Reflecting on My Learning

Throughout this course, I was able to explore many new technologies such a blogs, podcasts and wikis. When I first began this class, I was a bit hesitant about the many different forms of technologies that I would be learning in such a short amount of time. After exploring the different technologies, I realized that many times, the students in my classroom feel just like I do. With this thought in mind, I understood that in order for students to understand the concepts presented in the classroom, that they must be given the opportunity to explore them on their own.

Through this course, I have deepened my knowledge on how to integrate technology into the classroom and how I can make it interesting and engaging for the students but yet still following the state standards. As I explored the concept of blogging, I realized that this would be a great tool that I could use in my classroom. It may not be easy to implement at first but as students are introduced to blogging and are able to explore it, it can be very beneficial to the students and teacher(s).

My perspective on going from a teacher-centered to a learner-centered classroom has not changed dramatically. This is something that is going to take a lot of work on my part for my classroom to become completely learner-centered. Although I do a lot of cooperative groups and learning centers in my classroom, I still do not believe that it is fully learner-centered. This is a weakness for me that I am trying to work on because I know that students learn a great deal from their peers especially when they hear me everyday.

Not only am I a teacher but I am a learner as well. I am constantly learning new things everyday either from my colleagues or from looking up things on the internet. As a teacher, I think that the learning process never stops and we are constantly learning new things that we can implement into our classrooms to better equip our students with the knowledge they need. I hope to continue to stay up-to-date with some of the newest forms of technology and how I can implement and use them in my classroom. I never want to cease learning! :)

The following is two long term goals that I hope will allow me to change my classroom into a more technology filled environment:

1. I hope to change my classroom environment by writing a grant to get a classroom set of iPod touches donated.

*I plan to accomplish this goal by writing a grant or posting on www.donorschoose.org and explaining my reasoning behind wanting a classroom set of iPod touches.

*An obstacle that I will face in being able to reach this goal is having wifi in the school. The school that I currently teach at does not have wireless internet therefore meaning that the iPod touches will not work. I hope that I can convince someone to wire internet throughout the school building in order that these iPod touches be used.

2. I hope to change my classroom environment by beginning to implement classroom blogging.

*I plan to accomplish this goal by starting out at the beginning of the year introducing blogging to my students and allowing them to explore blogs. I plan to work on this with the students throughout the year so that by the end of the year, students are able to actively post on the classroom blog.

*An obstacle that I will face is that many of my students will not have availability to the internet at home meaning that a majority of this will have to be completed at school in addition to teaching the curriculum. I hope to be able to plan time to where, as a class, we can go to the computer lab and work on blogging once or twice a week. Once students get the idea of blogging, I am sure it will be very useful to them and me as well.