Reflection

I have learned a lot from the class I am currently in for Walden University. I have learned that really, I am not as good with technology as I thought I was. There are so many new programs that I have never even heard of. If it weren't for Walden, who would have shared these with me?

This course has shown me that there is more than PowerPoint out there to teach with. I love to use technology and have learned of so many new ways to use it in my classroom. I am able to now look at lessons and be able to incorporate different forms of technology into them. Some of these lessons call for me to use more technology and others have the students working with it.

My knowledge has been depended by the introduction of wikis, blogs, and pod casts. I had heard all of those words before but had never worked with any of those resources. In fact, they scared me! I thought that they items called for a lot of work and were not very useful in teaching. I think this is how many people think. I was wrong. All of these items can be incorporated into lessons that will help our students succeed.

I do not think that my perspective has changed when it comes to a teacher centered classroom compared to student centered classroom. I have always been the type of teacher who lets the students take control of their learning. There is no better way to lose a student than to stand up and lecture. I never ever do this. Even when I need to stand up and talk, the students are fully involved in this. I hate when students sit idly and watch me teach. No learning is done when this happens.

I think there are many ways to continue to expand my knowledge of learning, teaching and leading with technology. In order to do this, I must stay up to date with current technology. I would like to continue my masters program, which will hopefully continue to teach me new things. I would also like to take classes in technology resources that I am not familiar with. This will allow me to learn more which in return will allow me to share what I have learned with my students.

One of the long term goals that I have is to use blogs in my classroom. I would love to have students be able to send me questions through blogs. We could also complete entire lessons using blogs. Students can just sign in and get the directions and lesson without having to have me explain it first. This will take basic training to help the students understand how to get started, but I believe that after one time the students would be ready to go. I also think this would need to be allowed by my school system, which is one barrier I face very often.

Another goal that I have is to educate my students on all the new technology. Being a SS teacher, I am allowed a bit more flexibility then other teachers. I would like to take a day or two a month and explore what technology has to offer. In order to do this I would submit lesson plans to my administration and discuss with them the positive things that studying technology can do.

I don't think that much has changed in my checklist. I am not, or was not, as proficient at technology as I thought, but this is changing. I look forward to continuing the path I am on towards my masters and am excited to learn about all the technology that exists.