Continue reading Facebook for Education: Finding the Appeal for Students
Hello,
My name is Shannon Thissen and this is my 22nd year in teaching, but only my 17th year teaching High School. I was in my senior year of my Computer Science degree when the department chair asked if I were interested in teaching a couple sections of the introductory programming course. My focus was on programming languages and I thought that it would benefit me, what I didn’t count on was enjoying it so much. The following year I worked on my teaching certification. I spent several years teaching at the Community College and Junior High before I found my position teaching Computer Science in High School. Continue reading bPortfolio
