Final Reflection (CEP 810 & CEP 811)

When integrating technology into the classroom there are so many strategies to think of; to the point that they can become overwhelming.  One of the strategies that I want to focus on is to allow my students to explore new programs; the best way that I can think of to do this is to introduce new programs to the entire class and then allow my students to explore.  It is amazing to me how flexible and hands-on my students are; most of the time they can figure out programs faster than I can and I considered myself pretty computer savvy. Digital Citizenship is another thing that I think is very important for my students to know about.  They need to be very aware of their digital footprint and how it may affect them in their future. The Commoncraft videos really get the point across in a really simple, and almost comical, way.

The internet is such a valuable tool for teaching and learning and there are endless uses for it in the classroom. Right now I use it to share images, videos, and examples of other students’ work, but in the future I am going to use it for web based programs and to incorporate cross-curricular collaboration as well as collaboration between classes Then when I expand my Personal Learning Network I would like to incorporate collaborative activities with other teachers and students at other schools.   

The assignment that I am most proud of, in my Teaching for Understanding with Computers, is the SIG Project that I did with my group.  I think that we put in so much time and effort that in the end we created a project that can be used to introduce “Teaching Literacy with iPods” to other teaching professionals and really get them excited about this newer innovative technology. I hope to use this presentation to present to a group from that community that gives grants to teachers in our district.

In my Adapting Innovative Technologies to Education class, I was most proud of my Stand-Alone Instructional Resource (StAIR.)   This was one of the most useful products that I have created. I am very excited to load it on my classroom computers so that my students can use it as a resource as an introductions to genres.  This is also something that I plan on sharing with my department at our next meeting, so they are able to use it or tweak it for their classrooms; which will in turn help me reach my goal of encouraging my peers. 

The knowledge and experience I hope to gain from my classes will help me to reach the goals that I have set for myself. My first goal was to effectively incorporate technology into my classes, so I can not only engage my students, but to also encourage my peers. The question that I had for myself, was not have I met this goal, but have I started to do things to accomplish this goal?  I really do not think that I have had an adequate amount of time to make much of a change.  I have been able to show students, peers, and my administrator what I have been learning in my classes and I have been trying to incorporate more technology into just one of the subjects that I teach; I figured that if I can accomplish integrating technology in one subject this year then I can focus on the other next year.

My next goal was I would like to be a teacher that engages her students through lessons that students view as meaningful. Now that I take another look at the goals that I have set for myself I see how closely related these two goals are; if I meet my first goal I will automatically meet this one as well.

I would also like to incorporate and share some of the resources that I have learned about and their uses in the classroom.  MERLOT is a wonderful resource of technology based instruction that will allow teachers to help students connect with their learning.  Web Quest’s allow for differentiated instruction to reach all learners at all levels. 

Since these goals still have not been accomplished they are something that I want to continually work towards implementing. I have learned a lot but still have a long way to go and by continuing my education I hope to learn more innovative ways to teach my students and peers.