New Zealand Video

When watching the video from New Zealand, my major impression was that this new century learning can be so rich, so exciting, and much more connected to the students we now teach. What was interesting was how the teacher was able to incorporate new technology with the use of only three student computers. Also, the white board as the main tool in the classroom was truly a fantastic way for the students to learn and allowed the students to perform independent tasks as well.

I did think of the amount of planning that was needed to run such a classroom and believe that this would be the next challenge. Everything was differentiated and planned for the different levels of students. This would be most helpful for my sped children and would truly keep their attention.

I realized that we in Cohasset are on our way to this technology and are using some of the techniques which made me feel heartened. However, there is always a lot of room for growth.
I saw how the 16 Habits of Thinking could be applied in a diverse way. Flexibility and Creativity are high on the list when creating such a classroom as the one in New Zealand.
We have the Promethean Board and I do plan to investigate further how I can use this technology during an ELA lesson while co-teaching. I want it to spur on creativity and critical thinking with the children, even my more challenged children.
I look forward to learning so much more in this class about how I can use technology and 21st century learning to help even the most neediest of the students I work with.