Monday, August 20, 2007

My Future Classroom

There are many things I learned about in my ECMP 455 class that I would like to carry on into my internship and future classroom. I am going to do my best to include as much technology in my internship as I can but ultimately it is not my classroom. I showed my co-op teacher Kathy Cassidy's classroom blog and she thought it was great if you had the time to do that. I agree that having a classroom blog would take time and if the students had not blogged before then teaching them the ins and outs of blogging would take time but a blog is such a great tool for communication I think it would be worth the effort.




My dream classroom would include a laptop for each student. I often think of lessons to do on the computer but then quite honestly forget about them quickly because of all the juggling I would have to do to get my students on a computer. The school I am interning at has one computer in the classroom, a set of traveling laptops and about 8 computers in the library (which the librarian does not like to share). I like the advice someone gave me previously about getting donated computers for my classroom, this is something I am going to do for sure when I get my own classroom. There are still a lot of things you can do with only one computer but imagine having 10 in the classroom, that would open up so many more opportunities.


One thing I learned about in ECMP 455 that I will really use in my classroom is all of the free video editing programs online. I really could have used these sites in my pre-internship.

I also really like the idea of hooking up with other classrooms around the world and doing some sort of collaborative project with them. There are so many options and it doesn't matter if you are in Regina, Rome or Reno.

Every time I look online I find at least one great resource or something that sparks my imagination. I think I can use the internet and technology in general to spark students imaginations. I do think that everything needs to be balanced though, students still need to do work that is not online.

Reading other peoples blogs has made me aware of different issues and important things to think about such as privacy online and how far is too far when you are online. I would never think of adding students to my facebook account because it is personal and you never know what kinds of posts my friends may make or what kind of presents they may be sending.

Bottom line is technology can be used for many purposes and is used to connect the world. I would like to use it to connect my students, their families and possibly students from around the globe. I would like my students to grow from using technology and I would like to grow along with them. One piece of advice I will take from this class and share with others is to master one thing at a time, to make things seem less overwhelming.

1 comment:

DRS said...

I've heard people say before that technology takes too much time. Certainly there is an investment of time early on establishing routines and protocols that are often foreign to teachers and students but the goal is to make it not an add on but simply how we operate. That's where Kathy is at but it does take time and involve frustrations that many teachers are not willing to experience. The difference with Kathy is that she and I'm sure you fully see the power and benefit to kids. She's compelled to do it because it's in their best interest.

Your situation as an intern is somewhat different since there will be time constraints. I might suggest you use a comment blog where you set it up and ask them questions and they respond on your blog.

I'm glad you invested in some online editing tools. You were the only one that really used them so I'm glad your reviews are positive.

All the best. I'm confident you'll do well.