Voice Thread Reflection

Here is the link to my voice thread reflection:
https://voicethread.com/share/5258893/

My biggest ah-ha moment in this class was just how many technology tools we have available to us as educators. Technology is exploding and resources are endless. There is just not time to explore every single possible tool. Another ah-ha moment I had was that there needs to be teachers like myself that are interested in technology and willing to put the time into researching and finding the best tools to present to the other teachers at my school. In order to get them all using technology on a regular basis, especially the older, more reluctant teachers, using technology in their teaching I have to make it a little bit easier for them. I am absolutely willing to step into that role. This is a necessary step because using technology in the classroom is no longer an option. Kids need to be exposed to these tools in order to be successful in life. I feel very passionately about this and am willing to work extra hard on my masters and at school to make it happen.

            The TPCK model is a great thing to keep in mine when planning with technology. Many teachers think that throwing technology at students will automatically make them learn better, when really there is a lot more that goes into it than that. you still need strong pedagogy and engaging content. Incorporating all three shows skills of a master teacher. The tools in this class support many content areas, and lots of the tools are super flexible and could be used for several different content areas; sometimes simultaneously. Doing cross-curricular projects is not only time efficient, it is also good pedagogy.

            Creating 21^st Century learners is, in my opinion, one of our most important missions and crucial challenges. We aren’t just teaching kids some facts and dates; we are teaching them how to think and learn! Using these technology tools enhance those skills. For example, I could teach a personal narrative writing project where students write an essay on paper. Or I could have students create digital stories of their personal narrative using actual pictures of the event. The same writing and storytelling skills were taught and practiced, but in addition to those, 21^st century skills were incorporated. Another example is using animation. When we are learning about geometric shapes I could have students look at 2-D pictures of the 3-D shapes. Or I could have them create the shapes on Google Sketchup and then share and manipulate those shapes in 3-D space to gain a better understanding of them. In this case 21^st century skills were taught, but without the technology piece of the lesson students wouldn’t have gained as great of an understanding of the concept.