Education and Technology: The possibilities

     Thois semester has been interesting in a number of ways.  For starters, I quit my job after 8 years and returned to graduate school full time.  This was a needed change in my life, as I had grown to dislike my job and my ability to find hope in what I was doing.  I was a social worker for a local DHS and after 8 years was sick of the bureaucracy of the decision makers and a feeling that I was not making much if any difference in any ones live.  That is why I decided to go back to school to become a teacher.  I want to inspire and encourage young students to excel and make positive changes in their lives, and I feel that no one in the world other than a parent has more opportunity to do this other than a great teacher.  I plan on being a great teacher.  I think the world has plenty of average, good or poor teachers and I hope to be great and I hope to inspire and initiate change in my classroom, then in my school, then in my district and hopefully towards the education system as a whole in this country.  I think this first semester at school has given me a great number of tools to start my journey into becoming a teacher.  I learned how to write a cohesive and differentiated lesson plan.  I learned about special education and all of the amazing resources and collaboration that occurs within schools and with school personnel and communities and families.  I learned about the ideas and values that teachers provide to student and how those values often time are life long, so how and what you do or say to a student effects them for more than just your time with them as a teacher.  Lastly, I learned about a ton of technological tools that I can use as a teacher to enhance the learning experience of myself and my students. 

     The fact of the matter is that I learned the basics fundamentals of about 6 amazing technologies that I can utilize when I become a teacher.  I fear that many of the technologies will change within the next few years, so as a teacher and educator I will need to continue to inquire and learn about new and exciting technologies, so that I can incorporate them into my teaching.  Some of the technologies I know I will use will be a class website, for homework posting.  I will also use blogging as a tool to connect and communicate with other teaching professionals, but also a way to inspire my students to learn from others around the world and open their minds to new people, new ideas and new experiences.  I think I have learned how to utilize word, PowerPoint and kidspiration so that students are able to learn and express themselves in other ways than a typical worksheet or short answer. 

     I am excited for my next set of classes to start, because it means I will be getting closer to entering the classroom full time, and I will be able to utilize and test some of the technologies I plan to utilize in the classroom.  This technology class has also given me greater appreciation for why I as a teacher need to know about the technologies that are out there, because all of the younger generations are very aware and competent in many of the new technologies.

     I think I have learned that there is a need for teaching the fundamentals of reading and writing as we learned and practiced them, but for students in this day in age to grasp and understand many of the ideas or concepts behind the things they are learning, a teacher needs to be inventive in how they present the material and how the students show they have learned it.  I do not want to be a teacher that does alot of cool things with computers, yet has students that don’t learn, but I want to be able to find the happy medium of utilizing technology to enhance the learning process. 

      So, I leave this class and this semester with a greater appreciation for sleep, organization, my parents who both went back to school with 3 children, and all of my fellow students who are sacrificing time and money to educate themselves and prepare themselves to take on a job that will allow them to shape and create the future of this world.  I think all of us should look at one another or in the mirror and thank ourselves and our professors because if we all use the tools we have been given than we can help make this world a better place.  As I write these words I feel many emotions such as joy, fear, sadness and excitement for the opportunity to shape and change many lives for the better.  Good luck to us all and remember that we need to stay on top of our game and never settle for being that average teacher, and always strive to be the exceptional teacher that leads the students and the staff to learn and to experience life with a willingness to always want to know more.  Learning is a life journey, now we just have more tools to guide us and our students through parts of the journey.  Good luck to all of you and thank you.

 

Charlie 

blogging: who, what ,when, where, why and how?

I am still unsure about my true feelings about blogging.  I was persuaded into the blogging world, due to it being a requirement of a graduate class.  I have to admit many times that I was blogging or looking at blogs it was strictly for school and because I had to.  I do have to admit that a few times that I wasn’t up to my ears in school work that I was able to produce what I felt were a few interesting and informative blogs.  I also feel that I realize now that when you go to surf blogs, you can find a blog about anything and everything.  I saw blogs on big issues like politics and environment, but then there are blogs about music and sports teams.  I think blogging is a great tool to use to communicate worldwide.  I feel like it gives every average person the ability to speak their mind and possibly create an informative conversation with many other individuals.  I look at some advise I have received after posting a blog and asking a few questions.  I got all types of advise and I was able to utilize some of it in my everyday life.  I can not say that I will become an avid blogger, but I do believe I will continue to blog at least on occasion as a way to vent or to reach out for advise.  I do know that I will continue to look at blogs and learn from the knowledge and experiences of the vast number of people sharing ideas and thoughts. 

