At the beginning of this class I thought for sure that it would be a waste of my time. I have grown up with technology all of my life. I'm up on facebook, myspace, twitter, webpages, and I've incorporated many technology pieces into my classroom. After all I am the one that the computer lab teacher comes to with questions about problems with teachers computers and smart boards.
Boy was I wrong :). This class showed me that there are so many more aspects of techonology and teaching students 21st century skills than just helping them to figure out how to type a story in Microsoft Word, or make a Power Point presentation. I have seen myself grow because of this. In order to be successful in the real world I should be helping my students gain other skills. In 4th grade they should be developing collaboration, communication, and many other skills they will need for the rest of their lives.
With this knowledge I have already seen my teaching evolve into more of what it should be. Instead of just having my students work together on something, I model a communication or collaboration skill I would like them to acquire before we begin. This helps to combine lessons we are already have planned to meet other standards while also introducing some of the 21st century skills. I have also begun to be more of a leader within my own cohort at the school I teach. Always before they knew I had knowledge of technology skills and things and I was always willing to answer questions, but I never really felt like enough of a leader to actually bring new and fun things to the group for them to try. I have also become more encouraging of my older coworkers who are fearful of new things and trying to help them be successful as well.
This class started out to me like one I'd never get anything from and turned into a very beenficial one for not only me but my coworkers, students, and school :).
