Using Web 2.0 tools

First and foremost, let me say that as I have been teaching kindergarten/first grade/second grade multi-age classroom, my use of web 2.0 tools for instruction has been relatively non-existent (some second grade internet research during the water study unit). and I expect if I stay with the same age group it will continue to be limited. That is not to say there aren't some valid uses though, even for these younger ages. I think web tools can be useful to create graphic organizers for younger elementary students. I think that creating a class website where parents can check in on whats been happening is an excellent use of the web interface. I also will be attempting to integrate some podcasting/audio lessons that can accompany homework, and perhaps work with second grade students on there own audio responses. I think even at young ages, web tools can allow for some process/product differentiation, relative to student facility with and teacher willingness to train about computer and web skills.
In my work as a theatre teacher, with older students, I think that there is a great deal more I can do with the web. Online discussions of reading could save in-class time. Video production and uploading would be a great way to make that theatre-film connection that is so vital in the modern arts world. I could have students blog about performances they have seen. I could have students do podcasts of their monologues or scenes.
I believe there is definitely a place for web and technology tools in the classroom, but student age and facility have to be taken into account. I will be using it with my older theatre students (3rd grade and older). And I would like to explore ways to have students in the younger ages be involved, even if there capacity is limited (we know children are tech savvy, but I don't want them blogging when we are working on their vowel sounds).
One thing I have gained from this course is an appreciation for the educational value of the web beyond doing background/informational research. It has value as a tool to connect students and teachers with their resources and with each other that I will attempt to integrate in my work with older students.

Self-Regulation, Reciprocal Teaching, and Learning Communities

At the beginning of Alderman's chapter on self regulations, she defines self-regulation as "the degree to which students are metacognitively, motivationally, and behaviorally active participants in their own learning process." As the chapter continues, it becomes clearly that it can be widdled-down to student's taking responsibility for their own learning through regulating their behavior and their choices in order to best serve the learning process. When looking back at the reciprocal teaching video, I couldn't help but be impressed at the level of self-regulation that was being demonstrated by the students. Obviously there is modeling and gradual release of responsibility, but these students (who appear to be upper-elementary aged) seem to be quite aware that they are responsible for their own learning, and are taking that task quite seriously. While watching, I began to think on some of my students who don't have strong self-regulatory skills in their toolbox, and what this type of teaching would look like with them. Would giving ownership over that learning and validation of that control be enough to keep them on task? I think that reciprocal teaching, like a great many strategies, is designed mostly for students with pre-established self-regulatory abilities. Which is why it is so important during the younger elementary grades to work on self-regulation tools. I think about some of my kindergarteners or first graders with whom we spent a frustrating amount of time working on developing strategies to help with self-regulation, and I can only hope in a few years they are capable of being in a peer led learning setting or leading a group of their peers. Then I think about some of my students in the summer who clearly go to school in places where they are given no tools for self-regulation, just threats of punishment or failure and then follow-through on those threats. Those students cannot function in the student-driven environment I would love to establish. So the more I think about the marshmallow study and the supposed inherent self-regulatory nature of some students vs others, I find myself leaning more and more towards the necessity of instructing toward self-regulation. There may not be proof that teaching tools and tricks for self-regulation have long term academic benefits, but it seems to me from my own anecdotal research that having those skills taught is necessary in order for students to function in a learning community. And as we learn more and more about the importance of community building in the classroom and the benefits of community for learning, the necessity of teaching self-regulation strategies at a younger age becomes more and more apparent. If only we could give the memo to parents...