I feel very passionate about using technology effectvily in the classroom. One of the main issues teachers have these days is keeping it current and relavent.

"The task for educators is to understand how students learn and use the technology available in this digital age to provide selected supports where they are needed and position the challenge appropriately for each learner." (Rose and Meyer, 2002)

Living in Texas we are supposed to follow a little thing called the TEKS. In these TEKS we are now required to teach the technology strands to all grade levels. How to use it, safely,appropriately, how to find out if websites are legit, and numerous other things. If teachers just try to sit by and go with what they have always done and use the technology they alwasy have, then they are not rising to the challenges each year. I came across a website discussing the 5 things students want their teachers to know. The five things included: Socialization is important, students want to see each other, students want to see their teacher, Students want you to know them, and last was to Keep it Relevant. (Nielsen, 2011) This is from the mouths of students. They are wanting the things we should already be giving them. We need to meet them in their learning space and make sure we are making it as relavant as possible.

After discussing all the plans for my group project through Skype, I feel very confident that this is going to be a great end product. While this project is based on a third grade reading class and basically just a scenario,it is still something I will use in my third grade reading class. We are centering it on a Bluebonnet book, Ell Ray Jakes is not a chicken! We are actually reading this in my classes right now so all of the lessons we come up with in my group will be some I will be able to implement in my class. As good teachers, we all differentiate for our various types of students and this is also part of the piece in or scenario. I know my students will enjoy the lessons because we are all going to incorporate technology as well as a reflection each student will have to generate on the blog or website they create. I am excited to see what my other team members come up with. I also can't wait to share with them how it worked in my classes!!
Our plan is laid out on our google site which you can visit at:
https://sites.google.com/site/lamaretlproject/home

Hope you enjoy!

 “Five Things Students Want Their Teachers to Know About Online Learning” by Lisa Nielsen was originally published on The Innovative Educator. 2011