Blog Post #11

First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class

In this video Ms. Cassidy's 2025 class from Moose Jaw, Canada invited us to see how they are using technology in their classroom.  In this classroom, Ms. Cassidy, their teacher is teaching the students how to use laptops to blog, build portfolio, make videos, and skype. The students stated that writing on the blogs made them better writers. They also explained how to properly comment on posts by saying nice things and not mean things because we could hurt someone's feelings. They demonstrated how to safely use the internet by only using their first name and not their last name. The students showed us how to use Wikis to find out information we don't know.  They even used Nintendo DS to play games while learning how to problem solve and share.

Where do I begin?  I am utterly and completely amazed and astonished. I am also amazed and astonished that these 1st graders are so far ahead of the majority of junior high and high school students. As exciting as it is to see these kids learning technology at an early age, it is also very embarrassing that they are so more advanced than even most college students. It makes me really think about my stand on technology in the classroom and how much more I need to know to be a successful teacher in the 21st century. I must admit I have a lot to learn. It also makes me very angry in some ways that we are not teaching more technology in all of our schools. It even makes me sad to think about the students that we are sending out into the world each year. We aren't even giving them a fighting chance!!!!! So how do we change this terrible travesty? Is it realistic to think that one teacher can really make a difference? It's time we get our heads out of the sand and start making the necessary changes to equip our students for the real world. I love Ms. Cassidy's approach to using technology in the classroom. I would love to have my students blogging. Who knows they might even be involved in a skype interview with future Edm310 students and Dr. Strange. I would also like to have blogging partners, so that my students would get plenty of feedback and comments on their blogs. I think that would be very important. I guess my biggest concern would be that the administration would not see the importance of technology and therefore feel like I wasn't using my time appropriately. Another concern I have is that there is no money to assist in equipping my students with the necessary technology. I really don't know exactly how I would address these issues. I guess I would first talk with the principal or technology coordinator (if there is one) and discuss what my options are. I would possibly put a tweet out asking for any information on how to get grants for technology. I'm sure that if the administrators are willing to work with me, we can get something worked out.

Skype Interview with Ms. Cassidy

The Edm310 class got to enjoy a Skype interview with Ms. Cassidy. In this interview Ms. Cassidy stated that she has been involved in technology for the past ten years. She became involved because five computers had been donated to her classroom and she was trying to find out how her students could use them. She started first with a web page and eventually began blogging. At the time of the interview she stated that she had been doing videos for two years. Ms. Cassidy mentioned that she had received some federal funding and received some professional development to help on her journey to becoming technology literate. She also stated that her technology coordinator had also been very beneficial on this journey. Ms. Cassidy explained that each student was required to have a form signed allowing the students to participate. She also does not put last names of the students or their name with their picture for safety purposes. Parents and kids love technology being used in the classroom. The parents are able to monitor what their child is doing in the class and to see their progress in writing. The students love working with technology and the fact that they don't have to "power down" when they come to class. In the interview Dr. Strange expressed some of the students' opinions about technology and it's necessity. Ms. Cassidy was quick to say that they are wrong if they think they don't need technology in the classroom. She explained that the world is changing and we are only "handicapping our students and ourselves" when we don't use technology in the classroom. When Dr. Strange asked her if blogging was making any differences in learning, she explained that the students love to blog because they know that they have an audience. There is someone, other than the teacher, to read what they have written. She shared that often her students will have 100+ views. Not only do they know others will see it, but they also get comments about what they've written. When she was asked about other teachers at her school using technology, she said that there were some that saw the need to teach technology, but there were also those that didn't. Ms. Cassidy suggested to the class to start by developing their own PLN. She mentioned they needed to find a network that represented their interest. After Dr. Strange finished asking his questions, he allowed several Edm310 students to ask Ms. Cassidy questions. One question that I liked was the one that asked about blogging be too accessible for cheating. She explained that really that was the professor's responsibility to be creative in their assignments to deter cheating. She also mentioned that often it provides opportunities for others to piggy back. She stated that she didn't consider this to be cheating but rather a collaborative effort. At the end of the interview, Ms. Cassidy showed the class her back yard which was covered in beautiful, white snow.

I just have to say "You Rock Ms. Cassidy"!!!!! I want to be just like you when I become a teacher. I just can't find the words to describe how amazed I am that she has first graders using technology in such a powerful way. A true example of how it can be done, if we will only make the effort. I am so glad that she has people who have supported her. I have to admit that I am concerned that I may not have that support when I get my teaching position. With funding in education being so tight, is there money available to use for training in technology? I'm not even sure if most schools even have a technology coordinator. In the school that my 8th grade son attends, they barely have enough computers for his online course. Even those computers are in bad shape. I guess what I am trying to ask is .... What do we do when we see technology as necessary, but we are placed in a school where either the administrators don't think it's necessary or there is no money available for technology? I find myself torn on this subject . In some ways it makes you wish you didn't know how crucial technology is for the students to succeed, if only to find out that there is no way to provide it for them. I am so excited that Ms. Cassidy's students are getting this awesome opportunity. I just wish that it was being provided to all kids and unfortunately that is not the case.
I also wonder how these students are affected when they learn how to use technology in first grade, but have teachers in the next few years who don't teach technology or allow them to use it.