Montessori vs. Technology: Have my values changed?

I hold the Montessori philosophy and values very close to my heart. I boast that I went to Montessori for most of my early schooling. I have always said that if I ever have children they too would attend a Montessori school. (If possible the Montessori I attended!) The life lessons I learn there are still with me today. At Montessori, I had teachers that carried about my personal growth as well as my academic growth. I could write for days about many of my fond memories from my days there. Memories like finding the largest tree in the county and how many students it took to go around it.

Many of the recommendations Montessori gave my parents when I was little are still in place at their home.  They still compost everything.  I always say we were organic before organic was cool.  Growing up we didn’t watch tv, or play video games, in fact we didn’t get a gaming unit until Christmas 2010! My brother and I played outside until Mr. G would blow the horn to send all the neighborhood kids home. We hardly ever drank sodas or kool-aid, it was always milk or water.  Mom or Dad always cooked dinner and we would sit as a family. Yes, Montessori had a huge impact on who I am today.

But, how did Montessori school help me become the teacher I am today? I always say I get my love of project learning from Montessori. I pride myself on having my students solve real problems, while learning required content information. However, after finding a blog entitled “Montessori in the Real World,” it sent my brain spinning. The article from the blog “The Effects of Technology on Child Development” made me wonder… Do I still hold my Montessori values as close as I once did? Or have I gotten caught up in the world of technology we live in today? Currently I am working towards a master degree in instructional technology.

Am I contradicting my own values? I embrace technology in the classroom. Always trying to find new ways to use technology in the classroom, now my students take their test on the computer, create online posters, build web pages… you name it…I will try it in my class. Am I taking way some of the concrete learning my students need to be doing? I use many of these web 2.0 tools to make my life easier… for example… students take test on the computer so that I can read their answers and not have to lug papers home. I had to giggle when I read “schools throughout the country are removing cursive writing from the curriculum.” Only because I can remember how trying it was for me when I was learning it… in fact to this day I dislike writing things out, if I can type it I will! But what if handwriting skills were still in the curriculum…would I be able to read more students writing by the time they get to me in 8^th grade?

I require most students use the computer at home nightly for homework. Am I adding to the obesity issue in our country? Am I making it too easy for them to just sit in front of the computer for hours on end?

Over all, I want technology to be used when it is necessary. I agree there does become an overload. Technology has changed the way humans interact with each other. Five years ago, I wouldn’t have dreamed of texting from the dinner table… now I do it all the time! (and its usually to a student about a homework question!) Am I allowing myself to get too caught up in the technology era? Am I forgetting how to interact with humans? The biggest question is… AM I MODELING THESE BEHAVIORS FOR MY STUDENTS?  

How do I use technology in the classroom and model my Montessori values for my students?  I don’t know that I have the answer yet, but there has to be a way for me to do both.

SlideShare - Thing 21

Wow! SlideShare could solve the problem with students not having PowerPoint at home. Not to mention MAC users always seem to have difficulty viewing what I post on my teacher website. I feel this instant need to up load every PowerPoint I have made for my students. Moving forward I will use SlideShare in order to make sure all students can have access easier for all students.

I enjoyed checking out what others have posted. (I even found one on skydiving!) Great bank of slide showes. As a teacher, when I need ideas for the classroom on different topics, I plan to use SlideShare to get ideas. I found a great one on Waves, Sound, and Light. The only thing I was disappointed about was the lack of sound. I add sound to most of my PowerPoints to keep students on their toes…I haven’t come across any with sound. Has anyone else?

Below is the SlideShare presentation I created on Wiki for the Classroom. Wikis have changed the way I use technology in the classroom. Enjoy!

Wiki - Thing 21

View more presentations from missrioux

Let's Jing It!! - Thing 20

Jing has saved my life this last week. I am currently in the process of carrying out a wiki webquest with 7^th graders. I am currently teaching 8^th grade, so I only get to be with the 7^th graders during my planning time. Being able to capture what I am doing on screen and being able to narrate the videos are saving everyone time.

During 4^th period, my planning, I go and teach a 7^th grade life science class. Mrs. L watches what I do, then in turn teaches it to her later classes. The teacher that I am working with has never used some of these technologies before, these videos really help her when she teaches the lessons later in the day. The Jing videos I have made help both her and the students when I cannot be right there to answer questions.  (All the Jings I have created can be found on the Resource page on our webquest.) The Jing below explains how to add content to wiki pages.

Adding Content to a Wiki This is the link to my Jing video. I am struggling to upload and embed. The free version only allows the user to save as a Adobe Shockwave Player file. These types of files to my knowledge (and experience this week) will only play online when the computer has Shockwave. I plan to keep working on figuring it out, however it will have to be placed on the back burner for a few days. I want to find a way to use Jing without having to pay for the pro version. With all these new internet tools I have learned about this semester, I keep spending a little here and there is really starting to add up!

I hope to use Jing in the classroom in the future. I want to be able to give clear constant directions using technology to all my students. Through a day of teaching, sometimes I leave stuff out or completely forget something. Using Jing could really solve some those issues.  In the future I would like to see students to create their own Jing for their work. Having students share how they solve computer issues with their peer may make it easier for everyone to understand. My students teach me something new every day when it comes to technology.   

One of the struggles I am having with Jing is that I can’t play the videos back on my computer. When I upload them to the internet the videos play. I am currently only using the free version of Jing. I have seen that if I pay to “go pro” videos will save as MPEG-4, which I believe I could play back or even edit.

