Reflections

**This is where I will add my thoughts and reflections on Teaching and Technology as were written down during our in-class Quiet Writes. [[image:marks_635_front.jpg align="left" caption="1985 BMW"]]**
**If I were a car.... **  If I were a vehicle I would be a 1985 BMW. I strive for perfection and persevere against all odds. I'm a classic; however, I'm willing to be a updated. I know the basics and I can get by with that information - after all, I have for years. I tend to resist new technology a bit, because it seems to be too much all at once. I don't go for fads or "spam"; they simply clutter up the interior. Alas, I must get with the times yet remain true to myself. I will better myself slowly but surely and be the best I can be for myself and for my students. German technology - can the best be improved? It's all a facade. 

** Current assumptions I have about teaching: ** I have many assumptions about teaching. Probably one of the most basic assumptions I have is that all my students want to learn something new on a daily basis. I assume they are emotionally, cognitively, and socially ready and capable of learning. Of course that is not true. The students I teach come from various walks of life and deal with more things at home than I want to imagine. For some, school is a refuge, a hideout, a place to chill out. Some are so overwhelmed with their day to day survival that learning is only secondary at best. I often forget that. Other students in my classes are not as socially mature as the majority of their peers. For them, it is difficult to concentrate on schoolwork because they can't find their binder or pencil or someone in the class just gave them a dirty look. Still others simply do not learn as others do. Their brains are not hardwired like the average or above average students'. They need more time to read material, they need a more simplified explanation of directions, and they need a little extra TLC. Don't we all. I often forget that. I just want to get on with my day plan...after all I have so many learning outcomes to fulfill. Of course, this too is an assumption. I assume that by focusing and willing my students to learn, they will. Yes, they will...in their own time and in their own way.  ** Because I assume these things to be true, when I create a learning environment, I pay attention to: ** whether or not the students are truly listening to what I am teaching them and/or are engaged with the lesson. If they are not, I immediately redirect them.
 * My Assumptions About Teaching **


 * [[image:images.jpg align="left"]]A Time I Learned Something On My Own **

I can think of many times I learned something on my own as I do it on a daily basis. However, if I were to pick one thing that stands out in my mind, it would be learning to play a song on the guitar for the first time. I had tremendous misgivings about learning to play the guitar as my experiences with learning to play the piano were not always pleasant. I didn't want to compare the two experiences so I tried my best to have an open mind when I began my lessons. I loved it right off from the start. I think it was because I could play a song fairly quickly simply by putting a few chords together. The fingerings were challenging, but the pay off was great. I was elated and this allowed me to experiment and persevere. I could read a chord chart and learn new chords on my own! Furthermore, I could sing a whole song and change chords when needed to accompany my voice. Yippee. What a rush!! This has been one of the hardest entries to write, not because I don't know or can't reflect on my teaching, but because it is a very large question. I am not sure how to condense into one entry all that encompasses who I am as a teacher.
 * My Thoughts On Who I Am As a Teacher **

**On Learning... ** What I have discovered about learning is that you need to have patience. This is particularly true when it comes to learning new technology. Winding your way through the web or learning a new program takes time, time, TIME. I am continually amazed at how time flies when I am sitting down in front of the computer and working on an assignment. Usually, after a few hours I have acquired some new knowledge or information that I can apply to my eportfolio. **

My Digital Kids

My digital kids are those students who are technologically minded and who I would go to for assistance if I needed it. I can pick these students out because they are the ones who tell me that they don't watch much T.V., but are on MSN or other chat places during most of their free time. They are the ones who also ask if they can type their work and do powerpoint presentations. Last year, I had two or three of these kids in my class and they floored me with their knowledge. They took a simple paper and pencil assignment and spruced it up using photoshop. I had never seen anything like it before and it really impressed not only me but their peers as well. It's infectious really, especially when one has a competitive group by nature. After that, several others wanted to do the same thing. This year, my class is not so overtly competitive, but the digital kids still exist. I have a student that updates my Sharepoint site for me on a daily basis. He's my right hand and I will miss him greatly when he graduates to grade 8 next year. They absorb information so quickly and are ready to try anything new. It's an exciting techie world out there and thank goodness that we have these capable kids. Pitfalls of Technology

Some of the problems I have with technology centre around the themes of credibility, tangibility, accessibility and longevity. I will elaborate on these ideas with a few examples. It is incredible that we have the ability to access a wealth of information on the internet. We simply have to "google" a word or phrase and the search engine brings up a list of many sites we can access for the desired information. Gone are the days of spending hours in the library sifting through information in volume after volume of the World Book Encyclopedia. The internet is certainly a fast and convenient way to access information, but is it credible? I know that certain sites are more reliable than others, but how do we know for sure? Who is monitoring whom? **