Reflective Blog

8/8/2015

I believe there are two types of people in this world, pessimistic and optimistic. I am an optimist. I think this is why I am still in my profession and loving every second I have with my students. I do think I can make a difference. I am a reflective person. Davis and Lindsay, would say I have excellent intrapersonal skills. It makes me an overachiever. I want to be perfect in an imperfect world. This is a part of my character. Something I do not have control over. My inquiry question is as imperfect as I am. How do you teach middle school students to become responsible citizens with technology in the classroom using character education?

When doing my research I came to find out that there are many programs for character education. It is a hot topic issue today in education. While I found many interesting articles on the pros and cons of character education in the classroom. The most evidence I found had statistics and theorists that opposed character education. Advocates of character education admittedly only had qualitative information versus quantitative. How can your prove that character education works?

There will always be children from different backgrounds and life situations that create who they are as a person. After reflecting, I do believe many of my character traits are innate yet, exposure to positive role models fostered the most positive attributes inside me. I consider myself an expert on the age group in which I teach. I have been teaching middle school students for 14 years. I still believe at the core that it is a necessity that we teach some type of character education alongside with technology. Qualitative information does have its benefits. I think a teacher’s observations are more important than statistics.

My optimistic personality persuades me to believe that it is a necessity to provide character education in the classroom because it does work. I am not a famous theorist, but I am in the classroom on a daily basis. As a teacher, you should never assume anything when it comes to what you think a child should know. I look at every student as a blank canvas. I do believe if I bring in things that matter to them, they will be engaged.

As a constructivist, I believe in the teachings of Piaget. Students learn from doing. If I utilize technology in the classroom in an authentic way, I know my students will learn digital responsibility. As a social studies teacher it is quite doable. I even have a plan everyday of what we will be doing with technology. Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds: Move to Global Collaboration One Step at a Time will now be my bible. It has so many resources to utilize in participating in authentic projects that teach children to be responsible, professional, reliable, and respectful using Web 2.0 tools. Although not explicitly stated the authors in Flattening Classrooms discuss the necessity of creating responsible, respectful, and honest digital citizens through a digital citizen curriculum. The characteristics that are necessary to be good digital citizens are things that we need to teach our students starting at an early age. Should it be taught at home to be responsible, respectful, and honest? Absolutely! As educators we should not assume anything. We need to educate children through some type of character program whether it is to teach them something they never learned or simply reinforce what they learned from home.

The weebly site I found to have the greatest connection with was Rosaria Norkus.

Rosaria Norkus’ Inquiry Question: How can technology be used in the seventh grade classroom to expose global and cultural perspectives, foster an understanding and respect for others, and develop an appreciation for diversity? Is symbiotic with teaching digital citizenship because in order for students to learn respect they need to appreciate diversity on a global level. Rosaria’s quote in her blog was insightful in the connection between digital responsibility and building character education.

Matt Cone (2014), a global studies teacher in North Carolina, explains the benefits of using technology to explore global issues in “Engaging in Global Issues in the Classroom and Beyond.” The benefits of teaching about global issues through the use of technology often extend beyond the classroom because students are interested and they want to engage in challenging discussions about the material they are learning. This critical thinking also arouses students’ sense of justice. According to Cone (2014), “In my experience, when students feel morally stirred by an issue and want to impact it, they are willing to go to tremendous lengths to understand the issue in all of its complexity” (Cone).

What I learned about myself and technology through this course. I thought I was very adept with technology, I was wrong. Many things have changed and I have not kept up with it as much as I thought. When I had a problem in the classroom with technology, I had the help of the tech person. I am not so fortunate this summer. I have struggled with Twitter, setting up a blog, hyperlinks versus URL links, inserting videos, RSS feeds, and the list goes on. In the end, I know it is okay. I cannot give up, I will persevere! This is a teachable moment for my students this year. I will be more empathetic.

My take away from working with various technologies is that is very exciting. I was 100% in when I finally figured out what I was doing. I started everything early because I knew I would struggle. My twitter experience has been a great success! I am being retweeted by other educators and experts in the field. I received many direct messages. It is an amazing feeling to connect with people who are like-minded! My Weebly page has had over 741 views year to date. I cannot believe that many people are interested in what I have to say. I know that in talking with many different teenagers throughout the summer ranging from 9th grade to college, Twitter is not a platform they use that often. What they use now is Instagram. I started an Instagram account and did find it to be more interesting than Twitter. I think I will use Instagram with my students in class, Twitter for my own professional purposes the majority of the time, and continue to blog.

