Workshop 5

After looking through the material for class this week there is even more exciting ways to integrate technology into our teaching. Looking at my grade level there are lots of ways that I can be a leader and support my team to help encourage personal growth as well as professional growth in the area of technology.

Luckily for me my team of teachers at very interested in new ideas. They are always willing to try new things even if they aren't very confident in the material.

When I went through this weeks material the one area I immediately thought of when I read through the material was creating a personal learning network. We all work well together but we don't share much when it comes to technology. Every year our team has to have a goal we work towards. Next year I think creating and sharing as a personal learning network in the area of technology would enhance our teams skills.

I also would like to sit down and look at what we consider the technology component of each of our units. Each project focuses on integrating a specific program (word, publisher, etc) with the unit theme. However with the NETs standards we really need to enhance even more integrating more than one NETs standards. Using collaboration and communication with our PowerPoint project for example.

This class has really made me begin to think about 21st century and technology skills as more than just learning how to use a computer and it's programs. It's about prepping our students for the "new" real world!

Workshop 4

With all of the technology we have been learning about the past few weeks in our class, I can't help but become excited at all of the possibilities that could arise for use in my classroom!!  However, I also have many concerns.  Relying on technology at my school runs the risk of a lesson being ruined by a network that is down, slow computers, and even blocked links with our networks firewall.  I am a planner.  I like to know exactly what I will be teaching and with the chance of a lesson being ruined it would throw off all of my plans.

Thinking ahead I believe there are some ways that I could make sure that I can utilize this technology.  First of all, if I find a great site or program at home to use with the kids I need to test it on my own at school.  If the site is blocked I could request it to be unblocked alleviating that problem.  I can also work at being more flexible.  My plans are made for 2 weeks at a time when doing a unit.  If the network is down for the day, I can switch my plans with another day.  There are lots of things to think about when utilizing technology, but if I want my students to really get the lesson and enjoy school being 21st century learners I will have to make it work!

Workshop Three

Thankfully I have a supportive district in terms of techology. I have a teacher computer with the newest software and 4 student computers with software and access to the internet. I have a smartboard that is hooked to my teacher computer and not movable so it is for my use only.

When it comes to software applications I use Microsoft Word a lot! Every Tuesday I have a newsletter that goes home to my parents that lets them know about upcoming events in the next week. My district uses Microsoft Excel as a way to organize our data for our assessments. We record almost all of our power standards, writing assessments, weekly work (Math mastermind, spelling numble jumble, and 40 fast facts). Using this document on the schools network drive allows our principal and superintendent access to see how each grade level is faring when it comes to the standards our students need.

This year I have signed up as a part of a larger group from my district to learn about new software while using document cameras and interactive clickers. I would love to feel confident enough with these to create some new lessons and ways to help utilize them on a regular basis with my students.

To accomplish this I plan to attend the monthly workshops put on my district's technology coordinator. After learning these skills, researching some on the internet about ways other teachers have used these programs and equipment in their classroom I hope to have some ideas to get me started. Next school year after familiarizing myself with them I hope I will be able to see ideas for ways to use them as I'm creating new lessons.