And in the end...

Throughout the process of EDU 554 I feel that the biggest shift in my use of technology is the change in my thought process.  I wasn’t really thinking about new ways that I could use technology before.  I was using it but it was always in the same old ways.  My brain is now reeling with ideas of how I can change the lessons I currently use in my classroom.  Sometimes, when I am in the middle of a lesson I think of a way that I could have made things better with the use of the technology available to me.  I hope my thought process is forever changed.  This change in my thinking has made planning and teaching a whole lot more fun!

Engaging My Colleagues in Technology...A Difficult Task!

This week I have begun to share some of the things I am learning through my technology class with my colleagues.  I have been so excited about my teacher webpage that I just had to share.  I have the Snap Pages software SO easy to use.  I spent all day last Saturday tweaking and building my page.  I had to build a webpage in my undergrad studies but it was so time-consuming that I figured it wasn’t worth the time.  That was 6 years ago and I haven’t looked back since.  The assignment of creating our own page for this class opened my eyes and showed me how much easier it had all gotten.  I started with just sharing with my grade level team.  I was excited to show them the cool things I was able to add basically by just clicking where I wanted it and typing.  Both of my team members seem excited about exploring the program and possibly getting their own page up and running.  I expanded my sharing by next going to our building Technology Coach.  She was also thrilled with the program and immediately started creating a page for our school.  We are a Fine Arts Magnet School and she thinks it will be great to showcase the work that we are doing.  In the past I had shared the Prezi program with the Technology coach as well.  The tech coach and I talked today about using Prezi to share the school wide data at our PLC meeting at the end of the month.  We call these PLC days celebrations because it gives us a chance to celebrate where we have gotten to so far throughout the school year.  We thought that would be a great opportunity to celebrate our successes and also to experience a new, usable technology.  I may also use this opportunity to share my teacher webpage with the staff.  Maybe if I am able to show how easy it is to use more teacher will be on board with the idea of creating a page.  Many teachers see the use of new technology as a burden because they don't know how to use it.  I am willing and able to help my colleagues to learn.  I hope that I can show them that it is not an overwhelming task.

Why does the technology never work when I need it?!?!

Using internet technologies in my teaching practice raises the concerns of the availability and the reliability of the technologies.  Many times when you go from room to room and computer to computer in my school you will find that possibly a firewall pops up that did not on the previous computer.  Another concern is that the technology does not always work when you need it.  I am not sure that there is much I can do to alleviate these concerns.  I am hesitant to incorporate technology into my instruction because about half the time it doesn’t work when you need it.  Even if I test it out immediately before I am to teach the lesson I still have times when it doesn’t work despite all of my planning.  This is such a disruption to the day.  I have a group of 25 BUSY Kindergarteners and if I let my guard down for just a second to figure something out on the computer then I lose them completely. 

Group Project Notes-  I will be responsible for researching who uses intelligent tutoring systems.  We will be using PowerPoint to put together our project.  Ryan will be our PowerPoint editor and will create a cohesive look for our presentation.  Each person in our group will have a piece of the topic they will be researching and will be creating the slides.  I plan to beginning my research for some reliable sources this week.  I will do the bulk of my work at the beginning of our next break week.  Our individual pieces will be turned into Ryan by the end of the break week so that he can have the presentation put together early in the week to looked over by all in the group.

Software Goals

My students can regularly be found on the computers in my classroom.  I use the computers at any opportunity that I can think of because they are great teaching tools (if the right programs are used) that require little to no teacher help.  I am not the kind of teacher though that uses many software applications to assist me while I am teaching a lesson.  I regularly use Word to help me create worksheets or other organization tools.  I also use Excel quite often to assist in data collection or recording assessment grades.  I would like to improve this part of my teaching.  I would like to infuse technology into my lessons.  And I mean in a bigger way than just using my ELMO to demonstrate how to do the worksheet :).  To accomplish this I will start searching for videos and tutorials on how to make Word, Excel, and PowerPoint presentations that will engage my students and enhance their learning.  I am going to have to do this in baby steps because it would be too overwhelming with all of the new curriculum that has been put in place for us this school year across the state as well as in my school.  I am going to work on this but I can't make any promises!

Teaching 21st Century Skills

I always find myself caught in a tough spot with teaching Kindergarten students about technology.  Technology is used in my classroom constantly.  My school is one of the lucky ones!  Each classroom in my school is equipped with an ELMO, a document camera, which we use in place of an overhead projector.  My ELMO is attached to the projector on my Smartboard allowing me to do demonstrations of what is expected of my young students.  At 5 and 6 years old many of them are visual learners so this has been a valuable resource.  Also, my tablet PC is attached to my projector.  Having this attached allows me to show students where they need to go on the computer and how to use the programs.  These tools allow me to use a lot of technology during my teaching.  Last year was my first year in this building so I am really beginning to figure out ways that my students can also use this technology.  My smartboard was just installed at the beginning of this month so I am waiting on the software to arrive so that I can get trained. 

My goal this school year is to give my students the foundation that they will need to be successful in learning the technology based 21^st century skills.  I do feel that I am a fairly successful teacher of the 21^st century learning skills and problem solving skills.  I feel like teaching these skills come second nature to me as a teacher of Kindergarten.  My students come to me at so many different levels I have no choice but to cater to all of their needs.  This year is sure to be a exciting year and I look forward to learning how to use my Smartboard and also teaching my students.

The beginning...

I am starting an adventure...an adventure in technology integration!  My goal as a teacher in this technology focused world is to build a foundation for my Kindergarten students on how technology works.  I want to help them develop skills that will not only help them be successful throughout the rest of elementary school but also bring them success in the “real world”.  It is always a struggle for me to find a balance of programs and expectations that are appropriate for my young students.  Although many of these students have experience with video games and other media focused technologies they often lack experience with technologies that are used in schools.  I begin each school year with the hopes that I am going to do new things with my students but I find myself relying on what I already know and what is easy for me.  I am fearful that I will not have the ability and the patience to teach my students these totally foreign skills.  I know that I need to push myself to try new things with my students and to take the time to learn new things.  Thankfully I am in the perfect setting for trying new technologies with my students.  If there is a kind of technology as a teacher that you want my building probably has it.  I am also very fortunate to have a “technology coach” in my building.  I am very excited to be in the place that I am to begin this adventure of incorporating technology in my lessons.  The questions that remains is- Will I the technology be reliable?