The Beauty of India

This Week in Block

This week in Language Arts Methods, I learned that the advances in technology have greatly benefited the classroom, but also posed a few problems. I realized after our discussion that with the new advances in technology, the more advantaged districts will flourish, while the disadvantaged districts will flounder due to lack of resources. What will become of the students in these schools? They will perhaps slide down in the ranks of their more privileged peers.
The thing I learned this week that I liked best, and that I can definitely use in my classroom one day is the Word Sort. What fun it was, and how it made me think! I love brain teasers, and they're a great way to warm up my students' brains to get them ready for learning!

What Does a 21st Century Classroom Look Like?

In a 21st century classroom, iPads replace books, clusters of desks replace rows, and the learning becomes student-centered instead of teacher-centered. Blogs and emails replace letters home to parents. Learning becomes project-based, a much more interactive and relevant form of learning than reading and memorizing information out of textbooks. Students research with the Internet and by visiting experts, instead of reading encyclopedias and making notecards of facts. Supplemental curriculum moves online, using engaging video game-like practice to cement skills in a way that children can enjoy. SmartBoards replace chalkboards and overheads. Students learn to type instead of learn to write in cursive. Students tutor each other, rather than the teacher struggling to work one-on-one whenever students have questions or need help.