As a fifth grade teacher in the 21st century, I am lucky to be exposed in ways I can improve my teaching using technology. In the past eight weeks I have grown not only as an educator but also as a learner. My awareness of technology and my enhanced abilities have increased because of my course. For example, I have learned how to create blogs, wiki pages, podcasts, and above all how to use all of these Web 2.0 tools in the classroom!
Eight weeks ago I used to think that these tools, such as podcasts, were tools that could be helpful but not necessary. However, today I know that tools (podcasts,etc) are necessary and very important when teaching students of the 21st century. This course deepened my knowledge by having me realize that these tools are the secret into reaching our students and helping them succeed in school and in their future work environment. As a teacher, my responsibility is no longer to inform my students, but rather guide them to learn in ways that can help them survive in a society based on technology. I realized that my students are not the same kind of students I was, but rather they are "Digital Natives"(Dr.Thornburg.) Not until this course did I realize what it meant to teach students who are Digital Natives which is to "spark" (Dr.Thornburg) our students in a way that they want to create, search, and evaluate information. As a learner, my knowledge has deepened because I now realize the importance of using discussion boards or blogs to communicate with our educators around the world. To discuss issues and discuss our rapidly changing education within society is crucial because the only way to learn from our mistakes or learn from our ignorance is to ask questions and welcome feedback from other educators. Overall, as a teacher I need to set high expectations for my students but I also have to set high expectations for myself as a learner.
Although I have grown a lot as an educator and a learner, I still , and will always, be able to expand my teaching and learning. I can expand my learning by keeping up-to-date with the latest methods, attend professional developments, and use the internet myself to always join discussions between teachers. In addition, I can further my teaching by allowing my students to gain ownership of their studies by using the skills of the 21st century ( search, create, evaluate,etc.) and making it obvious to them that they have the world at their fingertips through technology.
Being a teacher of the 21st century can be fun and exciting and best of all creative, however, there are obstacles. Obstacles that I face are lack of support with materials and lack of unification. These two obstacles are the reason for my two goals. My first goal is to expose my children to more technology materials by signing up for the laptops daily rather than twice a week and trying to make a trip to our local library every other month to allow the students to get to know the library and the free resources available for them.Although this goal seems short term, it is a long term goal because my main attempt is to make it a familiar routine which will take about a year or two. The second goal is to share with my colleagues what I am learning through this course. My goal is to have the faculty in my school become more unified with technology. Many teachers in my school are either for or against integrating technology and I think if I or the computer teachers had for Professional Developments and create a faculty blog with the help of everyone, that it can become a fun and useful part of our school, with the focus of opening up minds to the world of technology . Hopefully these two goals will not only enhance by teachings and learning but also help the future generations to become lifetime learners with everyone being on the same page :)
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
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