Model digital age work and learning. Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society. a. Demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations b. Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation c. Communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats d. Model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning
Using the website Smore, I created a faux newsletter for the parents my students. For the purpose of W200, my newsletter was about an upcoming field trip to Turkey Run Sate Park and included important information for parents concerning departure and arrival times, our schedule for the day, and what their child should make sure to bring and wear. Newsletters are a crucial piece of communication between teachers and parents. Often times, its the primary way of conveying information about any aspect concerning the school as well as keeping the parents informed of what your classroom has been working on. Smore is an excellent resource for this purpose because it provides the creator with an pre-made template and several stylistic options to choose from. This tool satisfies 3a, 3b, and 3c.
One of the elements that we included on the teacher websites we created in W200 was a google calendar. On this calendar we could put anything from whole-school events, like open houses and plays, to things specific to only our classroom, like dress-up days and spelling tests. The whole point in including the calendar is to provide the parents with another way to keep track of everything going on for their student. It's great to send papers home with students with information regarding these too. However, often times these papers never leave the backpack or are lost somewhere along the way. Having an online resource available for parents to access whenever they needed to is just another way to better communication between the teacher and the parent(s). This tool satisfies 3a, 3b, and 3c.
One of the first projects we created for W200 was a screencast. A screencast allows me to record my computer screen while I give the audience, either my students or their parents, step-by-step instructions of how to navigate a website or play a specific game. This tool would be especially effective for me in the classroom because it allows students to work independently and at their own speed since I'm not giving whole-class instructions aloud. This is also a great resource for parents to have access to in order to help students with homework at home if it requires them to go to a certain website or complete certain tasks they may be unfamiliar with online. Screencasting is just another way I can better communicate with both my students and their parents. This tool satisfies 3a, 3b, and 3d.