My Beliefs

I believe that technology can make a huge difference in the way that we teach. I feel as though it can really benefit teachers and help us reach students that we were never able to reach before. I have heard of teachers that had students in their classroom that were not able to write and thought they didn't care to learn. The teacher then brought the ipad into the classroom and had the student try working on it. The student then expressed to the teacher that they knew how to spell but just had a hard time writing it.
I feel like technology can make the biggest difference in the world. The only problem is if we use technology for everything that it takes away from social interaction. Students tend to get caught up with technology and spend their time playing on them. Society has seen how this effects the students social skills and their ability to listen in a classroom. I think that technology can be a great tool, but teachers just need to not get carried away with it.

Lessons Learned

These articles, videos and survey made me more aware of the different technology there is today and how it will keep progressing with more and more gadgets. Technology is continually changing and being updated to quicker, more effective tools. I learned that while I am a teacher I need to be educated on new technology often. There are many neat tools that teachers can use in their classroom if they are educated on how the tools work. I want to be one of those teachers that knows how the technology works and is able to incorporate it into their classroom and make the lessons more enjoyable.
Another lesson I learned about technology is that many individuals believe that technology will get to the point that there won't need to be lunch ladies or as much contact with the students. I really hope that it doesn't get to that point one day. I believe that students need that interaction with their teachers that feeling that teachers care. Technology can really benefit teachers but it can also affect the way that teachers teach. I hope that it never gets to that point where teachers use technology for everything.

Stengths & Weaknesses

According to the UNI survey and NET standards there is still more information that I can learn about technology. I am in the middle with technology. I know a good amount of different technology but there are still many things that I can learn. I need to learn these things for when I am a teacher so that I feel comfortable enough to teach these things to my students.
Some goals that I have with technology is to take time each time I am on the computer to look at a different tool and see what it does. Use the different tools and get comfortable with them. I also want to continue my education when I am a teacher and take numerous technology classes to keep me up to date with the new technology. I also want to buy a few of these new tools that are coming out to get me familiar with it so that I am able to help others and not be the one asking questions.
A couple of the online tutorials that I would like to take would be about Access and Macintosh. I feel like these tools are ones that I am not as familiar with and I feel like they would be good to learn about. These tutorials will help to further my professional growth and goals by helping me become more familiar with technology. These tools would be great to use in the classroom. Access would be a good tool for my class role and what dietary needs there are. Macintosh is a tool that many people use so it would be great to know more about.

14 April - Field

This semester of field experience I had the opportunity to work with Annalyse in Mr. Gowans fourth grade class at Park View Elementary School. This was such a great opportunity for Annalyse and I. The moment we walked into the classroom we felt very welcomed. The students were excited to have us as well as Mr. Gowans. From the very beginning of watching Mr. Gowans teach you could tell that he had great classroom management ideas. He had different types of rewards for the students when they had the correct behavior. Mr. Gowans focused his attention on the students that were doing the right thing rather than the ones that were not. He was very patient with the students and you could tell that the students had respect for Mr. Gowans as their teacher. Mr. Gowans was a very fun and outgoing teacher that would sometimes use sarcasm. He told us that at the beginning of the year he could not use sarcasm but as time went on and the students got to know him better he was able to use sarcasm more. As we talked more to Mr. Gowans about his classroom he explained to us that it is very important from the beginning to clearly explain your expectations of the students and to never give in.

In this field experience I was able to work with Annalyse. I felt as though we worked very well together and was able to bounce ideas back and forth very easily. It was really great to be able to have a partner during this field experience. When we were teaching lessons for the first time it was great to have Annalyse’s help because there are things that would slip my mind when I got in front of the class and we are able to help each other out. As Annalyse and I were able to teach the students for ourselves we were able to see how challenging it is to manage a group of students and that there is much more information we can learn about teaching.This experience got me so excited for when I am a teacher and have my own class one day.