Creating a Model 21st Century Classroom..

I am thrilled to be creating a "Model 21st Century Classroom" in the upcoming 2011-2012 school year! My school district has chosen 5 classrooms (2 elementary, 2 middle school, and 1 high school) that will basically be given a "technology makeover". The technology tools in each room will be a little bit different, but in all the classrooms the implementation of technology rich lessons and problem based learning will take place.

What will this entail for my high school Spanish classroom?

• A Smartboard - A large sized Smartboard was purchased at the end of last school year and installed in my classroom in May 2011. So, I have already had some time to work with it and start creating lessons using the Smart software. However, I still have much more to learn and will work to optimize the capabilities of the Smartboard in the upcoming year to improve teaching and learning.

• 30 Motorola Xoom Tablets - The Motorola Xoom is the first tablet device that runs on the Android 3.1 Honeycomb System. It also contains a dual core processor, HD Video Camera, front and rear facing cameras, and is Adobe Flash Player 10 ready. The video below demonstrates in more detail the capabilities of this device. With the 30 Xoom tablets, there will be a 1:1 student to tablet ratio in my room. As you can imagine, this opens up so many opportunities for learning and my brain has been working overtime lately with new ideas that I want to try out. I have to shut it down sometimes so I can fall asleep at night!

As the year unfolds, I will be continuing to post updates on the creation of the "Model 21st Century Classroom" as well as reflecting on the various new tools, apps, strategies, and technology rich lessons that are implemented. I love getting and sharing ideas with others! So, if you have anything you think would be useful for me and others looking to improve 21st century learning, don't hesitate to leave a comment!