Technology Philosophy Statement

It seems like an aversion to change is part of our human nature. We like our traditions, our routines, our same-ness. So when something new and innovative comes along—like technology—many of us cower away in fear. Especially in education, we are divided. Some people enjoy change and innovation; others are content sticking with what they are used to. I used to be hesitant to use technology in my classroom, partially because I am still not completely comfortable with all forms of technology. I was on the cusp of the technology revolution. I remember old, bulky computers that made dial-up sounds as they started up. I remember chunky cell phones that had huge buttons and not a lot of functions. I didn’t get a cell phone until 7^th grade, and it only had calling capabilities. Although I understand technology better than my parents, I don’t understand it nearly as well as high school students do. Caught in between, it’s hard to confidently call myself a technology native or a technology immigrant. Despite being slightly uncomfortable with technology, I realize that it has fully made its way into education and that I need to welcome its presence in my classroom.

 

Technology will be weaved into my instruction for a number of reasons. The upcoming generation is extremely comfortable with technology. They grew up in the height of the technology revolution and they know how to navigate all sorts of technology. Because of this, I know I will need to teach using technology in the classroom. Since they are used to constant stimuli, I am well aware that I need to make technology part of my curriculum. Another reason I will include technology in my instruction is because it is a tool for connection and collaboration. Why limit my students to the confines of the classroom if technology gives the ability to connect with students across the world? Another important reason to teach using technology is that I will be evaluated on it. The ISTE standards and teacher quality standards require that I include technology instruction in my classroom. Being evaluated on my use of technology is not the chief reason for including it in my classroom, but it is certainly a significant one.

 

I love flipped video lessons, Kahoot quizzes, WebQuests, and Story Bird books. They will be some of the ways I incorporate technology in my class. They are engaging and fun ways to keep students interested in learning the content of my class. These tools are just a few of the many tools out there for teaching with technology. In order to stay relevant and keep up with the current technology trends, it is important that I learn from other teachers and do some of my own exploration. If I keep my eye out for new technology and innovations in the classroom, I will be able to include those in my classroom. Keeping an open mind in this process is vital to my future career as a teacher. Despite our human nature of hesitancy to accept change, we must learn how to embrace change and welcome new ideas. If we as teachers model what it looks like to welcome change and new ideas, our students will undoubtedly follow our example and discover what it means to be a lifelong learner.

 

Assistive Technology

Assistive Technology is a set of products and software that enhance the learning experience and increase the quality of life for individuals with disabilities. Assistive Technology helps educators and support staff enable students to learn and be successful in the context of the classroom. These resources come in the form of assistance for communication, mobility, and education.

These resources are extremely important for my future career as a teacher because it is my obligation to make sure that every student has equal access to the information. For students with IEPs and 504 Plans, I am legally required to provide them with individualized support that will empower them to learn. It is important to realize that we should have high expectations for all students, and that it is our responsibility as teachers to give them the tools to meet those expectations. We shouldn’t allow anything to impede student learning, and AT helps us get rid of those boundaries.

The majority of the Assistive Technology resources are inexpensive and readily available to teachers. Simple adjustments like pencil grips, glue dots for easier page turning, and touch screens can make an enormous difference in a student’s ability to learn. There are speech to text software programs that give students the chance to express themselves in writing, even if they don’t have the physical capacity to type. Some Assistive Technology products and programs are expensive, but most of the time the school covers the costs. Also, more expensive does not necessarily mean better for AT products.

Teachers are required to incorporate technology in their classrooms and make technology available to all students, including students with disabilities. Since this is part of the standards we are evaluated on, it is vital that we make every effort to learn how to use technology in our classrooms. During our planning and our instruction, we need to have the standards and the Technology Integration Matrix in mind, especially in regards to our students with disabilities. We want our students with disabilities to feel the same sense of belonging, accountability, and participation as the general education students. All of the topics we have discussed in this class can be viewed through the lens of Assistive Technology. I think it would be cool to see collaboration with 3D printing and Integrated Learning Services in which people create 3D printed objects to assist students with disabilities (such as pencil holders).

Flipped video lessons are helpful for students that need more support because they have the option to pause the video and replay any confusing parts. As a teacher, I might have to modify the flipped lesson to better accommodate students with disabilities; this could be accomplished with something as simple as subtitles on the video. When students with disabilities watch the flipped video lesson at home, he/she can spend the entire class period practicing the concept and receiving support from the teacher. This is an excellent way to check for understanding because I can check in on students’ progress during class.

Technology is already structured in a way that allows for scaffolding. There are already systems and applications in place that enable students of all cognitive and physical abilities to learn. If we want to teach all types of students, it will be beneficial for use to make use of technology.

