Final Reflection - EDUC 6713

Creating a GAME Plan for integrating technology in my classroom was a great way for me to organize my thoughts and ideas to create a plan for bringing technology to my students and to utilize Web 2.0 technologies with my students.  At the beginning of this class, I was pretty skeptical about some of the things we used (especially digital storytelling!)  Math does not seem to be a subject that lends itself to many things other than worksheets and LOTS of practice; however after watching the class videos, I definitely feel that digital storytelling has a place in my classroom.  My students can use it to create their own story problems or even to demonstrate how math can be used in everyday life.

I have definitely learned to keep an open mind when it comes to technology in a math classroom.  Prior to working in these courses, the only technology we used on a regular basis was a TI-84 graphing calculator.  Now, I feel that I have so many learning tools that I can give my students to help them learn, understand, and even find extra help!  Currently, I am limited by what is available within my district (and our very small budget...).  I hope to work to include more technology use into my classes and know that it will be a slow process.  That actually is a good thing, since I tend to want to do everything all at once, and being limited forces me to take it slow and not bite off more than I can chew.

Collaborating with my colleagues through the use of our wiki was a great way to give and receive feedback on lessons, and can be a very valuable tool for my own students.  They can share ideas and work together just as I have to learn more about bringing technology into the classroom.  Students have been excited about the prospect of using a class wiki - but every step of the way, we have been hampered by hardware issues and, most recently, a virus on our network servers.  This has also taught me to have a back up plan ready - just in case...  Sticky notes and a big whiteboard served as a pseudo-wiki when our internet was not available.

I guess the keys to being a good teacher is to keep an open mind, always have a back-up plan, and to be flexible.  Students can learn to take things in stride if we model that behavior in the classroom.