Reflective Response-Week 4


Are you more comfortable composing documents online than longhand?

I am. In fact, my dad and I had this conversation the other day when I was talking about what classes I'm scheduled to teach next year. He will still sit down and pull out a legal tablet and write out anything he has to compose. I go straight to the computer.  If I need to plan, I have access to graphic organizers. (My jr. high kids prefer to do their story/paper planning this way.)  I find it more efficient to type whatever comes to mind, then use the tools to rearrange and fix it up. I also like that I can have access to whatever I'm working on at home, school, or wherever I find down time (...and Internet access.)

Have you turned your "remembering" (phone numbers, meetings, and so on) over to a technology device?
Completely. I can only recite a handful of phone numbers these days. In high school, I could spout off 40 phone numbers, but I just don't have to anymore. All of my meeting invites, appointments, etc. are on my iPhone. The majority of them go from my email straight to my calendar.

Do you go to meetings with your laptop or PDA?

I take my iPad to all of my school meetings. I can take notes, add to my calendar, and do pretty much everything else I could ever need.

Are you constantly connected? Is the Internet always on whether you are at home or work? Is your cell phone always with you?

As much as I wish I could disconnect sometimes, I am constantly connected. Sometimes I get frustrated with it, because everytime theres a tech issue at school, or anybody has a tech issue, I get an email or text. I'm as bad as my students are when I have to be without my iPhone, though. I get this feeling like I'm missing something, or could miss something if I disconnect.

How many different activities can you effectively engage in at one time?

            I heard a speaker(Kevin Honeycutt...highly recommend him!) who recently that addressed this...he explained and demonstrated that no matter how many tasks we attempt, we still have 100% of our "brain power" to go around. So, if you are texting and driving, your brain might be putting 20% into texting and 80% into driving. As the tasks and distractions increase, the percentages and effectiveness of each decreases.  That said, for routine tasks, I think I can handle 2 or 3 activities at a time. For example, when I'm planning lessons, I'll have music on, be working on my lesson plans and waiting for updates to run in my lab. If it's something important or new, I have to cut down and give my undivided attention to it.

Do you play video or computer games?      

            I don't play many video or computer games often. I used to before I had a kid, when I had free time. Nowadays, if I'm playing a video game, I'm trying to help Dora the Explorer outsmart Swiper the Fox, or something on that level with my daughter. 

What generational category do you fall in or are you a mixture of a few?

            By definition, I'm a member of Generation X, but I think I identify more with the Net Generation.

            As an educator who works with a combination of Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers, I think it is most important to remember to teach for the future, not the way we were taught. The majority of the technology that our students will use in their daily lives and their future workplaces does not even exist yet. We have to find a balance of what we as educators are competent in, and we have to push our limits sometimes to stay current. I also feel that we have to fight the budget-driven urge to turn over instruction to online courses in the name of saving money. This is happening right now in my own back yard. Yes, I think that tech enhances instruction, and I think that online courses are good choices for SOME students. However, deciding to send entire classes and groups of students to the computer to complete courses is dangerous in my opinion, especially in early high school classes. I found it interesting that the Net Generation desires a blend of traditional and online instruction.

Reflective Response- Week 3

The article, Electronic Portfolios as Digital Stories of Deep Learning, focused on the difference between assessment for learning and assessment of learning and identified 10 research based principles related to AFL - assessment for learning. With my experience as a "regular classroom teacher" and being a technology teacher and integrator, I related most with the idea that "AFL should be recognized as central to classroom practice." I think this tenet is especially important, because if teachers start thinking, planning and teaching with this in mind, it will take root in the students. After the students get in the habit of thinking about how they are learning, what they are learning, why it's important to them, and what they need to learn next, they are taking responsibility for their own learning. AFL is more than a skills checklist that the student may be oblivious to. If a student is able to keep in mind that she is building an AFL portfolio while working on projects and assignments, I think the learning will be more valuable.