Photo by BKnittle

Teaching with Technology and Web 2.0 Tools

AnnotateIt is an online forum that students can use to annotate online texts. When they log on to AnnotateIt, they can read an article, a blog, or any other online piece of writing and then markup the text. Students can highlight important concepts and make comments in the margins. It is an excellent way to encourage students to interact with the texts they are reading and a good way for students to pick out important concepts from the text. I would use this tool in my classroom whenever my students read anything online. I value interaction and marking up a text, so I would require my students to use this tool when reading any online text. This resource falls under the Understanding category of Bloom’s Taxonomy. It is an excellent tool to use to develop understanding of the text. It also falls under the category of Applying, since students should be making connections (text-text, text-self, text-world) as they are reading.

Smore is another Web 2.0 tool that I would use in my classroom. It is a website where students can make posters, newsletters, and graphic organizers. I love this tool because it can be useful for students and teachers. For students Smore can be used as a presentation tool or a planning tool. Teachers can use this resource to create unit plans or a class newsletter to communicate with parents. On Bloom’s Taxonomy it falls under Remembering, Understanding, and perhaps Applying (depending on the project).

Webspiration is a resource that students can use to make diagrams, outlines, and graphic organizers. Although it does cost money, it seems to be a fairly good tool for creating visual aids. I like that you can create a class and add students on Webspiration so that students can interact and turn in their work. It would be useful for drafting and planning essays or for student presentations. Webspiration falls in the Applying and Analyzing categories of Bloom’s Taxonomy. It is a good way for students to synthesize and analyze information.

 

The article “Future Ready Learning” is full of helpful examples and resources for incorporating technology in the classroom, as well as rationale of why teachers should be using technology in our classrooms. The authors state that if schools and administration support teachers in their endeavor to acquire new technology, then technology integration will be successful. Adequate support for teachers is one of the major factors for teachers not using technology in the classroom. It is extremely important for teachers to be well-informed and trained on how to use technology. This is where Professional Development and mentors come in to play. For me, the most important concept in this article was that teachers should be co-learners with their students. This lines up well with my teaching philosophy, which is that I should learn just as much from my students as they learn from me. I have a lot to learn about technology and I am excited to explore it with my students. Technology is a way for teachers to make class relevant and authentic, and also to connect the learning to the outside world. I like this aspect of technology because it creates learning opportunities and teaches students how to interact with people from all types of communities. Furthermore, it is a good way for students to interact with their own culture and incorporate it to their learning. The article also mentioned that using technology is a great way to connect with the students’ passions. This ties in to the concept of making the content relevant, authentic, and interesting. If nothing else, teachers have to incorporate technology in the classroom because technology integration is in the teacher quality standards and also the Colorado Department of Education standards.

 

Here is a link to the article:

http://tech.ed.gov/files/2015/12/NETP16.pdf

Technology in Education

Photo from Wikipedia (Link)

I am surprised at how resistant people my age (in their 20s) are to using technology in the classroom and/or getting to know new technology. My generation is the generation that experienced the tail end of the dark ages (pre-computers), the beginning of the Apple era, and the cell phone craze of ’06. In terms of “digital natives” and “digital immigrants,” I would consider myself a native considering the fact that I grew up during the technology boom. I feel like I can work with some technology relatively easily and I personally own a few technological devices (such as the computer I am using to write this blog post). Though I don’t want to speak for my fellow generation-whatever-they-call-us people, I do believe that many of us are resistant to new technology (myself included). Despite my ability to use a smartphone and computer, the thought of using new resources and technology in the classroom really intimidates me. I actually do not know much more than how to make a PowerPoint slide and sometimes how to work a Smart Board. Perhaps what is intimidating us the most is that the world of education is so closely tied with technology. Schools are rapidly moving towards 1:1 iPad or computer classrooms and applications for educators are being created all the time. Although people from my generation know how to use some technology for our personal use, few of us have experienced technology in the classroom as students. I am guessing since we have no reference point from our own education about how technology in the classroom should look, we are nervous about and resistant to learning new technologies.

Despite my trepidations about using technology in my classroom, I also am very excited about it. Technology has transformed education and made an entire community of educators that collaborate and share ideas. With technology, teachers can reach students who have different learning styles that are more interactive and kinesthetic. I like the idea of using technology in the classroom because it makes class so much more engaging and meaningful to kids. We are doing a disservice to kids if we don’t teach them how to use technology and how to be a responsible digital citizen. Whether we like technology or not, it will continue to flourish and develop, and we need to equip our students to be able to navigate it and use it with integrity. It is our responsibility to teach them how to use technology wisely, especially since their lives are extremely involved with social media. I really like the acronym that Kendra Vair taught me regarding posting things on social media and it is an acronym that I would like to teach my students.

