REFLECTION EDUC-6713 Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas

After taking the course called, Integrating Technology Across the Content Area, I am now more knowledgeable of how I can incorporate technology into my curriculum to help students master course content knowledge. I am more aware of the importance of creating lessons that will help sparks student’s interest by providing them more opportunities to think critically, collaborate, communicate, be creative and utilize technology. My role as a teacher has shifted to a more “student-centered” classroom because I now realize that my instructions should be driven by students who have multiple opportunities to actively engage in the learning process. 

I have acquired new technology skills that will help me enhance my teaching practices.  I have learned how to create blogs, wikis, and implement digital storytelling into my instructions.  All of this new technology will be incorporated into my instructions to provide students with multiple ways of learning content information. Today students learn differently so as their teacher, I need to stay breast of the latest educational trends which include learning innovative technology, new pedagogy, and current research so that I will be informed of the changes in my profession. As the teaching profession continues to evolves, I will make sure that my students understand the importance

One of the most beneficial aspects of this course, were the numerous opportunities available to share suggestions, thoughts, and ideas with my class mates. I have gained more insight about the teaching profession from other educators who have strengths, talents, and experiences in areas that I was not as familiar. I have found the being able to communicate with other teachers globally is providing me with a wealth of knowledge and skills that will help transform my classroom to meet the needs of the 21^st century learner. I understand that students learn differently and it is my responsibility to assess their weaknesses by seeking strategies to implement into my instruction that will allow student to grow academically.

As I began to reflect on the steps of creating a Game Plan, I decided to focus on the following two indicators: Facilitate and Inspire Student’s Learning and Creativity and Engage in Professional Growth and Learning. I am elated that I got an opportunity to experience this process because it has been very instrumental in helping me become a more effective teacher. This activity forced me to take the initiative to plan, set goals, and to take the necessary steps to complete the tasks that are required so that I can continue to grow both personally and professionally.  I learned that it is crucial to create a timeline so that I can stay focus on tasks that should be completed at a specific time. This holds me accountable for the actions that I have taken and I can evaluate my progress accordingly. I am no longer afraid to modify my plans, if I see that actions taken are not feasible or ineffective. I will take this as a challenge to re-examine my teaching practices and to reflect on how I can best achieve my goal. I am more willing to take on leadership roles at my school because I realize the value of sharing new skills with my colleagues so that will gain knowledge through my personal experiences. A leadership role exemplifies that I take pride in my profession and that I am constantly seeking opportunities to hone my skills as an educator. I have more knowledge about creating inquiry based projects where students will have the opportunity to demonstrate content knowledge through various means of activities. I realize that students will take ownership for their learning when they are exposed to real-word issues that connect to the instruction.  Learning should be meaningful but also fun so to ensure that all students are engaged in class, I will be constantly seeking instructional strategies that will help stimulate my students to excel academically.

MY GAME PLAN CONTINUES

Indicator: 1) Facilitate and Inspire Student’s Learning and Creativity

As I continue to accomplish my goal of creating lessons for my students they will allow for more creativity, problem solving, communication, and collaboration skills, I have gained knowledge about how to use digital storytelling as an instructional tools to help increase student achievement in my class.  According to the NETS-S standards, teachers should be implementing activities that will promote a stimulating learning environment where students can exhibit essential skills that will allow them to grow academically. Digital storytelling is an instructional strategy  that will give students another way of demonstrating content knowledge that they have acquired in my class.  After reviewing this week resources, I now understand the impact of incorporating digital storytelling into my lesson because this instructional strategy supports the advance digital age learning requirements.I have also located a very helpful website which is www.learnnc.org it features classroom teaching resources, K-12 lesson plans, assessments, web links, and professional development guide. I can learn on my own from articles and multimedia, tips for best teaching practices, or take an instructor-led CEU credits— all correlated to the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards. 

Indicator 5: Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

I am continuing to review the Shelly Cashman textbook so that I can increase my knowledge about the content of MOUS certification.  I have found that part of my curriculum can be added to my instruction to give student’s additional practice with understanding the modules in MS Word. I now know that because of the many different ability levels of my students that I will have to create a checklist for students to record each lesson so that they stay abreast of their current status.  Students will have the flexibility of moving on to the next modules when they feel comfortable with the concepts.  My school received a two million technology grant which will allow students to have more access to additional resources for learning. They have also posted several technology positions for the upcoming school year which I am interested in applying.  I am planning on being very instrumental in assisting with implementing this grant so that my school can benefit by helping teachers hone their computer skills which will drive instructions in the classroom.   

Continuing to Evaluate My Game Plan

Indicator 5: Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

I have completed four MS Word Modules using the Shelly Cashman Series textbook for MS Office 2007.I have also joined an online organization called ITBusinessEdge this group provide access to hundreds of calculators, checklists, tutorials and IT Downloads. I am able to receive updates and complete tutorials on MOUS certification so that I will become more knowledgeable of the skills that students will need to complete the certification process.  One of my colleagues shared a very helpful website which is http://mous-office-2000-certification-training.com. This website provides free courses with an expert staff of curriculum developers who has created a 13 CD-ROM / 13 Video courses set for Microsoft Office 2000. It will prepare me for the Microsoft Office User Specialist Exam, which I plan to take this summer. This information will allow me to be capable of teaching all aspects of Office 2000 to my students.

Indicator: 1) Facilitate and inspire student’s learning and creativity

I designed two lessons where students got the opportunity to explore new software and then create a computerized artifact that demonstrated their mastery of understanding graphic image design, computer animation, and virtual reality. Students task were to work in cooperative groups and design a computer animation that could be featured in a movie theatre. Students helped me create a rubric as a guideline for this project. I wanted students to have as much flexibility in completing this assignment so I allowed students to utilize variety of technology resources such as movie maker software, pod cast and adobe applications to help enhance their projects. This gave students more tools that will help them gain more knowledge and skills about this objective. I am also planning a trip in May where students can visit Duke University’s Virtual Technology Center.  This tour promotes the use of visualization and virtual reality technologies for improved understanding of scientific data and human cognition. After this trip, students will have a better understanding of the virtual environment and this will help them make a connection with the course content knowledge on this topic.

Evaluating My Game Plan

I am accomplishing my plan by collaborating with educators who are teaching the Microsoft Certifications course. They suggested that I use the Shelly Cashman Microsoft 2007 & 2010 so that I can familiarize myself with the activities that students will have to complete for the course. I have a copy and  I am examining the content of the book and deciding how I can use this information to help my students have success in completing the certification.  Each week, I have decided to review a lesson for each objective so that I can continue to gain more knowledge about the certification. I have also registered to participate in the moodle training which begins in June.  This will give me time to complete my course work for this semester at Walden. I am so glad that I was able to get started on pursing this goal because now I feel more confident that I will be better prepare to teach this new course in the fall.

I have also decided to contact local industries that are in my area, so that I can partner with them  to assist me with becoming more knowledgeable about the Microsoft certification process. This will definite give me more insight on the technology skills that they expect all new employers to possess. I want to prepare my students to enter  higher institutions or the workplace feeling confident that they can compete with other students worldwide. I am so elated to be taking the necessary steps that will help me become a more effective teacher.