How Have I Grown?

I have learned so many new technologies over the past couple of months and I am sad that EDU 554 is over. This course has helped me to force myself to learn about these new technologies. I always felt like I could improve the classes that I was teaching and incorporate more technology, but I didn’t know what to use. Now, I can add WebQuests, Skype, Podcasts, Blogs, Social Networking, etc. into my classroom. I think I have grown the most in just making myself sit down and research these new items. I have figured out how to actually use them in my classroom and I have shared the ideas with other teachers. Because I have learned these new tools, I truly believe that my teaching is going to change for the better. I feel that I am going to help prepare my students for their futures in a better way. They already use technology in all aspects of their lives and I am going to be incorporating it more into their educational lives as well. I think it will make my classes more interesting and help prepare my students for the 21st century. My goal is to use the technology to teach the students my curriculum and also to allow the students to use the technology as much as possible in my classroom. I’m excited and can not wait to continue to bring new ideas into my classroom each and every day!

Teacher Leader

I can be a teacher leader for technology integration in my school in several ways. First of all I am part of the Business Department and many of the teachers come to us for help with technology already. I am going to start to include more of the technologies that I have learned about into my classroom. I want to have my students start a blog and use that on a weekly basis in my Careers and Digital Tools classes. I am going to invite professionals to Skype with my Careers class about their careers, education, and skills needed to be successful. I am also going to work on getting email or another form of communication like Twitter allowed for our students in school because it is not allowed at this time. I think if I can successfully implement these technologies into my classroom and students are learning, having fun, and being prepared for the 21st century word will spread to other teachers. I would be willing to help other teachers learn about these new technologies in a one-on-one environment or in a group setting. Just today the question came up in the lunch room – what are your thoughts on letting students have their cell phones in class? The immediate response by almost every teacher in the room was – that’s crazy, why would we want to allow that? So they can openly text each other? Allowing students to have access to their cell phones in class could open up so many possibilities with these technologies. I am willing to be the trial classroom and pass my findings on to other teachers in the building. I just want to best prepare my students for the future and I feel that exposing them to technology in school is a great way to do that.

Concerns About Technology

While completing my Technology in Education course I am learning many new technologies to incorporate into my classroom. I am getting more comfortable with these new technologies, but I do still have concerns about using Internet technologies in my classroom. The biggest issue would be that it won’t work. We have a lot of websites at my school that are blocked for the students and teachers. I can not work on Internet assignments at home because the sites that I can access at home are different than the sites that I have access to at school. Some things at school are blocked for students only. I really have a problem with that because I could try out a Website on my computer at school and then make up a really great lesson. The students then go to access the sites and they are blocked from them. This is very frustrating because of the amount of time that I spend planning and then the lesson doesn’t work. The other issue that I might have with using new Internet technologies is that sometimes our server goes down, it doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. I then have a room full of students and a lesson that isn’t going to work. I always have to have a backup plan.

I think I could alleviate some of these concerns by being prepared. I will make sure I try the web sites out prior to presenting the lesson and also have a student try the site out to ensure that they will have access to it. If a site is blocked for the students I can talk to my technology coordinator at school to get it off of the blocked list. I just have to send him an email with the URL and why I want to use the site and he will usually take it off of the blocked list. I will also have a lesson that I can use in case the Internet does go down, this will help alleviate my concerns of a class full of students and no access to the computers.

Software

I use a lot of different software applications in my teaching. I teach a Digital Tools class where students learn the proper way to type and document formatting skills. The software that I use for this class includes MicroType4, MicroPace, Microsoft Word, and PowerPoint. In my Computer Applications class I use Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint. I also teach a class called Desktop Publishing. The software that I use in that class includes PowerPoint, Publisher, Word, and Adobe Photoshop. The other class that I am currently teaching is a Careers class and I use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in that class. I teach students how to use these applications and I use them myself to create handouts, present lessons, and make tests and assignments.

