Week 7 Reflection

This section of the textbook addresses new directions and emerging technologies for IDT. For your final post, reflect on how you might apply each of the following in your current or future position in the IDT field:

Distributed or E-Learning Environments

I believe my district is currently serving students in the area of e-learning. Elementary students attend 30 minutes in the computer lab daily to work on computer programs for reading and math (iStation and SuccessMaker). I believe my district should utilize more e-learning for teachers. Instead of having to take the time to attend workshops after school and on the weekends they should offer the workshops online.  This would help teacher who have children that they must find childcare for during these workshops.  I believe teachers would actually attend more workshops if they were available online.   

Reusable Design or Learning Objects

My favorite graphic organizers to use in the classroom are Thinking Maps.  In kindergarten I mostly use Bubble Maps (to describe using adjectives), Double Bubble Maps (to compare/contrast), Circle Maps (to define in context) and Tree Maps (to classify and group). While kindergartners are emerging readers these maps are easy for them to follow and they understand the information listed on them. 

     

     CIRCLE MAP

  

Rich Media

I believe my classroom is very rich in media use.  Our reading and math adoptions have online websites that enrich the programs. We can play quizzes, watch videos, listen to songs to support what we are currently learning.  For daily brain breaks we watch and dance to “Just Dance Kids” videos on YouTube.  I also make interactive Power Points to introduce lessons in Math and Science. The Power Points are also useful for informal assessments. Two examples of Power Points I created this week were “Introducing Living vs. Non-Living” and “Reviewing Sorting Rules.” Students are involved with all our computer media through the use of Easiteach Class Pads. This pad moves around the room and students are able to manipulate the computer through the use of it. This helps get everyone involved and makes lessons more student centered instead of teacher centered. 

Emerging Instructional Technologies/Games

While I do not have much experience in Gaming and Virtual Worlds I know this appeals to many people. In the future I can see Virtual Classrooms being created.  While I would hate to see the actual classrooms disappear because I believe the face-to-face interaction between students/teachers and students/students are extremely important, I think this would be an interesting addition to the actual classrooms.  A possible idea would be to use it after-school for tutoring or homework. 

Week 6 Reflection

This is my 13^th year in elementary education. I am currently teaching kindergarten for Garland ISD.  I have taught in both private and public school settings.  The majority of my experience is in kindergarten.  After graduating with my bachelor’s degree from A&M-Commerce I worked for a year and a half as a recruiter for the university. It was a great experience and I traveled all over Texas talking to high school and junior college students about the school I loved.  After a year and a half I decided I wanted to go into teaching so I began teaching 2^nd grade at a catholic school in Dallas and worked on receiving my teaching certification from A&M-Commerce. Ever since I learned how to read I have loved books. I was one of those kids that hid a flashlight in my room so I could read at night. I would check out books from the library, buy them from the school book fair or store and finish them in one day. To this day if I’m reading a good book I can’t stop. I’ll read late into the night.  While working on my certification I decided to take an LIS course just to see how it was. I loved it. I knew then I wanted to one day become a librarian.  It would be a dream to share my love of books with children. That was over 10 years ago. Then life happened, I was married and began having children.  My plans of becoming a librarian had to take a back seat.  During the past 10 years I never forgot my dream of becoming a librarian but didn’t think I could juggle working full-time and being a mom/wife full-time.  This past April after my birthday I decided it was time to make some changes in my life and start focusing on myself.  So this summer I started taking courses to earn my master’s degree in Library Science.  It will take me a few years but I know it will all be worth it when I welcome children into the library and let them experience all the wonderful stories waiting for them in the books. 

I am very happy to see that there are so many ETEC courses required to become a librarian. Just as classroom education has changed drastically over the years so have libraries. I still remember walking into the library at A&M-Commerce in the mid-1990’s and having to use the old card catalog system to find books and looking through the numerous Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature to find magazine and journal articles.  Now everything you want to research is available at your fingertips on a computer.  Librarians not only help check out books they are there to help students and teachers research and learn how technology can assist them in their education.  At this point I think of myself as middle of the road computer literate.  I know more than the basics but not enough.   This course is the first time I created a blog and posted.  I love reading other people's blogs but didn't even know how to get started. I can now use my new knowledge about blogging to help co-workers and students create their own blogs.  It is my hope that the ETEC courses in this program will help me become proficient in the technology aspect of running a library.