Photo by Thomas Galvez (Link)

The other reason I am eager to learn how to use technology in the classroom is because it helps us teach non-academic competencies. Blogs, videos, documentaries, and Kahoot quizzes can help me teach non-academic competencies and values that I want to have in my classroom such as empathy, integrity, and grit. For example, I might use the following video at the beginning of the year:

If my peers and I continue to cower away from technology and resist it as much as we can, we are going to hinder ourselves as teachers and as a members of society today. It’s time to embrace what we’ve been avoiding for so long.

 

 

The Big Finish

It feels like the momentum of the semester has just come to a screeching halt and all of the sudden the semester has come to a dramatic and culminating finish. As we wrap up the semester, I am entering into that classic nostalgic and contemplative state of life where I think about all of the things I’ve done and all the knowledge I have gained. Being in Education classes this semester has taught me about the convoluted world of education. Here are just a few of the things I’ve picked up this semester:

• Parents are what you make of them—you can treat them like the enemy or you can consider them your ally
• It’s OK to cry

• “Our profession is hope”
• We need to teach empathy to our students
• The first years of teaching will be hard, but you will survive
• Teachers are difference-makers
• Sometimes students will let you down
• Educators have the power to change the world
• Teaching is rewarding, hard, exciting, and extraordinary
• The teachers who make the biggest difference in students’ lives are those who pursue relationships with them and fight for their education (i.e. calling a payphone to get a student to come to class)
• Despite the reputation of teaching, it is one of the most honorable and important professions (it can also be one of the most comical professions)

• Essays are not the best way to display a student’s insight
• Technology is a fantastic resource (it’s time to stop being afraid of it, Bailey)
• You may mess up a few times
• Decorations in a class can be fun and serve a purpose
• You can often learn more from your students than they can learn from you
• A class built on the concept of respect will be a successful and rewarding one

This is only my first year taking Education classes at CSU and I have already learned so much. I look forward to taking this knowledge that I have gained with me into my classroom in the future. I also am eager to gain more knowledge as I continue to take Education classes at Colorado State.

Advice from a Pro

As we have discussed in class, the first few years of teaching are probably going to be the hardest. Hopefully I won’t permanently scar my students or teach them the complete wrong thing. Since all I know of education is based off of my personal experiences and my parents’ experiences, I decided to ask my sweet mom for help.

Mrs. Winter the Superhero!

My question was, what are the best and worst parts of the first few years of teaching? Because, frankly, I want to go into teaching with as much insight as I can. I’m not about to go into teaching completely blind.

She said that the best parts of teaching are working with kids and creating fun activities for her kids to do. Now, even though she teaches second grade, I think these could still apply for when I teach high school students. Working with my students—getting to know them, talking with them, and helping them with their work—will be a rewarding and fun experience. And, the beauty of getting to create my own curriculum (to a certain extent) means that I can make it fun. School does not have to be dreadful and boring. I have the power to create fun activities that my students will love.

“It’s more of a light breeze”

The worst parts of the first few years are planning and not having materials and resources to use. Ah, here it is. The big scary monster that all teachers-in-training are terrified of: planning. I’m sure both of these things will be difficult. Planning scares me just as much as the next person and I know I will be frantically searching for resources to use. But, after being placed in a lot of positions I didn’t feel prepared for, I have learned something. When you are placed in a situation, you step up and do the best you can. Even if you don’t feel prepared, qualified, etc., you will do what you need to do in order to get the job done. Often times I feel like we limit ourselves and convince ourselves that we are not ready for something. But, when you are expected to do something, whether or not you feel ready, you rise up and do what needs to be done in order to meet the expectations.

As my favorite philosopher Christopher Robin once said, “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

All-Star Lineup

What I am excited to teach:

• Pablo Neruda (Sonnet 17)—It’s lovey dovey and the boys in my class might hate it but it’s still going to be awesome.
• Brave New World—One of my favorite books. Do yourself a favor and go read it right now if you haven’t already.
• Poetry—I used to hate it, now I love it. Now I can’t wait to teach it!
• Shakespeare—Awwww yeah. Will and I used to have a shaky relationship, but I’ve learned to love him dearly.

• Their Eyes Were Watching God—This was the book that shifted the momentum for me in my educational career. After reading this book I discovered that I actually have the capacity to enjoy books taught in English classes.
• Beloved— Haunting. Gripping. Beautifully written. I’ll make sure to tell my students not to read it before bed so they don’t get nightmares.
• “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”—Who knows if they even teach this anymore but it is a fantastic short story. Hopefully I will get the chance to share it with my students.
• Hamlet—Huzzah! My favorite play in the entire world. I will show even the grouchiest students that they can learn to love this play. It’s incredible. WHOO!
• East of Eden—I could not love a work of literature more than I love this book. I want everyone in the world to read it and love it. Steinbeck is a literary god as far as I am concerned.

