Being able to teach children is definitely one of the most rewarding experiences I have been involved in throughout my life. Growing up I was able to go to school and learn from some truly amazing teachers and my parents. They helped me to become who I am today by teaching me strong moral values and giving me the education I would need to succeed.
During my field experience I was again impressed with the new upcoming generation of students. These students were bright and very curious and not afraid to explore new ideas. I loved to see them think, form ideas, and also use their imagination to solve and answer the questions we gave them. They came up with some great answers, ones we hadn't thought of, but most importantly, they were not afraid to try, and possibly make a mistake.
I also loved seeing all of the new technology in the school. Our school was fairly new so it was wired with all the latest technology in the classroom. I thought it was interesting to see how they could quickly and efficiently give attendance, and order the class lunch selections, and get the daily announcements over the link to the office. There were some glitches in the process, but once these are worked out I thought this was a highly effective way to manage the school. I thought it would be very beneficial to train the teachers more in the technology so they would be able to use these tools to their full potential.
I also enjoyed seeing how the students loved to see the digital story. Our classroom had a very sterile environment. There wasn't art displayed on the walls, and there weren't any "frills". Our cooperative teacher was very focused on teaching, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, however, I did feel that our students would have benefited from having more experience with the arts, or at least bringing an aspect of art into the other lessons. By just including some music into our digital story, social studies took on a whole new idea, and they loved it.
Education is one of the most important and life altering experiences a person will go through during life. I look forward to finishing my degree in education and being able to help my students gain the knowledge they will need to make a difference in the world, and most importantly to prosper, be successful, and happy in life.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Lessons Learned
I thought all of these videos, and articles were very interesting, and helped me to see how complex technology is and how much it affects our lives.
As teachers I thought the power point about “tools of change” was really interesting. I can see how computers really are linked with our future literacy. There are so many exciting new tools for the classroom which will help our students be exposed to different methods, and also different ways for us to be able to assess their knowledge and create more interesting lessons. There were also many ways to help our classrooms run more efficiently shown in this power point. I loved the interactive “smart boards” and electronic hall passes and lunch selection tools. There were just so many great ideas; I would definitely use these tools if they were available in my future school. This type of technology helps save time and energy and is much more efficient.
I appreciated the video called “millennium generation”. This really helped me to see the deep thinking and great ideas our students will have. We need to be able to help our students cultivate these ideas into action. These are the ideas which will eventually become inventions and help to change the future of our country. Look at computers, their beginning was in a garage in California. We need to encourage our students to think outside the box. It’s their future and ours.
I also liked reading the article about “Why integrate technology into the curriculum?” It reinforced the ideas I already had about how important technology is in the classroom. By using technology we are able to reach students in many different ways. It allows us the opportunity to use different methods and means to teach. Every student learns differently, we need to vary our lessons and give variety so every student has the opportunity to succeed and reach their full potential.
As teachers I thought the power point about “tools of change” was really interesting. I can see how computers really are linked with our future literacy. There are so many exciting new tools for the classroom which will help our students be exposed to different methods, and also different ways for us to be able to assess their knowledge and create more interesting lessons. There were also many ways to help our classrooms run more efficiently shown in this power point. I loved the interactive “smart boards” and electronic hall passes and lunch selection tools. There were just so many great ideas; I would definitely use these tools if they were available in my future school. This type of technology helps save time and energy and is much more efficient.
I appreciated the video called “millennium generation”. This really helped me to see the deep thinking and great ideas our students will have. We need to be able to help our students cultivate these ideas into action. These are the ideas which will eventually become inventions and help to change the future of our country. Look at computers, their beginning was in a garage in California. We need to encourage our students to think outside the box. It’s their future and ours.
I also liked reading the article about “Why integrate technology into the curriculum?” It reinforced the ideas I already had about how important technology is in the classroom. By using technology we are able to reach students in many different ways. It allows us the opportunity to use different methods and means to teach. Every student learns differently, we need to vary our lessons and give variety so every student has the opportunity to succeed and reach their full potential.
Strengths and Weaknesses
I felt like I was able to go into my field experience with great appreciation and knowledge of technology used in the classroom. I thoroughly loved creating digital stories. I enjoyed collecting the information and pictures to create the projects. It was so exciting to see how the students related with the digital stories and how much more interested they were in the subject by simply implementing this type of technology into our lesson. Creating digital stories was definitely one of my strengths. I also feel that another strength I have gained from my technology courses is- “the spirit of discovery”. I am not afraid to try new things and explore uncharted territory. In looking at the UNI survey and the NET standards I felt that over all I would rate myself as an apprentice in most of the computer technology skills, and that I have a good base to know how to find answers and continue to learn and research the areas I need to improve.
As I worked at Willow Springs Elementary in the Canyons School District, I realized the need I will have to learn to work on a Mac computer system. In order to use the digital story we created on an IBM compatable computer we had to email the digital story link to our cooperative teacher’s email. This was efficient; however as a teacher I will want access to my projects and information directly, not having to go through additional links. As I looked in the UEN there were many courses offered. The first course I would take would be, “Making the Most of you Mac”. It is designed for new users and also offered through the UEN Professional Development Course Catalog.
Another area I will need to work on would be using technology resources to engage in ongoing professional development. Technology is constantly changing. I will need to continually stay educated and informed on technology advancements and development. In my future classroom it is important to me to be able to provide my students with the latest technological training and experiences. I feel that technology is so important and I want them all to have a good base to build from as they continue their schooling. UEN also offers courses covering these areas in their professional development courses, but I also found an interesting program offered through the University of Utah ETEP (Education Technology Endorsement Program). This program consists of 18 credit hours involving courses in software/hardware, and technology pedagogy. This is normally a 2 year program. I thought this sounded amazing. There are so many resources out there to stay current and informed as teachers.
By being able to identify our weaknesses we will be able to continually work and educate ourselves to help make our weaknesses eventually our strengths.
As I worked at Willow Springs Elementary in the Canyons School District, I realized the need I will have to learn to work on a Mac computer system. In order to use the digital story we created on an IBM compatable computer we had to email the digital story link to our cooperative teacher’s email. This was efficient; however as a teacher I will want access to my projects and information directly, not having to go through additional links. As I looked in the UEN there were many courses offered. The first course I would take would be, “Making the Most of you Mac”. It is designed for new users and also offered through the UEN Professional Development Course Catalog.
Another area I will need to work on would be using technology resources to engage in ongoing professional development. Technology is constantly changing. I will need to continually stay educated and informed on technology advancements and development. In my future classroom it is important to me to be able to provide my students with the latest technological training and experiences. I feel that technology is so important and I want them all to have a good base to build from as they continue their schooling. UEN also offers courses covering these areas in their professional development courses, but I also found an interesting program offered through the University of Utah ETEP (Education Technology Endorsement Program). This program consists of 18 credit hours involving courses in software/hardware, and technology pedagogy. This is normally a 2 year program. I thought this sounded amazing. There are so many resources out there to stay current and informed as teachers.
By being able to identify our weaknesses we will be able to continually work and educate ourselves to help make our weaknesses eventually our strengths.
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