So, to bloggin I say that everyone should look into it becasue it seems like asagfe place to vent, speak your mind, ask advise or make a few points. 

Teacher vs. ???

I think my post this week is derived from some frustrations I am feeling as a developing teacher.  My frustrations come from the feeling that as I develop my skills and gain the tools and knowledge to try and be a successful teacher, I see lots of roadblocks and grey area in front of me.  When I say this, I mean that it seems that teachers are fighting battles on many fronts.  They have to deal with large numbers in the classroom, many more special needs students in each class, under staffing, underfunding and a general lack of support for change from within the education system.  Teachers also face a lack of a family support at home for children, technology that enhances teaching, yet challenges teachers to stay ahead of the cheating curve. 

     I think I am more terrified and excited to have an opportunity to have my own classroom, because I think I know what it will be like, but then again I have no real life experience to base that on.  I hope to be able to instill great ideas, knowledge, work ethic, respect, communication skills, motivation and other aspects to students.  I worry that I am setting myself up for failure or disappointment because all of those things I want to accomplish are possible, yet in my experiences over the last few months it seems that the role of the teacher is so vast that it is hard to accomplish lofty and well thought out goals.  I am excited about utilizing all of the great ideas and techniques I have learned to organize and initiate learning for students, along with the technology to inspire and motivate children.  What I do not look forward to is the overwhelming pull on teachers to be teacher, friend,  parent, social worker.  I feel that in my first several years in the classroom, I will be to busy and to preoccupied to utilize new and interesting teaching methods, a  I will just fall into a routine of being   average teacher.  I do not want this and am not sure how to avoid this.  I guess, that I hope to find a great school system that supports andencourages young teachers.  I hope to find a mentor like teacher to utilize their skills and knowledge to help me to adjust and to inspire me to push my limits and the limits of the students.  I guess I will see how this all plays out, but I hope myself and my fellow new teachers have the opportunity to force education to change and for students and teachers to a be able to learn and spread knowledge and skills to make this world a better place. 

Power Point: Not just for presentations

I was not in class last week, due to a unplanned and unavoidable trip to sunny Florida.  Prior to leaving for my trip I met with my group to discuss a project we were doing that was goingto have us using powerpointas an interactive teaching tool rather than as a presentation tool.  This was odd to me as I had seen powerpoint used many times as a tool to help a presenter get his or her facts across to an audience in a short andconcise manner.  I was a little skeptical of how we were going to utilize this tool to teach and interact with students. 

     I met with my group on Sunday after returning from a 20 hour drive from Florida.  My group had completed about 10 slides of our project and I immediately was intrigued at how interesting and powerful our project could be.  We were able to utilize the slide format of powerpoint along with the hyperlinks to create and exercise for 1st grade students that was going to teach them about importantmembers of their community, and it was goingto be short, interesting, informative and interactive.  Powerpoint has now been another computer based tool that I have in my teachers tool bag to help me make education fun and interactive for students.  I am amazed and a little disappointed that I have not known the power of Microsoft word and powerpoint, as they are both user friendly and have been readily available to me for years.  I think that powerpoint as I knew it was boring and not very educational, but with a little extra hard work and proper use of all the tools in powerpoint it can be an amazing learning tool. 

     I have to say that this semester of Graduate school has been very challenging and some of the topics and things we have learned in the Technology in Education class have been very overwhelming.  I think that I have been able to gather and retain enough valuable and practical knowledge about  things like powerpoint, word, wikis, and podcasts.  I have a great foundation of technology based tools that are going to allow and enhance my ability to be successful as a student and even more so as an educator.  I look forward to the opportunity to utilize more of these tools as I enter classrooms, and hope I can continue to learn and expand my knowledge, so that I can keep up with the rapid pace of technology. 

