Skip to main content

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

One Course Down

Wow! It is crazy to think I am already in the last week of my first course towards a technology endorsement. I feel as though it flew by! I have learned so much about myself as a teacher and as a personal user of technology. I cannot wait to begin the next course to push my knowledge even further.

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Source
In late October, I began the journey towards furthering my knowledge as an educator. I was excited as I posted my first blog post and paired it with the Gif above. I wrote that I was excited to start and wanted to have a better understanding of how to implement technology in the classroom. I knew that it was important because kids today learn much differently than many teachers did when they were in school. I coupled that with this Gif to show my excitement in beginning the course. I felt I already knew a lot about technology because I had used it starting in elementary school.

I still feel the same excitement as I think back on all that I have learned. I have been able to learn about technology I had never used before, create/narrate videos, start a blog to capture everything I was learning, began using Twitter to communicate with other educators around the world, and created a website to showcase myself and my strengths. I think all of these activities have been valuable. They each had the same overall goal: to help teachers integrate technology in the classroom. I am walking away from this course with a plethora of resources, not only from my own research, but from the research of my classmates as well. 

After taking this course, I do feel like I actually know less about technology than I thought I did. I had always used technology personally, but not to the extent in which I could be in the classroom. I felt like, and still do at times, I had a more basic use than other classmates, but that is OK. I am still learning and part of learning is admitting I am not where I want to be yet.

Even though there I still much more room to grow, I am so excited to continue my journey in become a more tech literate teacher. I know it will help me to become the teacher I have always wanted to be myself and for my students.

Additional Resources:

My Twitter account

Links to videos I created:


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Professional Learning Network

Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) Source Over the past few weeks, I have been learning the value of professional learning networks, or PLNs , to the profession of education. A PLN is a virtual space where people can chat and share resources/ideas. As teachers, the field of education in constantly changing. New problems arise, new resources become introduced, and sometimes we struggle to keep up. However, by staying connected with other teachers/coaches, we can get ahead of the times and be better prepared to teach our kids. Source I created a Twitter account, @DowneyC16 , in hopes of gaining new insight from others. As a third year teacher, I know there is so much I need to improve on and learn. At the same time, I know I have strengths that can be shared with others as well. As I became acclimated with Twitter, I began to follow several accounts that were of interest to me, including: @MindshiftKQED , @edutopia , @MonicaGentaED , @NASASTEM , @PhETsims , and others....

STEAM Class Reflection

As this course comes to an end, I have quite a bit of reflecting to do. I feel as though I am leaving with a multitude of different tech resources that I was not exposed to before. I want to hit the ground running and implement as many as I can, but I know that is not practical for many different reasons. In my opinion, the most difficult aspect of incorporating tech into a classroom is figuring out which tech would increase engagement rather than decrease it. In my experience, students at our school love using their computers to play games, or are engaged at the wrong times. For example, during the first five minutes of class, I have students complete an opening routine that consists of taking out needed materials, answering a warm up question, and then getting to the correct spot to start class, which could mean opening their computer to a site. After this, I always have kids tilt their laptops down because if I don't, I notice them looking at their screens while I am talkin...

Mid-term

It is true what they say: time flies when you are having fun! It is hard to believe that my STEAM course is already half-way over because it feels like just yesterday it began! I feel as though I have already learned a great amount that can be used to improve my teaching and classroom environment . I have already tried to implement a few of the tools we have used in class, as well as be conscious of how I am getting kids to engage in the classroom content. I feel as though without having tools and tricks in the front of your mind, one is missing out on providing an environment conducive to growth. Teachers, just as much as students, need to apply knowledge on a daily basis. One new piece of knowledge or tool I have learned from this course is how to increase student collaboration in the classroom. This is important for students because collaboration is a skill they will be using throughout their lives in different aspects/settings. To increase student collaboration, there were a...