My Beliefs

I feel that technology advances daily, and if I, as a teacher don't keep up with it, I will be doing myself and my students a HUGE disservice. Many teachers don't feel comfortable using technology in their classrooms, mainly because it will take too much time preparing and besides, they have taught the material enough years that it has become perfected.

This is unfortunate. I do not want to look past using technology. Thank goodness my husband is religiously interested in everything up and coming. I learn alot from him, or at least get a general interest in the new technology and he is more than willing to have my computer be a guinea pig.

The main concern for me is to make sure I use the technology in a way that will enhance a topic, and not just use it because I can. If writing 2 x 2 = 4 on the white board will suffice, I don't think I should waste extra time setting up my computer and projector to show the exact same thing. On the other hand, there are many computer games that students could "play" and end up practicing their times tables while playing an internet game... see www.prongo.com

I already am frequently asked to help out others who are having difficulty working on a computer. This is the best way to learn, since I am not remotely as stressed out as the person with the question. I can calmly assess the situation and work towards a solution. It is usually solved by the person themselves, once they talk through what's not working.

I see myself being the "go to" person (just like you, Doc Waters) to help out other teachers trying to use technology in the classroom. If it gets more teachers to be willing to try it out, then it will be worth it.

Yay for technology!

Lessons Learned

When we showed our digital story, the electrical plug on the cart which had the projector hooked up to it was very faulty. We had tested it while the kids were out to recess, but the projector only worked on that first test run.
After trying just a few troubleshooting tips, I decided to just use my laptop as the screen, and have a more intimate showing while the kids sat in the back of the classroom on the floor. My University Supervisor commented that you can never count on technology...which has helped me to learn at least two lessons.
Lesson 1: Don't base your whole lesson on technology only...always have a backup plan.
Lesson 2: Don't panic when technology doesn't work. If you need to, write down possible troubleshooting techniques (in case you panic and can't think straight in the heat of the moment). Most of the time there is a back door approach that can get you up and running just the same.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Before taking this class, I felt like I had so many strengths and very little, if any weaknesses in using technology. I have been teaching classes for Microsoft Office products and Word Perfect products for over 10 years. Because of my experience, I was allowed to test out of the technology class needed to be taken before this one. The first week in class was very eye opening. One of my weaknesses is thinking I know enough... this will never be true. btw, This week has been a whirlwind of unplanned personal time as I have needed to support my sweet mother-in-law who lives in SLC (yes, I said sweet. She is truly a gem.) is dying of Leukemia and has already lived past her 2 month time limit. Also, my 16 year old nephew (same side of the family) was in a snowboarding accident over the weekend where he was taken to Primary Children's Hospital due to two compressed vertibrate fractures. He is not paralyzed, thank goodness, but we are very close to him and I honestly totally forgot about reading so much before posting these three blogs... Having mentioned this, I didn't finish all the reading and viewing on this assignment but here is my attempt at completing this PDP assignment. Please consider giving me some credit for trying.

MY Strengths:
I am willing to try out new programs and learn something new. I have learned that most computer programs are designed to be similar to others....in where to save, how to find the main info, etc. For example, WordPerfect and Word were created to fulfill a need, and thus till have many features the same. Because of this, the user-friendly attempts in each program I have been introduced has been

I love to have the spirit of discovery. Many times I find myself nervous to test out a new computer program, but I plug through it just the same, since I always am glad that I did. My husband is the king of trying out new technology, and it has somewhat rubbed off on me.

I'm not afraid to search for help online, or using the help feature in any program.


MY Weakenesses:
As I mentioned above, I sometimes am complacent in certain programs to think I know enough about how to use that particular program. It has been eye opening to realize there are so many options the developers have put into programs that many end users never even find out about.

I need to make sure the technology I use will actually make the lesson plan better, rather than just look cool. (I am all about using cool technology which is not a weakness, but can be used incorrectly and not enhance a specific subject).