Reflective Essay

It was nice to watch and listen to the videos and audios. The examples of the teachers, their classrooms, and the presenters helped me to see different scenarios that I could learn from. They were all knowledgeable and were very easy to watch. The required texts and resources gave me other options to refer to and further my knowledge. Richardson tells us that teachers will see themselves as connectors, content creators, collaborators, coaches, and change agents (2010). I also learned about the ISTE standards for teachers and students. I had no idea about them and now I can use and go by these standards for myself and my students.  The activities got me to use them for myself and not just read about them. I wanted to learn and use them the right ways and then get a good grade. That had me thinking like my students. I have to do this activity the way my teacher wants me to, to learn what I need to, and get the grade I got for the work I did.

I have deepened my knowledge by realizing that there are so many other technologies to use other than Power Point. I was stuck in a rut and I have definitely learned many new tools and methods by taking this course. It’s not all about using and throwing technology at our students in our classrooms, it’s about using technology to help facilitate and further their knowledge. These technologies are making us reexamine the way we thing about content and curriculum and how best to teach students (Richardson, 2010).

One Web 2.0 tools that I am open to trying and using in my classroom is podcasting. I want to use it as the teacher and I also want students to have the opportunity to make and use them. A few roadblocks that we might run into are time to record or listen to them, buying and time to use the microphone, and me getting over hearing my own voice. I plan to overcome these by doing some of the following. I will give students opportunities to use the computer lab and giving them an allotted amount of time to record their podcast. They might also work in groups to record the podcast together. I will use classroom money to buy a microphone to use and demonstrate the correct way for the students to use it, so that it will last. I might also by a few of headphones that have the microphone built in. As for me getting over hearing my own voice, I will just have to do it and only listen to playback when I first record it. By using these web tools we use our new role as curator of both knowledge and people (Richardson, 2015).

The following are the two long-term SMART goals to help me in transforming the environment in my classroom. I want to use, incorporate, and learn about more Web 2.0 tools, in my teaching, in the next two years, to facilitate my students in their learning. I will keep a running log of the tools, as a visual, and I will list the ones I currently use and will add new ones to the list. Each year, I hope to add one to two tools to the list. By the end of the two years, I will have realized my goal if I have six tools listed on my running log of Web 2.0 tools used in my classroom. I have accomplished this by taking this class. I have already learned a few good ones that I now use and will keep using in my classroom. I will also keep researching new tools on the internet, asking colleagues, and continuing my master’s education. I hope to plan and design all lessons with the 21^st century skills in mind, in my teaching, in the next two years, to help prepare my students for their future. I will strive to use at least six of the twelve in each lesson. Each year, I hope to add one to two more skills used for each lesson. By the end of the two years, I will have realized my goal if I have at least ten of the twelve used in each lesson. I hope to accomplish this by having a printable of the skills available to me when I am writing my lessons to identify and check them off.

A challenge that I have to overcome is me forcing myself to use technology and think outside of textbook and paper. In being a master learner means that I can change my view and practice despite the traditional expectations and mindsets (Richardson, 2015). This course has given me very good information and examples of web tools to use. This course has also showed me how to incorporate these tools into my classroom.

References

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2016). Standards for students.
Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2008). Standards for teachers.
Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/standards/standards/standards-for-teachers

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Richardson, W. (2015). From master teacher to master learner. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.