     I think my technology class has also taught me another importatn lesson and that is teaching and technology have to go hand and hand for many students to learn and be succesful, so for me to be successful as a teacher, I have to embrace and continue to learna dn expand my knowledge of technology in hopes of enhancing and increasing the knowledge of the students.  I guess learning never stops, or rather should never stop, as the world and the tools we have as people is always changing and expanding.  I think it is exciting and terrifying all in the same .  Atleast I am not alone, because I know there are other in my class and around the world that are being pushed and taught new things that they are just as excited and terrified of as I am, and I think that is amazing. 

proTECH the Earth

I speant what little free time I had this weekend trying to think of something interesting to blog about.  I found my topic in an email from a friend who is very passionate about recycling and the use of resuorces.  The email was interesting in that it talked about several types of technology and how they are wasteful.  The funny thing is the technology is not wastful, once again it is the cojnsumer who is wasteful.  I agreed with many of the comments and have decided to change a few habits of my own.  One habit that I will change will be turning off the computer at night.  I agree with the writer that I can find something else productive to do for the 2 minutes it takes my computer to boot. 

     The most intriquing part of the article was the part about the wastefulness of people who buy things cheap and throw them out when they are outdate or broke.  I see this as a fault of the consumer, but then again I have my example in which the otherday, I was talking with my parents and their archaic VCR (I know it isnt DVD) broke and they wanted to get it fixed.  My dad took it took get looked at and the guy told him it clould be fixed and would cost about $40 for parts and labor.  I told my dad that was great, but for about the same price, maybe cheaper, he could buy a brand new and better VCR.  So, is the wastefulness the fault of the consumer or the fault of the producer.  In this day in age I hate going to Walmart because I see walmart as a neccasary evil.  Walmart has everything you need and they can give it to you for the best price and that is great for me as the struggling college student.  The bad part is that Walmart and big companies in this world are growing and wiping out many other forms of competition and in many ways negativly effecting the economy in many places.

     I also like the comment about the new phnoe or Ipod or tech device.  I am infamous for keeping a cell phone for ever, yet I get super excited when it is time to get a new and better adn faster phone.  I think my generation and genreations to come are going to have to learn to utilize and reuse because our drive to want new and bigger and faster is rampant in many of us. 

     For now I will try to do my small part, and I believe every little bit counts, but to really make changes this effect of technology on the environment has to be looked at by the masses.  The proble at hand will be many people feel about issue like this that someone else will deal witht he problem or better yetthese problems are not in your house or your yard, so they are out of site, out of mind.  This issue seems similar in its magnitude and vastness to that of the issues in the years past with the ozone layer and how we as producers and consumers were destroying a vital and functional necisity of our world.  The amazing thing is look how bad things had to get with that before any substantial changes were made. 

     In closing I have to say that I do recycle, I buy the new lightbulbs and I car pool when possible.  The problem is while I am doing all of that I see many companies and people all around not doing the same things and it makes me wonder how my small efforts will be helpful.  In the end, I guess we have to start somewhere and in this case I am going to lead rather than follow.

Internet: all-in-one

I had a ton of work to complete this weekend along with two doubles at work, so I did not have much time to watch the NCAA tournament or opening games for the baseball season.  What I did have time to do was procrastinate while typing a paper and set up my delicious account and add a bunch more sites to my list.  I have decided that the name is wierd and has little to do with the functionality of the site, but that I love it.  I have all types of information available to me in one place.  I have all of my sports teams and sports related sites in one folder and I have some local and national news sources in another.  I also have a folder for entertainment for money for education and the miscellaneous folder.  I was able to check all aspects of importance to me in about 209 minutes and I didn’t have to waste a tone of time searching and getting distracted on the web.  I do not get the newspaper at home, due to being busy and checking the web to get the news, and now that I have (with come help) discovered Delicious I am not sure if I will ever need another magazine or newspaper. 

