WEEK 5 REFLECTIONS

Upon entering the EDLD 5352, I knew that my skills in technology were weak. Being 46 years of age, I had run from technology, and the use of it, for many years and thought I had finally come to a dead end. This course meant that I had to finally ‘face the music’ as it relates to my technological fears. My expectation was that I would now learn how to use computer technology in ways that I had yet to master. This course far exceeded my expectations. I not only learned about the hardware regarding technology, but I learned how to develop an extensive Long Range Plan for Technology. I was able to peak into the future by learning more about the present. I learn that I couldn’t see where I was going until I recognized more about where I was at.
Through the study of different types of technology such as blogs and sites such as ‘Slideshare.com,’ I learned different ways in which I not only could use technology, but also integrate it into my classroom. In learning how to blog, I was first afraid of creating my own blog site because it seemed too complicated for me. When I dove into the assignment though, I found that it wasn’t that tough at all and I found Slideshare to be pretty fun to use to upload things to my blog site. I now use my blog page to communicate with my students by posting assignments to it that they normally couldn’t get to. All they need is internet access and now they can see their assignments online. I also use my technology in my classroom more effectively to make my classroom a fun place to be for my students and myself.
Since I am still a teacher, I found it very hard to grasp this course from the perspective of an administrator. If I had any disappointments, I would say getting a true visual form this perspective was an outcome that I did not achieve. I would need more time to do this and study in more detail. I would like to have more time to practice what I am learning from an administrative perspective, but I feel that this course was trying to get as much information forced into us as possible in a short period of time. This made my assignments more focused on mowing down mountain-like tasks than having the fun of enjoying what I was learning. I spent more time meeting deadlines than having the enjoyment of learning and practicing new things.
Being a math teacher and head coach, I am very task oriented so there was not an option with regard to whether or not I would be successful in carrying out my course assignments. I must add that I was very discouraged in doing them because there was so much to do in so little time to do it in. Maybe it was because I also have to teach, plan lessons, and am in the heart of my basketball season. There was nothing enjoyable about this course other than the idea of the potential of what I learned and how it could be used in my classroom. We got an email stating that we still should enjoy the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas but I thought that was a joke because I was too busy completing tasks for Brighton. Maybe I’ll enjoy Christmas but these last few weeks have been about pacing myself more so than learning.
This course helped me to learn a lot about myself!!! I felt that I was pushed to the limit and had to maximize my time management skills. I learned that sometimes, things don’t have to be fun and learning is not always going to occur in a course to the extent we want it because the requirements of the course don’t allow it. This is a course that will not end this week because there is so much more I want to learn about blogs and wikis. These two avenues of technology really caught my eye and have intrigued me. I learned that I still know how to get things done when they need to be done because it’s my job. I learned how to keep my attitude positive towards the course and Lamar because I didn’t think you had any regard for our professional and family lives, but business is business so no hard feelings. I learned how valuable technology can be in my classroom and look forward to it’s integration into the curriculum.
Blogs will be revolutionary to me with regard to how I teach and use them in my classroom. I’ve already showed my students how to blog and they use it to help one another through their assignments. They post a ‘blog problem of the day’ on to my school blog site and get extra credit for it. I see them having fun doing it because it is computer (technology) oriented and they can use their creativity in the way in which they feel they can express themselves. In being this creative, they are developing a better foundation for concepts within my classroom and subject area. I see my class averages going up as we give mini and common assessments and my kids are having fun while they learn. Blogging has been revolutionary in my classroom. My kids are learning and having fun doing it. They actually have kids chiming in on their sites form other schools. Blogging has created a whole new learning community on the net!!!
One of the main concerns of blogging in my classroom is that I can’t monitor their sites because it is too many of them. Everything on these blog sites, that I’ve showed them how to create, is not clean and I have to stay clear from them in a sense because I don’t want to be held accountable for bullying or misconduct within the blogs. Another concern is that my students can’t edit within the blogs. They can only reply back and forth which limits the true creativity. I would like to see them edit, but I think this would be more suited to being a Wiki. Wikis allow us to post things that can be edited and for that reason alone , I think Wikis will soon surpass blog sites. I also fear that our student creativity, while on district issued laptops, will have their ideas claimed by the school district because it was done using their property.
I can use blogging to be very beneficial to reach out to all stakeholders by way of the internet. It can potentially take the place of conference calls and meetings because I can see myself posting an issue and allowing my stakeholders to post their comments and opinions with regard to how they feel about the issue. It will allow everyone to see what everyone feels and expound on their different opinions. I must also be aware by not just posting an issue and leaving it unattended because I must referee by making sure opinions are respected and don’t turn into arguments. We must all know how to agree to disagree and not bully one another by forcing our opinions onto one another and monopolizing the blog.