Category: Week of September 9th

Teachnology Philosophy Reflection 3

Molly Sand on

Reflection prompt: What theories, readings, and experiences have shaped your perspective on using technology in the classroom?

I am working in a school that is one-to-one and the technology available to students comes in the form of an iPad. Through my experience in this school I have come across many difficulties. Students have used their iPads for non-school related tasks and this has hindered their understanding of why the technology is important for their learning.

I would like to help my students to understand how to use their technology appropriately and effectively for their learning. I have started reading New York Times Articles about technology in the classroom. They wrote a series of articles about this topic in 2012 and in the first article they prompted students to comment about the following:

“Students:Tell us about the ways that the teachers in your school use technology, and how well you think it enhances what and how you learn. What mix of traditional teaching and teaching with emerging technologies do you think would be best for you as a learner? Why?” (The New York Times)

Some students preferred digital note taking because it eliminates messy handwriting. Others expressed how older teachers have difficulties with using technology and incorporating it into their lessons. The comments were interesting to read through and I suggest you do to learn what some students think when teachers use technology.

The NYT prompt can be used during the technology expectations review most schools participate in doing each year. It can be used as a way to receive feedback from students and how a teacher can incorporate more or adjust how they currently use technology.

I expect through this class and these reflections I will be more comfortable using the iPads more often in my classroom.

Teachnology Philosophy Reflection 2

Molly Sand on

As a first year teacher last year, I was overwhelmed with the opportunities technology provided my classes. I admit I did not use technology as much as I would have liked to, but I first needed to be a “regular” teacher before I introduced more media into lessons.

My overall goals as a teacher using technology include the following:

  1. I would like to incorporate assignments to be completed online only. This would teach my students not only how to save paper for when it is absolutely necessary, but would provide a new learning space for them to grow.
  2. I would like to instruct a mini lesson on how to Google properly. I have noticed many of my students do not know how to use this search engine to their advantage yet and I want to help them get there. There are times when they will not be able to get help on an assignment or project and may need assistance from a Youtube video or an image from google images. Without the proper tools to search, their assignment might might be incomplete.
  3. I will be introducing Edpuzzle videos into language arts and will be tracking the progress of my students ability to comprehend the novel Number the Stars. I have started adding ‘stop and check’ questions to the audio readings of the chapters. Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 are works in progress, but I think you will be able to see the benefits of asking clarifying questions while using an audio reading.

Over this next week, I will be looking at new ways to introduce technology into my language arts and reading classes. This will include apps for reading books, watching videos for further understanding a concept, and creating a speech about themselves to share with the whole class.