     I also found all of the highlights and a several shows that I missed from Thursday- Sunday, that I was able to watch on the Internet.  I think instead of buying newspaper and magazines or paying for cable for my fancy big screen TV, I think I am going to buy a new and better computer and save money over time and have more at my disposal.  The Internet still baffles me and drives me crazy at points, but it is amazing and the amount of freedom and information that is out there and easily grouped with Delicious is Delicious.  I guess the site does have a good name.

Are Research Paper’s Good

     I think I am taking a chance writing this blog prior to having my 10 page research paper graded.  The reason it is chancy is because the professor will most likely also be gazing at this post, since it is a graded part of the assignment.  All that aside, I think Dr. Ransom will appreciate my critical review of the research paper, as long as it’s done in a well organized and well argued blog post.  So here I go….. 

     I just completed a 7-10 page research paper.  This seems like a relatively normal task for a college or graduate student, and in many cases it is a short paper.  The issue I have is that the class is a Technology in education class.  I feel that I did learn alot of valuable information about technology in the classrooms and in-particularly about technology in science.  There were many other advances that I did not have room to mention in the paper such as microscopes that plug into computers and work with the Internet and other software.  There are also computer programs that help calculate and store data for chemistry experiments.

       I think technology is always expanding and changing, therefore a research paper on technology seems to go obsolete quicker than it took to write it.  I wish we could have researched a topic in education and had presented it to the rest of the class by utilizing a technology we have learned or are going to learn in the class.  This would have allowed for all students to learn a little about each subject that was researched, and it would have given each student a chance to utilize a new technology.  I felt the rest of the assignments in the class have been challenging and fulfilling because they have facilitated  the use and understanding of many of the key ideas and technologies at our disposal.  

     I feel regardless of my negative attitude and exhaustion after completing the paper that I did learn alot about the topic.  I do see that technology is available and rapidly meshing itself into the educational framework of the world.  I noticed that for technology and this transformation to be successful many teachers need to be better trained.  Teachers need constant and up to date training on how to effectively utilize and implement the newest technologies into their curriculum and classroom.  I also came across many articles, websites and blogs that focus on the controversial aspects of technology.  This frustrated me becuase it seems everyone wants an opinion, yet many don’t want to work towards a compromise and a solution to the issues at hand.  I also noticed that much of the test data is showing improvement in area in which Technology is being implemented and utilized.  I guess I’m not sure why this is not proof enough for the doubters to get on board and work to better education for students.  I think it is the age old issue of out with the old and in with the new, and many people still are scared of change or of the unknown.  This is ironic to me because this country was founded and inspired by change.   This is also the country that has placed itself and its ideals at the top of the world, yet now we are slowly loosing our grip as the all-powerful, all-knowing super country.   The way I see it is simple.  The technology is here, and we use it and love it in our everyday lives, its time to learn it, teach it and master it.  I think mastering it might be impossible, but avoiding it is no longer an option.  So, its time to get on the train of technology or our students and our future might be left in the past.    

   

Easter break and more confusion

I spent most of my Easter break trying to get my house clean, so that when family arrived they wouldn’t think that a tornado hit the inside of my house.  I also spent some time catching up on sleep and picked up some extra shifts at work to try and pay some bills while getting my masters.  I also attempted to not procrastinate and get a head start on some of my upcoming projects for grad school.  That didn’t go great.  I find myself surfing the Internet and spending large amounts of time and energy trying to sift through worthless information to find the information I can use.  I worked with the ERIC system and was able to find several articles, but many of them are not retrievable through ERIC and I am not sure if their are other sites or other ways to get these articles other than through ERIC or going to a college.  I found doing the research for my technology paper on technology in the science classroom to be very interesting, yet I found it hard to sift through alot of irrelevant information for decent information.  I also ran into many sites that appeared free, but once I tried to access other areas, I was informed I needed a membership.  I wish these Internet sites would allow for a pay for the time you are on the site, rather than a flat fee, as I might need the site for an hour, yet I will have to pay for a year and never use it again.  So, I feel like it has been another week of procrastination, leading to frustration in that I always bank that I will be able to turn to the world wide web to bail me out in the end, yet I often spend more wasted time on the web than I do anything else.  I still love technology and the vastness of the avenues on the Internet, yet I miss the old fashion look it up in a book and write a paper, although in a topic like technology in a science classroom, the Internet is the best place to find up to date data.  The grasp of the Internet over my existence grows daily, I am just glad I am trying to learn the tools and the ins and outs to make the Internet my tool, not the other way around. 

