Rubistar and Teachnology Rubric Generator

I checked these websites out and they are cool! The amount of information and technology out there to make our jobs easier is mind boggling. I thought Rubistar was quick and easy to use. It basically allowed you to put in the subject, select the areas for assessment, and it did the rest! Teachnology Rubic Generator not only had a rubric generator, but I had thousands of lesson plans, with tools / Internet connections needed listed right there in the lesson plan. All you had to do was print out the lesson plan and all the links/worksheets listed in the lesson plan and voila...you had a week's worth of work generated for you! I can only imagine the time that these type of tools save teachers. My Dad spent weekends as a H.S. Math Teacher in the 70's-early 90's creating his own lesson plans (handwritten), creating his own worksheets, homework assignments, and tests! It pays to live in the "Tech Era"!

Jukes Article

I thought that the "Jukes" article was right on the money! We inherently know why are kids are different from us, but this article really showed "why" they are different from us. I thought that it was fascinating that recent MRI studies have shown that our children use different neural pathways in the brain to process information than we do. Basically, they are "hard-wired" (pun intended) differently from us because of their relative ease to assimiliate into the digital environment and the basic fact that they were "born" into this technological boom. As a completely different generation, it makes us rethink how we should be presenting and teaching information to kids. Since the article stated that kids want info. fast, in various ways (like visual) and from various sources, my focus as an elementary school teacher has shifted as a result of this article. In situations that would be appropriate, I think that one way that I would shift my teaching method by instead of "lecturing" first, let the kids "group teach/learn" amongst each other first, do an experiment or research together, then have them present their findings to the class and have one big "group learning" session. This has allowed them to engage in team work, communication, deductive reasoning, etc. It's worth a try!

NJCCCS and NETS

After reviewing the two links provided by Dr. Luongo, it is obvious that NJCCCS and NETS give teachers a clear idea of their teaching objectives and goals when teaching students about (and through) technology. I felt that the NJCCCS was more specific, but it was solely focused on NJ standards, so it should be. I thought that the NJCCCS would be more useful to a NJ teacher, however the NETS site gives a good, broad overview of teacher expectations.