Digital+Natives

**Digital Natives and Immigrants** 

Today's learners, or Millennials, are fundamentally different from Gen X. Learning must be relevant. Relevancy is synonymous with technology. And technology is related to the individual's identity. Through our classroom practices, we often discourage collaboration and multi-tasking in place of work sheets and the "sit down, take notes, and listen" approach". Unfortunately, the unintended consequences of our practices is discouraging collaboration, multi-tasking, and collegiality, the very skills needed suceed in the 21st century environment. And when kids are disengaged, we keep pushing what we as teachers are most comfortable with; more of the same. I would like us to use blogs to get students to write to wider audiences, create podcasts about what they learn, learn via webquests, take quzzes using wireless answer pads, deliver online classroom assessments, and learn using interactive white boards. Moreover, we need to expand the use of Gradequick to make it accessible to parents from home. We alread have this technology and its every parent's dream to be able to check their child's daily progress from home. Let's use it sooner rather than later. My experience as a classroom teacher and student achievement data demonstrates that there is a direct relationship between integrating technology and student achievement. Below, I have included a quick chart so we know what we are dealing with and some exciting ways that I believe will get us closer to engaging every child at YHS.

51 million  ||   Born 1977 – 1998 75 million  || Pragmatic/practical Self-reliant/individualistic Reject rules Killer life Mistrust institutions PC Use technology Multitask Latch-key kids Friend-not family  ||   Celebrate diversity Optimistic/realistic Self-inventive/individualistic Rewrite the rules Killer lifestyle Irrelevance of institutions Internet Assume technology Multitask fast Nurtured Friends = family  || · Casual, friendly work environment · Involvement · Flexibility and freedom · A place to learn  || **  Mentoring Do’s  ** · Structured, supportive work environment · Personalized work · Interactive relationship · Be prepared for demands, high expectations  || 21st Century Learning from the Library of Congress
 * ** Generation X **  ||  ** Millennials **   ||
 * Born 1965-1976
 * Accept diversity
 * ** Mentoring Do’s  **

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Smartboard Technologies media type="youtube" key="ywsNjTep1JI" width="425" height="350"

Blogging

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Gradequick to Edline - Parents accessing daily grades online

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