     Hope all have a great Easter and think of me next week when I am stressed out and staying up late because the Internet dragged me in yet again.  I will eventually learn, but I guess it takes a few all nighter to really let it all sink in.   

My weekend of reflection- Have I become techlogicaly dependent

This blog entry is late for my assigned deadline, and like every other  person who has ever been late, I also have a good excuse.  My excuse is the topic of the blog. 

  The issues all started when I started to write a post about last class and was struggling through it, when the power went out.  I initially was frustrated because we live in an old house and the entire upstairs is on 2 circuits.  This is usually only a problem when my wife uses her blow-drier.  The first piece of technology that drives me crazy.  It combined with any other electrical appliance turned on on 75% of my outlets cause instant darkness.  This was not the case on Saturday, rather a large portion of town lost power, and we did not get our power restored until after midnight. 

     It was at this point of realizing that I lost my blog, that was almost coming together, and that I now had 3 hours before work.  The issue was I didn’t know what to do.  my wife decided to take a nap, while I wandered around the house in the semi darkness looking at how much I had that I could do, yet I was unable to use these objects that I normally take for granted due to the power outage.  The first thing I did was go the the fridge and grabed a water and as soon as I opened the door, I thought, “shut it quick dumb-ass, the electric is out and it might be out for a while, and the fridge isn’t magically cold, it uses electricity”.  I than thought, I will get on my laptop and finish my blog.  Got my laptop and my water and got comfortable by a window (needed light) and when I went to get on the Internet I realized that our wireless modem is also not magical and uses electricity.  I ended up cleaning out a few junk draws and put away some laundry.  These are both tasks that I had been avoiding and always had a better or more stimulating excuse.  What amazed me next was that I went up stairs to find my wife awake and text messaging a few of her friends.  This is when I realized that technology might be holding us prisoner in many ways.  This lead me to start thinking about teaching and how excited I am to utilize the technology we have to inspire and extend learning.  I also realized I am going to inspire children to utilize and not overestimate the imagination and the fact that quite and slow or a little good old fashion hard work is good and needed in school and in life.  I realized that the struggle might be harder to keep the old ways than it will be to incorporate the new.  I look forward to the challenge and until then, I decided I am going to go buy a gas generator.  I told myself it was so the food wont spoil, but I think I might have a few other reasons.

My first lesson plans

     I always knew that teachers had lesson plans, and that if I became a teacher I would one day have to write them, but I didn’t realize how difficult it was going to be.

     I have my first two lesson plans due next week.  I have a topic for both lesson plans, and I have an idea on how I want to teach them.  The issue I am having is using the template that we are given at Nazareth.  I think the purpose of the template is to get new educators/teachers to cover all areas of a good lesson.  The problem I am having is I am hearing from many current teachers that what I am learning will never be used.  This is where I have a huge problem.  I want to teach and to learn things that are relevant and will be useful in my future, but yet I might be being educated in a way that is counteractive to this.  so, this is what I have decided.  I am going to complete the lesson plans as instructed, but I am going to make sure that I question and try to expose any flaws or weaknesses in the function of this template.  I feel that education needs to be based on function and usefulness and if educators are being educated in a way that is not useable than that seems ridiculous and very counterproductive.  I realize and have seen in the classroom how important a good lesson is, but it seems that organization and the ability to analyze and adapt to the learning style of a classroom along with good classroom management is just as important.  I realize that many of my statements might seem rash and pompous, due to the fact that I have little to no classroom experience, but I do feel that I know how I felt and how I see children react in classrooms and something has got to change.  That is where I think the technology and the ability of a teacher to appropriately utilize and incorporate technology into the classroom will help change the function or the rigidness of the Naz lesson template.  I think for now I will stop with my complaining and take the next few days to complete my lessons, and then maybe some of my initial issues or complaints will subside or will change in nature. 

To be continued…..