Bulach, C. R. (2000). Do moral citizens have character? A presentation to The Association for Moral Education at Glasgow, Scotland, on 7-10-2000.

Davis, V., & Lindsay, J. (2013). Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds: Move to Global Collaboration One Step at a Time (Pearson Resources for 21st Century Learning) 1st Edition. Retrieved July 28, 2015.

3 Comments

Jamie Alexander

8/10/2015 10:27:34 pm

Hi Tina. What I loved about your blog this week was the connection that you made with Rosaria's blog. I had not made the same connection but when you did it was an "ah-ha" moment for me. I realized that I have been following both of your blogs and agree that there is a strong relationship between the two. In order to teach digital citizenship to a student, that student must have a good understanding of what a good citizen is to begin with. Therefore digital citizenship is best taught with character education. Perhaps students should be recognized not only when showing good character traits in school but also when observed being showing the same traits in online communities. Think of how many "problems" would be eliminated if students were even more aware of the implications of making poor digital citizen choices. The website below might be a good resource for you, it was one that I had a good time navigating.

www.goodcharacter.com/EStopics.html

It has some great activities for teaching character that can be modified to include teaching digital citizenship. As always, thanks for sharing.

Kathleen Watts

8/14/2015 07:26:13 am

I enjoyed reading your reflection. One interesting statement that you made was that there are theorists that oppose character education in the classroom. As teachers, we are teaching character education every day, whether we realize it or not, and to ignore that would be assuming that children already know how to act, or that it’s innate. I'm not placing any blame on parents, but a classroom environment is a different context than the home environment, and we are modeling and teaching children how to act in social situations. We've all heard parents say how happy they are to hear their child behaves so well at school because the way they behave at home is a total different story. My husband and I teach character education and "rights and wrongs” at home, but school character education is an extension of what we teach, and my children get to see how to interact in a public situation with peers.

With the digital age moving as rapidly as it is, we need to teach students how to consciously navigate digital tools in a reflective manner. This way the students are always looking at each situation with a scrutinizing lens and how to handle it, just as they do when they come upon a situation at school -How should I respond? When I responded like this in a similar situation, this is what happened.

Jason Ohler, in his article, Character Education for the Digital Age, talks about how we should be teaching students to have one life versus two. What does this mean? The idea of living two lives means that the schools feel it’s o.k. to use technology at home, but it’s too expensive, distracting, or there are too many problems to incorporate tech into the curriculum. Two lives also suggest that the technological lifestyle, and all it brings with it, such as social, personal, or environmental effects, don’t belong in the curriculum. We, as teachers, have to teach students to live an integrated life; one that incorporates using technology at school and discussing the bigger picture of how technology fits in with community and society. There is a responsibility we have to teach our students that with technology comes personal responsibility along with community responsibility and global responsibility. Students will be empowered using their technology. They then use what we have taught them at home. Now, students’ digital citizenship values they have been taught can be carried with them wherever they are.

I don’t feel we can have a perspective such as those theorists who oppose character education in the classroom because then we are left assuming that kids know how to be good digital citizens, as if it were innate.

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb11/vol68/num05/Character-Education-for-the-Digital-Age.aspx

Jason Lin link

8/14/2015 04:03:04 pm

Tina, I am so glad that you've learned so much from this experience! It must feel great to accomplish many new technological feats. One great way to learn how to use technology is through YouTube. For many new things that I try to learn, I often am able to find a video with a tutorial that walks me through it.

It's also awesome how you have been able to engage so many people on Twitter. I commend you for really immersing yourself into this project. That is the best way to get the most out of something.

I also share your sentiments about being a constructivist. We do learn best by doing, and it is evident that you practice what you preach to your students. Well done!

Now in terms of your inquiry question, "how to make students responsible citizens with technology in the classroom," I believe that the best way to do so is to embrace it with them. If we approach something as if it is taboo or unwanted, then that is the stigma that it will take on. Teachers are role models and therefore have the ability to teach students how to use technology responsibly and how to be respectful members of the online community. A teacher who understands technology can help students navigate the digital world as well as instill skills such as collaboration, communication, and resourcefulness.

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