Final Reflection

This course has been the most beneficial course I have taken.  The requirements for the course have pushed me to leave my comfort zone and work with technology in ways that I had never dreamed I would.  Not only has it sparked my interest in technology it has also helped my students.  They are excited about the new changes happening in our classroom.  I have incorporated a wiki for the intermediate teachers in our building.  My students are blogging and I am going to begin a wiki for our classroom as well. 

I am finding that although I am a learner also in the process of using the technology tools the students are still receptive to the changes.  They are showing me new tools and are excited about what is happening in our class.  Their enthusiasm for learning pushes me to incorporate more and more technology into our daily class.  It feels good to know that I am giving my students the best possible tools for learning and they are enjoying their learning more and more.  Providing students with 21st Century Skills is very important to me.  I want to prepare them to the best of my ability. 

Technology has also made the students be responsible for their own learning.  They are posting to discussions, making weather reports that we video taped, and they are working in groups to create rather than listen.  I have found that I am more of a facilitator or coach in the process than the leader.  According to David Hall being able to collaborate and communicate is a necessity for students since the jobs of the future will have employees all over the world working through the use of technology.

I have changed a few things since the beginning of this course.  I make an effort everyday to use technology in an exciting way whether it be the Internet for research, finding a video to expand an idea, or allowing the students to use the interactive whiteboard to do Math.  I am beginning to have students work more in groups to collaborate on projects than I did in the beginning of the year.  There are always ones who cannot get along very well and those are the students I try to be certain are getting along because they need to develop the skill more than anyone. 

One long term goal for my classroom is to create and utilize a wiki for the class.  I want students to have a place where they can log their work they have found on famous Hoosiers.  I think this would be such an accomplishment for the students to see at the end of the year.  It would also enforce collaboration and communication skills.  I need to teach the students how to use the wiki and then require a posting or two a week to maintain it.  Another goal of mine is create student portfolios that are electronic.  I think this would  be a way to showcase work as well.  Each student is given an account on our server.  Students would have a place to store their work.  I know that as a writer I rarely write with pen and paper anymore so I would like to teach students about the writing process with the computer in mind.  Most often my students do not enjoy the writing process because of revision and editing.  I think the use of the  computer may change this fact. 

Technology with fourth graders

I was surprised to find out how many hours my students spend using technology.  They spend more time playing video games or games on the internet than they do using social media sites, instant messaging, or text messaging.   I wonder if it has something to do with the age of the students.

http://soundcloud.com/tmcnew/tech-with-fourth-graders/s-mmji3