Chapter 10 and 11

So Chapter 10 is titled "promoting success for all students through technology," and before reading a word of this chapter the first thing I can think of is that I'm sick of seeing everyone get trophies for simply for participating.  But, this isn't sports, this is education, and so every students success is as important as ours is as teachers.

One thing in chapter 10 that stuck out to me was the technology for teaching diverse students.  As a prospective ESL teacher, I know the importance that technology has on ELLs and their development of not only the english language but of their content knowledge as well.  Whats great about technology today is that it often offers an array of translations so for those students who's english isn't as developed as others they can still grasp the concepts of the content.  Having been in an ESL classroom observing all semester I have also noticed that when technology is involved in the lesson the level of participation among the ELL's goes up.

Chapter 11's standout for me was how learning portfolios promote student involvement in assessment.  For me, portfolios were always an end of the year project for an English class.  Yaknow, it had a piece of poetry you were proud of, a short story that was required, and 5 other miscellaneous pieces of writing.  What was great about them though was you could decorate it ANY way you wanted.  Print it on patterned paper, use scrapbooking stickers, the plastic sleeves to protect the paper, it was a piece of work at the end of the year that you were supposed to be proud of.  I think whats great about portfolios is it leaves so much room for diversity among the students.  No two portfolios are going to be the same, and at the end of the day, we as teachers can hold our students accountable for their grades.  You didn't do your portfolio, or there is little to no effort, then your grade is a direct reflection of that.  Assessments like portfolios allow students basically to tell us the grade they want and deserve.

Chapter 7 and 8

So.  Digital learning games.  Pretty awesome huh.  Math Blaster was my favorite game!  I also really enjoyed the Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing.  Digital educational games can be a life saver in or out of the classroom.  As an only child who grew up with her grandparents, I spent a ton of hours on the computer playing computer games.  When I was younger they were Disney games, like The Lion King, Pochahontas, Barbie etc; However, as I got older, my grandparents invested in more educational games.  While I never did see an improvement in my math, because I still suck, I did improve my WPM with Mavis.  So what can we do as teachers to ensure that our students enjoy their digital educational games and to make sure that they're learning from them.  With the addition of all the mobile technology in classrooms (i.e. iPads and tablets) educational games are a big market for a lot of creators and for us as educators.  The availability of all these games and apps makes it easier for students to access all parts of their content both in the class and at home.  The one problem I seem to find in the use of these digital games is that it creates less social interaction.  School is supposed to help mold our children in all areas of life; to be social, to be educated and to be empowered.  Are we failing them by implementing the use of these digital games?