Power of Three

I literally dusted off the “place mat”  homework from the first to first session in order to enter this blog.  My cohort goals are definitely being played out; however, I am going out of my comfort zone by actually putting my goals in writing.  I always find it difficult to write down what I actually do because my mind works so quickly when I decide to create a new lesson or a new piece of material that works well with a particular group of students in a given year.   While I have always shared my ideas with colleagues in my school, I usually don’t have time to sit down and record what I am doing, because in all honesty, I know full well what I am doing, and will never read it again myself!! The reason I’m blogging makes good sense; I never felt the need to record, as my intentions were, and always are, to reach the children rather than take credit for the work I am doing.  Cohort 21 has opened up a new world to me, which is sharing the work I do so others can use these ideas and techniques to reach more children.    Another good reason is to gather ideas from other educators who may have ideas and techniques to share with me.

Teaching 6-9 year old children, I have always been reluctant to use technology.  In the spirit of Maria Montessori, there are sensitive periods for learning certain skills.  The 6-9 year old child is in the second plane of development.  This child is developing and strengthening reading and writing skills and are learning at a steady pace.  Maria Montessori called this period the one of the “Conscious Mind” as opposed to the first plane of development which she coined “The Absorbent Mind”.  The children in the second plane of development begin to gravitate towards others in their environment; learning about classmates and learning to get along.  They have a sense of moral order and are exploring their immediate environments.  Because of this period of development, technology has not played an important role in a Montessori setting, but upon further reflection, it is possible that technology can be used without impeding the overall development plane of this age group.

Keeping in mind that this is sensitive period for strengthening reading fluency and writing skills, there needs to be a consistent emphasis on the practice of these skills.  If a student does not learn the fluency of reading at this age or writing, either in print or cursive, it will be more and more challenging for them to use handwritten expression as they get older.  If the emphasis for traditional reading of books and handwriting is maintained, the introduction of technology can greatly enhance and excite the students when completing classroom assignments.

My Cohort21 goal is to use technology in the classroom to further enhance basic skills that are vital at this young age, while providing excitement for the students through the completion of a major project related to the Timeline of Life lesson.  The Timeline of Life is a spectacular lesson that is given to Grade 3 students.  It is a lesson that I always feared because the content is so extensive; that and the fact that I had little knowledge of the extensive content!  To put this into further perspective, the Timeline of Life is a lesson that is reserved for Grade 3 students who have been in the same class since Grade 1.  Since Grade 1, the students would have seen the Timeline of Life presented to Grade 3 students who always respond with awe and excitement.  Exploring the various periods of time in Earth’s history, the life forms and changes to the Earth’s environment, never ceases to amaze the children.  At TMS, we have the traditional three year split classrooms, with two teachers.  I had never taught the Timeline of Life until last year. I decided to take this huge lesson on and cannot tell you how educational, informational and rewarding this decision was.  The students were so engaged and intrigued by the various periods of the Timeline of Life.  Being such a huge and magnetic lesson, it is a perfect lesson for students to strengthen their reading, writing and research skills.

My goal is to take this research one step further.  Together with my team teacher, who is also participating in Cohort21, we plan to guide the Grade 3 students in creating a digital project which pertains to the Timeline of Life after they have completed the written component of the research.  Any advice from others who have used technology to create an account of history, at the Grade 3 level, would be greatly appreciated.