So far, we’re about three weeks into class, and I have to say, I believe I’m learning quite a bit that will help me have success in the classroom in the future.
I’ve always been pretty good with technology, and when we began this class, I didn’t think I was going to learn much of anything new, that is, nothing that I didn’t already know about technology in a classroom setting. The school that I work in is full of smartboards, ipads, the latest and greatest in technology. Of course I knew how to use it.
But I didn’t know how to REALLY use it. I didn’t know how to use it to benefit not just myself, but the students that I work with. All of the different modules we are doing are helping me really fine tune my familiarity with technology that I’ve already seen and used before, but now know how to maximize it for the best possible usage in the classroom.
Take, for example, SMARTboards. Every classroom in the building I work within has a smartboard. Every student knows it’s basic functions, and every teacher might have a slightly advanced understanding of it. But when I did the research for our wiki pages, I found myself really learning about it for what felt like the first time, and figuring out that we as workers in my disctrict had only scratched the surface of what we could do with what we had! The same goes for Skype, the other topic I researched. We had a student missing in class last week, and instead of just going on without him, we were able to successfully skype him in for a few classes that day! I know he enjoyed not being left behind, and it was fun to take something I had learned and use it immeditely.
The tools that we are being armed with now are practical, and will almost absolutely be used in classrooms everywhere moving forward. It feels nice to get a jump on other teachers, or older teachers who might not have gotten with the times yet. I’m really looking forward to continuing getting familiar with Web 2.0 tools, and seeing what else is going to be added to our aresenal before class concludes.
Fresh Goes Back To School... Again 