In my opinion, portfolio assessment has great potential. We all know that some kids don't test well, and even if a child knows all of the objectives, if test anxiety overcomes the child the day of the test, I don't feel that's accurate or fair, especially in high stakes testing situations. I feel that the aspect of document improvement on the child's previous best is important. If focus can be placed on the improvement, I think that is extremely powerful to a child that struggles. I've seen how frustrating it can be for a child who tries over and over again, and no matter what she does, misses "the mark," even though she is improving. The success of her little improvements get lost in the failure of missing "the mark" that everyone else is hitting. While I think that portfolios are a turn off to some teachers, becuase they are not uniform and standardized, which I admit does add time and complexity to grading and such, I think the benefits outweigh the possible headaches.

I think creating my ETEC Leadership portfolio will cause me to think more about the work I'm doing, why I'm doing it, and how/why it relates to my goal of obtaining my Master's degree.

Reflective Response- Week 2

MAPping Activity
The MAPping activity was a valuable exercise for me, and will be valuable for my students, as well.  Previously, I felt that I could probably spot a bogus website, but now I'm not so sure. As an educated adult, I previously felt that I could spot obviously wrong information, but the reality is....if I'm searching for it, I'm probably not very knowledgeable on it in the first place. This is especially true for my students. The Alan November website provided me with some great resources. I was aware of what the extensions stood for, and even how to check the history of a website, but I did not know how to track down the publisher of a website, or discover a site's external links. In the future, when I set out to find information, especially if it is for research or school, I will dig a little deeper to discover the site's history, publisher/author and what its external links are. Just because a site looks credible judging by the url, advertisements, or official look, it could be unreliable.

At the beginning of each year, I always go over how to evaluate websites with my students, as they will be using the Internet frequently for research throughout the year.  I preach to them to not rely on the first couple of Google results, and to trust scholarly sources. However, like my students tend to do if left unchecked, I find myself Googling for information at least daily, and I am guilty of clicking on the first couple of results. I frequently tell my students, "Just because it's on the Internet, it doesn't mean it's true," but it does take a little extra time and effort to examine the websites. Having knowledge of and access to these tools will enable all of us to become better informed in our research.  In "the old days" we didn't have to worry so much about the validity of information, because for information to make it to print, it was reviewed and checked multiple times. However, today, anyone can post information on the Internet, and anyone can find it. If we fail to educate students that phony, bogus or just plain incorrect information is so readily available on the web, we are setting them up for misunderstandings and failure. We need to stress the importance of finding quality information, not just quick information.

Social Bookmarking
I am just now getting into the idea of social bookmarking.  The two biggest draws for me are: 1) I can access my favorites no matter which computer I'm working on, which is a big plus when I prepare for lessons at home and at school, and 2) since "2 brains are better than 1," social bookmarking allows for collaboration, which is a time saver for me.

I used Diigo with my students this past year. I loved it! I heard about it one year at TCEA, but I thought it sounded like a hassle, but with a teacher account, it really isn't so bad. This past year, I worked with our English teacher, and we had our kids contribute sites, pictures, songs, etc. for several research projects. As a teacher, I liked that I could easily see which students had contributed, and I was easily able to see the comments that each student attached to her submission. (Part of the research assignment was that each student had to contribute X number of resources, and comment about why they chose the resource, and what it had to offer.) I also liked that I was able to check over the sources where my kids were pulling their research from, to make sure they were using the research criteria we had talked about.

I'm also getting into Pintrest.  At first, I used Pintrest for personal things, like recipes and craft ideas, but of course, my school interests now have a special board. My favorite thing about Pintrest is that I have access to other people's boards that are jam-packed with tons of excellent ideas and resources.

