Blogs on Technology Integration

As a third grade teacher who has been fortunate enough to work in a 1:1 classroom for the past three years, I believe that the upper elementary grades are the ideal time to integrate 1:1 technology into the classroom. Because students at that age level often spend extended parts of the school day with one homeroom teacher, integrating technology smoothly across multiple subjects is easier than it would be if students had different teachers for each individual class period.

After hearing about all the hoopla surrounding Pinterest, I decided to check it out and see if it had any value to me as an educator. Up until this point I really didn't have a clue as to what it was all about except that it was a social media tool that functioned like an electronic bulletin board. After requesting an invite, I was all set to go a day later and began to create my first pin board. The tutorial video that you are directed to upon signing up was short, to the point, and made it incredibly simple to dive in and start creating. I dragged the "pin it" bookmarklet into Google Chrome and off I went.

Protégé of Plato and instructor to Alexander the Great, Aristotle was the archetypal learner-teacher whose contribution to modern writers were three rhetorical proofs: pathos, ethos and logos. When combined with 21st century communication platforms, Aristotle's proofs shower rocket fuel on rhetorical efficacy. Using these rhetorical pillars, students can analyze how texts persuade and how unpersuasive texts can be reconfigured.

This post was co-authored with Elizabeth Alderton, Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.
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We have all done it: "participated" in a face-to-face discussion, nodding along in agreement, but not really present. Many of us have sat in discussions, afraid to throw in our two cents because we might sound silly. On other occasions, we have had a fantastic idea to share, but the conversation passed by before we had a chance to contribute.