Upon reflection, I think that my original goal of creating a classroom web site as a portal for parents to be able to receive information from me was inappropriate. At the time it was for me a lofty goal. I now would like to change my goal from a one way communication tool to a real time two way tool for parents, students and teachers. I now would like to have a website that includes a blog and possibly a chat room. Through our SIG research we found a sites that allow teachers to have a classroom blog and the students to have their own blog sites. I think this would create a whole new level of understanding for parents and a great way for them to be able to interact with their child and our classroom and not have to be in the room. I also feel it would be a great place for students to showcase projects that they are working on in class or share a video of them reading an original story! http://victoria-miriamsmoments.blogspot.com/This is very exciting and I can not wait to begin work on this project with Karmin!
In terms of teaching strategies I have come to realize that the content not the gadget is what is important. How I can make the gadget work for me to make learning more accessible for my students. I do however feel that I came to this realization only after learning what types of technologies are available. Using technology gets a quicker response between teacher and student it allows for more time on task versus the traditional methods. I feel that I am a better teacher when I can reach more students and customize their learning and that is what I feel the I pad allows me to do. I now need 24 more!
One assignment that made great impact on my teaching is social networking (Panwapa), I immediately brought that to my classroom and shared it as well as sharing it at home with my youngest. I have used Facebook for a long time but had never realized all the features it has. I had never tried Twitter before and I think that it may become a new favorite of mine. Another assignment that was powerful was the I google page and the RSS feeds, I never even knew that they existed and I now check them daily. I also really liked learning about the cloud and using Google docs has been a fun way to work with a group. Zoho was not as fun, I was trying to use a few different computers and it was not reliable.
I do not feel that I met the goal of creating the classroom website, but I am glad because I have a whole new vision of what I want and I also think I will be able to create it. One of my other goals was to write some grants to increase the amount of technology in my classroom and I have done that as well as submitting to Digital wish list and teachers wish list. I am always looking for new ideas though! Another goal was to increase the effective use of technology in my classroom and I feel that my teaching and my understanding of how and why to use technology has changed. I am not using technology because it is cool...although it is, I am using it to help me reach the students more effectively.
I do have some new goals. I would like to create a blog site and start to allow children to add their own sites. I would like to spend some time creating a letter to parents sharing some of the wonderful things I have learned and I would like to spend some time sharing some of those ideas with my fellow teachers. I think that the I google page and some of the apps that we have found could be helpful to them. Finally, I would love to set aside some time each week to find new ways to reach my students using technology.
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