Post 8

While thinking  about multicultural education I was reminded of this video:

I remember watching this in my library science masters program and being reminded how blessed our American students are.  The students in this video are eager to read, learn and must wait days or weeks for new books.  The librarian rides for miles to bring the books to them and help with their homework.  He see it as part of the fight for Columbia's future; the education of the future leaders.

While watching this video again this week, I found a happy update on the library he was in the process of building.



These videos show that with a quick Google search you can find multicultural education resources that would open students eyes.

Field Trip!

While in Madison, I took a trip to the Wisconsin Historical Museum http://historicalmuseum.wisconsinhistory.org/. The museum is located on Madison’s Capitol Square at 30 North Carroll Street.  The museum has four floors each with different themes and exhibits.  The fourth floor housed the newest “Wisconsin Innovators” exhibit and a community themed exhibit which showed more of the union and political past of Wisconsin.  The third floor showed three different exhibits that all focused around Wisconsin history such as immigration, frontier Wisconsin, and everyday life. The second floor was completely focused on the Wisconsin Native Americans.  The first floor had the museum store and a small coat and gathering area that had a small exhibit on Wisconsin beer history.

I thought the Wisconsin Historical Museum would be a wonderful place to bring students for a field trip especially for fourth graders who focus on Wisconsin and Native American history.  The museum offers a variety of guided tours and further field trip information at their site: http://historicalmuseum.wisconsinhistory.org/FieldTrips/AboutFieldTrips.aspx.  The three tours offered are: Native People of Wisconsin, Why History Matters, and What's the Big Idea? (for secondary students).  As the site states the, “one-hour guided tours will challenge students to think critically about Wisconsin history and create personal connections to the past through Museum exhibits. Tour guides utilize the "Thinking Like a Historian" educational model, in which students are expected to actively participate by offering reactions and questions to their guide and classmates.”  The site offered connections to educational standards documentation as well as preparing for your field trip and educational resources documentation.  The cost is $4 per student and adult; the fee is free for school employees.  There is also a reduced rate for schools with a 50% or greater economic disadvantage rate.

Post 7

While this is a social studies class I have technology on the brain.  My district has been in the process of deciding what technology to commit to at each level.  The middle school took the dive first to commit to iPads.  The high school has been in many, many discussions over the whole year and has now decided to go 1:1 for students with Chromebooks.  The 4th and 5th grade want carts of both to try.  The conversations about which device is better is endless.

After this week, when decisions were made, I now feel that it doesn't matter what device you choose as long as you are willing to try and transform what you are doing in the classroom. 

This is a great article to read on this topic and better articulates how I feel: iPad or Chromebook: 4 Questions To Ask Before Choosing

Post 6

In all three of our classes I am using Google Drive.  I see this tool as incredibly useful especially in group work.  Everyone on our program lives far away from each other.  For partner and group work, if we needed to physically meet up as I used to with groups in my undergraduate work, it would be very inconvenient.  With Google Drive we can work on our lesson plans or projects from home.  We utilize chat and inserting comments to get our point across.  We also are able to all edit the documents at the some time.  I also use it to work on papers on my own.  I am able to work on something at home and on my break at work or any other location.  Instead of keeping track of a usb file drive, or emailing a document to myself, I know it will be accessible on my Google Drive.  

The some potential we see for our own  use it there for our future students.  My school district decided to make the switch to Google email accounts and Google Apps for Education (GAFE) this year.  I have already seen students sharing their documents with their teacher and working collaboratively on Google presentations in a group setting.  One of the best aspects for students is that Google Drive automatically saves what you are working on and you have the option to revert to an old revision, you cannot lose your work! There are so many possibilities with GAFE that I would recommend to any school to make the switch.

Short Intro to GAFE

Long video on teaching history with Google Apps