These books, poems, short stories, etc. changed my life. That is so cliché, but I can’t think of how else to phrase it. These works of literature took me from “English classes are hard and not that interesting” to “If I could take English classes and nothing else, I would be a lot happier about my life.” Literature has that power; the power to change people’s perspectives and make them fall in love with words on a page.

“Miss Nelson is Missing!”

Let’s face it: students are bound to disappoint me at one point or another in my teaching career. When it happens, I will be really sad. I might even feel like a failure of a teacher. But, I think how I act towards a student after he/she has disappointed me will make the difference in his/her life.

When I am disappointed in a student, I plan on making my disappointment known. I want the student to know that he/she let me down. This is not intended to be a punishment nor is it meant to discourage and chastise the student. Rather than make them feel bad for what they have done or publicly shame them, I want to tell my students individually that I expect the best from them. I expect their very best and I will hold them to that standard.

My parents (who are geniuses with education and psychology backgrounds) implemented this strategy with my brother and I all throughout our childhood. When we would do something wrong—and we knew it was wrong—my dad would say to us, “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.” Yes, this is a hackneyed expression, but I’m telling you…it worked! My parents set their standards and made them known to my brother and me. Each time we missed the mark, our parents would tell us of their disappointment and then (later) reassure us that they still loved us.

I believe the same strategy can work with students. If I make my standards clear to them and I build a good relationship with my students, I will be able to confront them when they disappoint me. From there, we can come up with a solution that will better express to me what they are capable of. And, just like my parents, I will let my students know that even though I am disappointed, I still care deeply for each one of them. I’m not trying to be some monster teacher who is always disappointed and never kind or forgiving.

     {Miss Viola Swamp}

Lack of Planning

There is a teaching mantra that reads, “Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.” Whoever made this up means well I’m sure. In all honesty though, I’m just not a big fan of this statement. Sorry to all of you teachers out there reading this blog post while sipping out of a coffee mug with this phrase painted on the front.

I believe I need to take this phrase and reflect it back on myself when I become a teacher. Lack of planning on my part should not constitute an emergency on their part. It’s not respectful, nor is it right of me to make my students panic because of my lack of preparedness. I have had a handful of teachers in my life who have been unskilled at organization and that lack of organization immensely affected the class. Most of these particular teachers were new teachers, so I suppose I should hold my tongue about this subject until I have at least a year of teaching under my belt…eh, oh well.

When teachers are unorganized and don’t plan well, it creates a chaotic and stressful environment for students. Now, I’m not naming names here, but I did have a brand new teacher for freshman history in high school and I corrected NUMEROUS mistakes on his tests.

Obviously, teachers can’t always be 100% organized, 100% perfect, 100% incredible all the time. Mistakes and poor planning are acceptable (in my opinion) once in a long while, but should not become a regular habit of teachers.

Before I start pointing a finger at my students for their lack of planning, I think I should point the finger back at me and see if I am doing the best job I can at being prepared and organized so I can create an environment in which my students will thrive.

http://www.cafepress.com/mf/91536950/lack-of-planning-on-your-part_mugs?utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=1339353353&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=sem-cpc-product-ads&utm_content=search-pla&productId=1339353353

POP!

I want to teach at Arapahoe High School, which is the school I graduated from. I love the school and I love the staff. The motto at the school is “Warriors always take care of one another,” which happens to align perfectly with my personal teaching ideology. When I picture myself teaching my own class, I picture myself at Arapahoe.

My vision of the future:

• Student teach at Arapahoe
• Graduate (this is a key part of the plan)
• Frolic around the world (get some traveling in while I can)
• Get a job as an English teacher at Arapahoe High School
• Be a rock star teacher who changes the lives of students
• Become a local legend

Sounds great, right? Well, it recently dawned on me that this might not be what actually happens. My perfect little future bubble was violently popped by the reality that I might not get hired at Arapahoe.

There is a slim chance that Arapahoe will hire a fresh-out-of-college, doe-eyed teacher. Arapahoe is an excellent school in all aspects: teachers, sports, music, facilities. The administrators are looking for experienced teachers who know what they are doing and will continue the tradition of excellence.

So maybe I won’t teach at Arapahoe—at least not right out of college. It’s important that I keep an open mind about my future instead of just holding fast to one specific idea of what it will look like. I have a friend who recently was admitted to the Boettcher program. The program will pay for him to earn his Master’s degree if he teaches at a specific high school in Denver. That seems like a pretty good gig to me.

I tend to get these ideas and expectations in my head, and when things don’t turn out how I picture them, I get upset. Being a teacher requires flexibility. I need to get over my fixed mindset and start being open to other opportunities.