Week Thirteen: The Future of Technology within Education

I read an article titled The Classroom of the Future. I found it very interesting. It says what I feel like a broken record for saying: technology is what our children are breathing.

It was pretty vague in what it actually had to say other than that to understand the students of the future and to be able to connect to them we will have to be able to understand, use, and teach with technology.

Technology is changing so swiftly that it would be impossible for anyone to keep up, but as long as we know that and are willing to continue learning, I think that we will be able to manage fairly well.

After all, part of the desire to teach is a love and hunger to learn, is it not?

Class Entrance Post

Write one thing you've learned and one thing that still confuses you:

I have learned much about the SMART Board and many different resources. I have tried to post a link to any website that I found that I thought was cool, useful, neat, interesting, helpful, awesome, or any other good adjective. So upon reflecting over those, I am kind of shocked by the number of websites that are new to me. No, that's not true, I know that there are a gazillions that I don't know about; I guess what shocks me is the content that is actually helpful. I know that there are things out there--games, articles, tips, resources, etc--it just never was easy for me to navigate before. I guess. Or something like that. That didn't make much sense. I think I'm trying to say that I knew all these things were out there, I just didn't know how to or where to find them and now I've found some places that tell me the answers to these questions so I can actually make use of the resources available. That is exciting to me.

I am still confused by how there can be so much out there! I cannot really think of anything in particular, in this class, that I am confused about. I'll probably come up with it given a little more time...Oh, got it! I want to see the voters in action. I'm not so much confused by them, I just want to actually experience using them.

Week One: Beginning of Semester Reflection

I have known since I was a child that I wanted to teach others. I enjoy teaching; I am good at teaching.It’s something that is engrained in me and that I know I was created to do. Teaching others requires patience, organization, modeling, quick thinking, empathy, and so many other things. I believe that I am those things, or at least that I possess a fair amount of each of those things. That is why I want to be a teacher.

I want to teach fourth grade. From my experience, that is a great age. I am still bigger than the students (most of them anyway) yet they are old enough to be able to have a more intellectual conversation with you. It’s not only about Barney or trash cans as many of my best friend’s stories surround (she’s a pre-school and second grade teacher). I had a really amazing fourth grade year and I think that that is a large reason for why I want to teach this grade. I like grades three, four, and five, but four would be my current preference.

I am really excited about this class; it has been one that I have looked forward to for a while. I am pretty good at figuring out technology, but being in a class designed to teach me all of these cool things is really exciting. I am excited to learn how to integrate technology into every subject. I am excited to grow and be challenged by technology.