I look back to the fall and the start of CEP 810 and can’t believe all that I have learned. I said it then and will say it again; I always thought I was so “computer literate” until I started working towards getting my MAET certification. It is just so amazing to think about all the new programs and tools I have learned about. When I wrote my first refection I was focused on keeping up with the RSS feed and Twitter. That is not my primary focus anymore. I can honestly say that I really cannot get used to using Twitter. It is definitely not my primary way of connecting with others. The RSS feed that I started is very overwhelming. I think I could sort through and unsubscribe to a few of the readings I get and maybe I would find it more useful. As for the other goals I had set back in the fall- I definitely would like to keep working towards them. The first was to use blogging as a source of communication between parents and myself. I was also hoping to get my students writing some blogs. These are still two big things that I will be working on.
Another one of the goals I had was to learn more about the SMART Board and how to incorporate it more into my teaching. I have actually done a great job of that. I am proud to say that I have started to use it in every subject area. This does not mean I use it every day in every subject (that would be overkill), but I have learned new ways to use it and have found some great resources to help me with that. I will also continue to learn about all the SMART Board technology has to offer because it seems to really help engage my students.
Now, at the forefront of my thoughts is the TPACK design and this has really helped pull together the “why” of technology in education. During CEP 811 we did a couple of assignments that introduced us to this concept. I began to wonder what it was all about and while taking 812 I had the opportunity to do some great reading by Punya Mishra and Matthew Koehler. I would like to follow and keep up with readings/articles by the two of them because I have found it easy to relate to what they have to say. I also think they have a lot of insight into TPACK, which has really made me think about how I present and teach lessons to my students.
I was recently introduced to a genre of tools that would really help reinforce the TPACK idea. The focus of tools that we learned about in 812 all had to do with recording in some form or another (both video and audio). I wasn’t sure what I had gotten myself into. I’d never heard of Vyew or Jing, or Audacity…and that’s just the start of them! How on earth was I going to be able to learn these new programs and complete 18 assignments including two large projects? After all the stress subsided and I read through everything I needed to do and started to get going with it, my head was swelling with ways I could use these tools in my classroom to help my students. The first, and probably the most beneficial were using pod casts and video casts to record my students’ reading. My plan was to help increase reading fluency and I cannot wait to continue this into the next school year. I would like to find a way to use pod casts and video casts so that my students can connect with students in other schools. We have done pen pals before, but this would be the newer, more tech-savvy way of pen pal communication.
My goal is to use my time over the summer to keep up with some of my subscriptions on my RSS feed (once I clean it out and find some new subscriptions) and keep note of the things I think are really great. By the fall I could have a whole slew of new ideas for my classroom (but a few would be realistic). My goal is to set up a blog this summer and write a letter explaining how it can be used and why I have chosen to do this. That way parents can start communication using the blog as soon as students get their classroom assignments. It will be a great way for parents to respond to one another about questions they have with reading or homework assignments. I have really learned a lot in the past 6 months and will definitely be a better teacher because of the MAET certification program.
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