Wikis
I created a wiki about iPad and Web 2.0 resources that I used with my classes last year.  I was asked to present at a Region 10 tech conference, so I presented straight off of my wiki.  It is a work in progress...as I try out new apps and ideas next year, I plan to add to my wiki.  I chose to set up a wiki and share it, because as a teacher, sometimes it's nice to have a collection of ideas in one place to browse through.

Wikis are a double-edged sword in my opinion....could be dangerous, but have great potential to be useful, too.  On one hand, it's an outlet for anyone, anywhere to publish information to the Internet. That information could be factual, or it could be totally bogus. However, I look at wikis more as a collaborative tool.  For example, my student technology group that I worked with this past year (we got to participate in Year 2 of Region 10's The Future is Now project), all of the kids had access to the wiki, and they could all contribute, but they also had the task of checking each other to make sure that the information we put out there was accurate, dependable and looked the best that it could. Wikis also offer a forum for students to write for an audience, not just writing up a report that only the teacher is going to read and grade. If they publish their findings on a wiki, there is more motivation to do a good job, because their name is going to be attached to it out on the web for the world to see.

Web 2.0 Tools
I'm interested to learn more about video editing. I think videos, especially with music are far more powerful to today's learners that just lectures and worksheets. My students always have their earbuds stuffed in their ears, and are always watching media on their mobile devices.  If kids can create their own video media displaying what they have learned, I feel that is sort of "speaking their language." I also think that if students are given the task of having to teach an idea to their peers via a video, it forces them to understand the topic at an even deeper level. If you expect to teach it, you have to know your subject better than just completing a worksheet over it.

Reflective Response-Week 1

PHILOSOPY ROUGH DRAFT

I feel the purpose of education has always been to help students understand the world around them, and be prepared for the world.  However, the manner in which we accomplish this has radically changed over recent years. Students should no longer be passive recipients of knowledge. With the technology resources at our disposal today, students have the ability to become active creators, and even teachers themselves. I often tell my students that I want them to learn how to learn. By this, I mean that I want them to know how to tackle, and embrace, the unknown.  There is no way I’ll be able to teach them everything they will need to know when they are adults.  The technology they will use on a daily basis as adults hasn’t even been created yet, so I can’t possibly teach it.  I can, however, equip them with the mindset and skills to explore, learn, embrace and master what they will encounter in the future. This is probably the most exciting aspect of my class to me. I love to pull up a new resource or get my hands on a new gadget, and just explore it with my kids. They see that I am not the expert, but together, we can figure out all the “bells and whistles.”  Not viewing myself as the “expert teacher” used to unnerve me a little, because when I was in school, the teacher knew everything, no question about it. For me, learning to let go a little, and let my kids see me as a life-long learner has had huge dividends. It has enabled me to see technology and the world in general through new eyes, and in my class, we view each other as common learners.

As a technology teacher, I have very high expectations from my students.  I also feel that they have high expectations of me. The best reward as a technology teacher is when I have a student ask to do an alternative project in another class so she can use technology, especially when it is something totally new the student has though up. I am constantly searching for new ideas and new methods.  I like to think I’m not shy or hesitant to open my class and my mind to new things. Sometimes my little ventures flop, but sometimes they are a goldmine. I think the kids seeing the failures are just as important as the “good” finds. They need to see that everything doesn’t always work the way you plan for it to. Modeling the ability to pick up and find a “Plan B” is one of those life tools that I try to equip them with.

Obviously, technology is here to stay. I think sometimes teachers from our generation view technology as an “extra,” but technology is ingrained in practically everything now. The kids we are responsible for teaching know nothing other than a life with technology at every turn. My hope for this class is to keep driving and pushing toward being the best teacher that I can be. One of my main goals as a teacher is to seamlessly blend technology so that my students get as much as they can from my classroom time, and possibly even outside of my classroom.

