Anyone who has taught children during this decade is familiar with the "techno-junkie" addiction that has overtaken today's youth. Multi-tasking and a fascination with anything remotely "Ipodish" is the norm of our culture. The minds of school-aged kids are seemingly controlled by their craving for cutting edge technology.
The question is, how can educators and parents use technology to teach their children?
There are many social networking websites and online learning environments that have tapped into this techno-savvy generation. One such site is epals.com. Here, students can connect with other students across the planet. They can tell their stories through digital media and sharing of music files. They can blog or create online avatars that interact with each other. Hence the creation of Web 2.0.
It is exciting to watch the gleam in a student's eyes as they follow the flicker of a screen that invites them into a whole new world.
What will this new world of the future look like? Could we have imagined our current advances in technology two decades ago? What about 2 decades from now? What will our grandchildren be doing with technology?
My students love to read!
I was sitting with my class of 9 and 10-year olds today and I asked them to write the title of an all-time favorite novel that they had read during the past year. I wasn't surprised to see some of the titles like Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Bone books. But, I was very surprised to see that more than one student chose Anne of Green Gables as their all-time favorite.
Wow! Kids really haven't changed that much. I grew up in the 70s and 80s and I have always had the belief that kids have not changed much from those who grew up twenty to thirty years ago.
The Anne of Green Gables top pick kind of confirmed that for me today. That, and many other events occurring during my fifteen-year teaching career, reveal just how similar today's kids are to those of the previous generation.
For now, I would really just like to list the top novel picks amongst my grade five students. Here they are (in no particular order):
London Snow
Judy Moody Goes to College
Peanut Butter and the Jelly Secrets
The Tales of the Beedle the Bard
Charlie Bome and the Time Twister
Allie Finkle: Rules for Girls Stage Fright
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Bone Book
Lost in the Snow
My books that I made (written by a student who is an aspiring author!)
Anne of Green Gables
D-day
Sunrise over Fallujah
Hockey Facts Book
Twilight
Wow! Kids really haven't changed that much. I grew up in the 70s and 80s and I have always had the belief that kids have not changed much from those who grew up twenty to thirty years ago.
The Anne of Green Gables top pick kind of confirmed that for me today. That, and many other events occurring during my fifteen-year teaching career, reveal just how similar today's kids are to those of the previous generation.
For now, I would really just like to list the top novel picks amongst my grade five students. Here they are (in no particular order):
London Snow
Judy Moody Goes to College
Peanut Butter and the Jelly Secrets
The Tales of the Beedle the Bard
Charlie Bome and the Time Twister
Allie Finkle: Rules for Girls Stage Fright
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Bone Book
Lost in the Snow
My books that I made (written by a student who is an aspiring author!)
Anne of Green Gables
D-day
Sunrise over Fallujah
Hockey Facts Book
Twilight
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