Google Docs - Thing 19

I have used google docs with my students. Mostly students just post what they have done at home so they can print it at school. I have started requiring students to type work they turn. No matter how many times I tell them how to format the documents most don’t do it correctly. I believe google docs might help right the problem. (or maybe I need to be a little less OCD!) Or students can turn papers and lab reports in this way. I hate having to lug around papers to grade; my lab top is so much easier!

As a grade level we are getting ready for our big field trip. I plan to use the google form to gather information from the students on my bus. I am thrilled that it will be going in to a spreadsheet. I love being able to sort and manipulate information.

Partner work is something I tend to avoid unless everything can be done in class. However, if students could build a presentation on google docs it might be possible.  All of my students have gmail accounts, so I think it would be very easy for them to collaborate in this manner. It will also help with “its on my partners flash drive and they aren’t here today” issues that tends to always be a problem with partner work on the computer.

Classroom Social Networking - Thing 18

Classroom 2.0 is so overwhelming.  There is so much information, its difficult know where to start. The first place I started was the live classroom. I was surprised to find the next topic was VoiceThread. I loved VoiceThread when we learned about it earlier in the semester.  I am excited to long in to the session to learn what other educator are doing with VoiceThread. I have signed up for a membership with classroom 2.0, I am excited to see and network with so many educators from around the globe.

I found NING to be interesting, however I don’t believe that I would be willing to pay for something like that when so many others are free, like a wiki. When my students and I created the PeriodicNetwork it was very much like a social network. I believe I could apply those same concepts to a more student profile based website.  I do believe that social network is something educators need to embrace, because today’s students are all about it. I know that when I need to get a message to my students, I email or text a few and they blast it on Facebook… works every time! These type sites allow everyone to stay connected.

Online Video Sharing - Thing 17

I have always been in to creating video for others. I spent so much time in high school editing videos that now sit in a box to never be watched again. :(

YouTube changed that over night! I have always watched videos on YouTube, however I have never posted anything. Too afraid I couldn’t control who saw it or where it went.  I used this assignment to go and explore to find video I needed for my multimedia and emerging technology projects as well. As we learned from our reading you can learn everything from YouTube. So many how-to videos! For both my upcoming projects I am using Glogs from Glogster. I plan to introduce the task for student creation next week. I was going to make a great PowerPoint to show them how to use Glogster… now I don't have too… I found several on YouTube.

The newest video sharing site I am using is SchoolTube. This site allows you as the teacher to upload videos to share, but it also allows your students. As the teacher you have the final say on what is approved for the site. There are different channels one for the school as a whole and then teachers can have their own channel as well. It’s a great way to not take up space on your computer with all your student videos! Can’t wait to have a student video project to test out all these features!

Exploring Podcast - Thing 15

My kids make their own podcast already! I know nothing about Airsoft. (Except I am never playing it again! I have no desire to have those little things shot at me again!) However, my male students love the game. One of them enjoys the game so much he has developed his own podcast show on airsofting.  He was such a help while I was working through podcasting.

The first podcasts I started searching for were on skydiving. I know big surprise! I found a great one on skydiving girls. It turned out to be a video series. There are so few women in the sport, so it was fantastic to see other women in the sport together. I can’t wait to see what they post next and hope to someday meet some of them!

I also searched for ones on teaching science. I still consider myself a new teacher, I wanted to find a podcast would give me tips for the science classroom. The podcast I found, Science: New Teacher Survival Guide, is a fantastic resource for new science teacher. The episode I heard first was all about science inclusion classroom. I loved hearing all the strategies.  I really wish I had heard this podcast during my first year! (and I plan to share it with those at my school!)

Multimedia Project!

I am very excited about my multimedia project. When I saw we had to do a webquest, I knew I wanted to refresh the webquest I did with my seventh graders. Even though I am teaching physical science now, biology will always be my first love in science. While I am the high strung Yang, the teacher I get to work with is the Yin to my Yang. She is so calm and helps keep me balanced.  One of my greatest joys in my teaching career is teaching and planning with her!

I have developed the webquest with in her pbworks wiki (http://lloydch.pbworks.com) for all of her students. In previous years we have had the students do research and complete tasks in order to build a magazine, instead this year we are having them create websites for the biomes.  Getting all the sites named and linked has been tough. I still need to finish up my video, podcast, and some formatting. I am excited to be using so many new tools for the project.

The video has been fun to get ready. My students were such an amazing help. When I asked my students for help, they jumped at the chance! I had several offer to come in early and stay late on a FRIDAY! I am so lucky to have such sport from my students.   

The piece I am struggling most with is the podcast. I know how to do them. I find them easy to create. I just don't really know what to do with them! Any suggestions?

Social Bookmarking Thing 14

Delicious and social book marking… I am not so impressed. I found it very difficult to import the list I already had together on my computer. However, it was very easy to import into my google account. I like the idea of social book marking however, I don’t think Delicious is the tool I would use.  I found delicious difficult to navigate and difficult on the eyes. 

I have been working to organize my entire favorite collection. Being able to tag them would be a perfect way to search through at a later date.  As a teacher, I really struggle to keep all of my resource organized.  Things on line are ever changing and an online way to keep everything organized is ideal, I just need something easier to use.  I am personally struggling to share this resource with others because I don't find it easy to use.  When I have a little more time on my hands I plan to revisit the topic!

http://del.icio.us/treetopbaby