BLOGGING

I've used Blogs in my classes for several years now. My first experience with a classroom blog was really just a teacher webpage, which I used to communicate with students and parents. As I got more comfortable with blogging, I decided to have my students maintain blogs, and I have not regretted it. Especially since going back to college myself, and having to use blogs and interactive forums for my coursework, I think blogging is a very useful skill for our kids to have. I use my blogs as a combination of: assessment tool, reflection tool, and digital portfolio for my kids. Using blogs helps my kids learn and gain experience writing for an audience, and working together collaboratively.

I don't think education as a whole has used blogging to its highest potential, but as more kids have Internet access and mobile devices, I think the excuses some educators throw up will dwindle. I can't speak for everyone, but my experience in my district has given me some idea of why everyone hasn't adopted blogging. The main factor is fear of the unknown. Not every teacher is comfortable with technology, much less willing to experiement with it. As a technology teacher, I made it my mission to make my kids knowledgable in how to effectively operate and manage their blogs, and we invited other teachers to have the kids create posts for other classes. I've found that blogs still have a high interest level among the kids, which is invaluable to a teacher. They can customize the blogs, post their thoughts and see what classmates have to say. Thankfully, a few teachers on our campus have bought into this, so our blogs serve multiple classes now, not just technology class. The majority of my students have some sort of mobile device. I think the future of blogging will revolve around mobile devices, and not be limited to sitting in front of a computer during a scheduled time to blog. Look at FaceBook; we (and especially our kids) always have access. If I post a homework assignment on my blog, my students can have real-time access to the blog discussion.

NOVEMBER'S ARTICLE

The section about live video cameras stood out to me, because it is a topic my district has recently started discussing. Our superintendent has encouraged us to use Jing, or screen-casting software, to record our lessons, then post these lessons on the website.  His thinking is that if a student is absent, or needs reinforcement, he can visit the website, and see his teacher teaching the actual lesson. I realize this is not the same as live recording, but that's also in the talking stage. We are a very small district, thus we have very limited funding. One of the ideas we've been tossing around is offering some specialized classes via our CTE consortium. This way, I could teach PhotoShop or InDesign to my small class, and broadcast my lessons to surrounding districts. 

As a teacher, my knee-jerk reaction is to turn my nose up at this idea. I don't like having my picture taken, much less being live recorded. Does the world need to see my bad hair day and the bags under my eyes? Do I want to have to think extra carefully about what I say and how I say it? 

Then, my "Mom" thinking kicks in...Do I want my daughter to have access to more classes and opportunities? Yes. Would I want to be able to log in and and see what my daughter's teacher is doing and saying? Yes. 

So, back to my "Teacher" thinking...would I really do anything drastically different if someone were recording me? Not really. What about if I'm absent unexpectedly? If I have the lesson recorded, I could send my kids a link, and not miss any instructional time...seems like a good idea. However, as an experienced teacher, this idea doesn't bother me. (After all, they would be paying attention to my lesson, not my hair or dark circles under my eyes...) But, as a new teacher, I would have been terrified with this prospect.  I also wonder about privacy issues with the kids. Will parents be okay with having their children's responses, questions, and behavior broadcast for the world to see?  What about the special education student who needs modifications to instruction? What about the kid who has severve behavior issues that constantly disrupts my class? All those things could potentially be spotlighted. Overall, I think the potential benefits outweigh the negative issues. As with anything new, there will be trial and error until we get it right.

TAGXEDO.COM

I chose to use tagxedo.com to create my word cloud. It's similar to Wordle, but it lets you upload or select images to form the words within. I chose a handprint, because I believe technology must be hands-on.


MY EXPECTATIONS

I expect to continue to grow as a technology educator by taking this course. As hard as I try to, I can't seem to keep tabs on everything in the education and technology worlds. Experiences like this provide me with new ideas, resources, and contacts. I also hope to refine my teaching skills and clarify my expectations of my students. Both of those things are constantly changing and evolving for me. One of my greatest fears as a teacher is becoming one of those stoddgy, closed-minded teachers who won't try anything new, and ends up with students who dread going to class.