Throughout this week I have learned more about Google Docs and Prezis. I would like to learn more about these options and how to incorporate them into my classroom. I am very comfortable with the Microsoft applications and I am a little unsure about how Google Docs and Prezis could be more beneficial than the Microsoft applications. I would also like to learn more about Access, after this week and my software tool activity I have learned more about it already.

What I have learned this week is that I need more time! I would love to learn more about all of the applications, but it takes time to research and play around with these programs. I have always been the type that goes through the steps of a project before I have my student complete it. Learning this new software will require time from me. My goal will be to set aside time throughout the week to look into more of these programs. I will use the time I am allotted at school during my prep to do more research. I am going to start with setting aside 30 minutes a week to research and try new software. Once I have more information and programs that I am interested in using I will talk with my department head and my technology coordinator to discuss what needs to happen to actually begin using these software applications in my classroom.

21st Century Skills

I feel somewhat prepared for 21st century teaching and learning. I am able to incorporate the critical thinking, communication, creativity, and problem solving skills into my classroom; I am not sure about getting the latest technology skills across to my students. I feel that the class I am taking right now for my Masters in Education is giving me more knowledge about the technology that is available for me to use in my classroom. Yes, I am a Business Education teacher and I can teach my students how to type and how to use programs like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Photoshop; what I’m not sure about is how to bring these new technologies into the classes that I am teaching and make it a meaningful learning experience for my students.

Do my students leave my classroom prepared and ready for success in the 21st century? I feel they are prepared in many ways to be successful in the 21st century. Students in my classroom work on problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, communication, and technology skills. One of my classes is called Desktop Publishing. In this class students learn about PowerPoint, Photoshop, Publisher, and common design principles. One of the assignments that students complete during this course is to take on the role of a travel agent. Students must use many of the 21st century skills to develop this project. Students must use creativity to develop flyers and brochures for the destination they are promoting. They use critical thinking and problem solving skills to develop a budget and an itinerary. Communication skills are used to present the project to the class, and technology skills are used throughout the development of the project because the students must use the computer to create all parts of the vacation project. My wish would be that students would leave my classroom with more exposure to updated technology. They use the computer daily, but we are using Office 2003, which is outdated. I would like for students to have the opportunity to learn on the most updated versions of software and newest technologies which would help them to be more successful when they leave my classroom.

As I look at 21st century teaching and learning I see that I have many strengths that I can use to help my students leave my classroom well prepared to enter the “real world.” I am not afraid to try out new technology and to bring new ideas into my classroom. I am willing to update and change my curriculum from year to year, especially because the classes I teach involve technology. I believe that these strengths will help me prepare my students with 21st century skills. The challenges that I am faced with would include the lack of updated technology that is available at my school and the restrictions set by my technology department. I would love the opportunity to use a Smart Board in my classroom, but we don’t have one in our business department. I would also like to incorporate email into my classroom, but the technology department says we can not do that. My challenge is to figure out how to get these things into my classroom and the members of our business department are working on ways to make that happen.

Technology and Me

I use technology each and everyday . My classroom is a computer lab so I teach students how to use technology. I use an LCD projector, Microsoft Word, Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Adobe Photoshop, Speech Recognition Tools, the Internet, email, electronic gradebook and lesson plans, and a scanner. I believe that I am doing a good job of meeting the NETS standards, I would like to work on getting my students to explore real-world issues by using technology.

Some of the barriers that I have to technology would be that our technology is outdated because we are still using Office 2003. A lot of the Internet sites that teachers and students try to use are blocked, some of the sites can be taken off of the blocked list, but others cannot. Students are not allowed to have access to email, which could be used in many ways in the classes that I teach. There are not enough headsets for students to really use the speech recognition software. I teach the same class in both the junior high and the high school and I only have six headsets for both rooms.

I do not fear technology, instead I am eager and excited to learn new ways to use technology in my classroom. My personal goals would be to learn how to add more technology into my classroom. We don't have a lot of funds and I would like to find ways to apply for grants to get more technology into the classroom. I would like to make my Digital Tools class more digital and get the students to learn using more than just a desktop computer.