Learning+Statements

 May 2009

** Something I am learning about technology is... **

Something that I am learning about technology is that it is always changing and developing and I am changing and developing my knowledge base of it. I'm happy to be learning about cutting edge technology and discovering that I have to adapt and grow along with the new information. I know now that the internet is a fabulous tool and there are so many facinating things that people are doing with technology in the field of education these days. So many doors have opened up for me and there is so much that I can experiment with in my class. On the flip side of this, there are many doors that are still closed because of the logistics that surround using technology on a daily basis with my class. I don't always have the access to working computers and when I do, it is difficult to monitor students while they are on the computers. Our labs are set up so students are often hidden from me and they tend to get off task easily. I try my best to move around the lab as much as possible, but I know that teaching them a new concept or even navigating through a webquest is challenging at best. Nevertheless, I try my best to overcome the hurdles and provide students with practical information aided by technology.

**Something I am learning about learning is... **

Something that I am learning about learning is that it takes time and effort. Nothing of value ever comes easily and this holds true for acquiring new technology skills. I have to be willing to put in the time it takes to feel comfortable with a new piece of equipment or software or gadget. I have to have an open and optimistic mind in order to overcome some of the hurdles I encounter. I also need a lot of support. I've realized that when I reach out for help, it is forthcoming. This is both in terms of assistance from living breathing people, but also from virtual help desks. It's great that I can put a question out there in the vast www and acutally get a reply back. The support that I've received from the teaching staff that I work with and from Betty has also been amazing. Whenever I ask for assistance, I get an immediate response. The person I'm asking may not have the answer I need, but he/she attempts to lead me in the right direction. And the feelings of being inadequate because I didn't know a lot about technology at the start of LTT are fading away. I see now that we are __all__ constantly learning as technology is changing by the day, the minute even the second. I don't feel shamed now when I can't imbed a widget or set up my new googledocs slide show because somewhere along the line others have struggled with the same sorts of things to do with technology. As long as I keep an open and optimisitic attitude about learning, I will continue to acquire new knowledge. Then, I can even pass on this information to others in need.

** Something I am learning about teaching is... **

Something I am learning about teaching is that even after eight years in the classroom, I am learning new things every day,...and I love that. I love the satisfaction of having a question that needs an answer and following through until I resolve it. A whole new world has been opened up for me and there is so much for me to learn and then impart to my students. Although I am still in the beginning stages of aquiring new information, I feel that I haven't done enough in terms of using technology with my students. I didn't get a chance to try my "improved" lesson incorporating technology with the class as we ran out of time in science class and didn't get to ecology. That was a real letdown since I had put so much effort into it and it would have been fun to contribute to a timely issue. Truth be told, I was a little nervous about how they would respond to the new challenges of signing up to be a member on my wiki site and then researching and responding online to an ecological issue. I hope I didn't purposely thwart their opportunity to be a part of this unique lesson. I know two students in particular would have loved it, because they thrive on a challenge like that. Of course these are my assumptions again. Maybe I am just projecting my interests onto my students. I can only really know if I enthusiastically present the lesson as planned and then see the response. Assumptions - this is another area that I am really paying attention to lately. My biggest assumption is that my students are willing and therefore able...capable of learning the information I impart to them. Although I know this assumption is not true, I'm finding it very difficult to change the way I teach. I teach to the median intelligence level of the class and those above and below that have to adapt or bail out. I've seen a lot of bailing out these days both from my gifted student and from the socially, emotionally and learning disabled students. In thinking through how to get them back on board, it dawned on me that technology could be the eqalizer. In general, children find it relatively easy to navigate their way around a computer or some other piece of technology. Whereas they have tremendous difficutly problem solving with pencil and paper, they find it very easy to trouble shoot on the computer. They try this, then they try that and voila; the problem is solved. Also, technological aids, such as smart boards are great for our adapted kids, but they are also wonderful for the whole class. If I actually become more courageous and try out some of these forms of technology with the class, who knows who will shine. I could be pleasantly surprised to find out who really are my digital kids.

** Something I am learning about myself is... ** Something I am learning about myself is that I've really come a long way in a short amount of time in terms of acquiring the skills and ability to apply new technology. I no longer feel like I need to hide in the back row of class because the teacher might call on me and I won't know the answer. Even if I don't know it, I'm not ashamed to say so now. After I find out how to load a piece of software, or investigate a new site or create a new document, I will go ahead and try it out myself. Indeed, I am feeling comfortable with where I am at...not sitting back and letting IT wash over me, but not letting fear paralyze my ability to learn either. Part way through the first term of LTT, I really felt that I had bitten off more than I could chew. Work and home life were consuming the majority of my free time and I honestly didn't have the spare time to really play around and become familiar with what we were learning in class. I'd leave it for awhile and when I came back to the course work again, I felt like I was starting from scratch. Now that I've assimilated the information, I feel comfortable with just learing a little bit at a time, going at my own pace and learning from my mistakes. I am also learning to balance my life so that I don't lose touch with what is really important to me. When I plan my week, I make sure to consciously log in time for computer exploration. I am happy to be immersed in all that the internet has to offer, but I balance it with real world and real time experiences. My immediate and extended family are very important to me and so I have to ensure that I stay grounded and don't let technology swallow me up. It's a fine line, but again I am taking it one day at a time and learning to balance.