Janet+Glazier+Final+Portfolio


 * Final Portfolio **

@Artifacts

@Goals

**Reflection:**


 * Who am I as a technology user?
 * How can technology improve teaching and learning?
 * What digital skills must students develop to succeed in school and beyond?

 At the beginning of this course**,** I taught the majority of my lessons on chart paper and made students re-write drafts endlessly on paper. I'd read many articles and statistical surveys reiterating that technology in the classroom is no substitute for good teaching. (Actually, I still believe technology cannot substitute a good teacher.) Moreover, as this was my first year EVER teaching (with no formal education in teaching), I thought it more pertinent to learn how to actually teach rather than bother with what felt to me like a cheap magic trick to reel in student interest. In January, I really saw technology as merely an investment piece for students ("Look at this video I made of me reading to you!") and a research tool ("Look this up on Google"). We have limited access to technology at my school and I'd heard frightening stories from veteran teachers about students looking up guns and vaginas on the grade set of laptops during class lessons. Overall, I had decided that I just wasn't going to go down the "technology path" in the classroom until my second year of teaching (when, hopefully, I'd have a better handle on things). My thoughts began to change somewhere towards the beginning of the semester when we were assigned to watch the video clip "Did you know." Suddenly, it became very clear to me that my students' opportunities to attend college and gain employment are contingent on them being digitally literate. Yes, they still need to learn how to read, but they'll probably need to understand HTML format, how to program a computer, and how to research valid sources online. Upon that realization, I was a little nervous because I only felt equipped to explain the final item on my list. Slowly, I have begun to incorporate new uses of technology into my classroom. I've realized that my special needs and ESL students can only serve to benefit from learning the same information from several different sources (a option that I've uncovered through many different online programs thanks to my classmates). We as teachers need to honor the fact that our students learn different and that we have a duty to prepare them from the world "outside academia." Technology will help us (though perhaps not save us) to close the achievement gap. Most job placements are contingent on proficient computer use and an understanding of internet professionalism. We strive to teach our students Standard English and manners so they'll be taken seriously in the working world, but that needs to extend to a student's online persona.  Now that we're coming to a close in the semester, I still feel very much like a technological novice. This class has been simultaneously enlightening and infuriating. It was enlightening because I felt that I've learned so many things (and new programs) I want to use in my classroom and develop to truly "catch my students up" and excite them. The topic was outside my comfort zone but I believe that made all I took in more vital. Yet, this class infuriating because for all I really wanted to do, I felt totally unequipped and unable to implement anything as a full-time, inexperienced, new teacher solely responsible for writing all my unit plans (I think I am the only new teacher the roster who has to), grading, managing, and teaching 60 middle school students. Most of this semester, I felt like a paraplegic watching my classmates swim while I drowned. My abilities were limited by my stance in life, and if I could, I wish could have the opportunity to take this class again as either a veteran teacher or a full time student.

**Final Goals (Where do I go from here?):**

By next year I would like to have a working class website for assignments, discussion threads, and contact information. After examining some of my classmates' personal use projects, I have also decided that I would like to start a Twitter account for next year. I often have parents and students calling me for information about homework and projects. I believe having a Twitter with both parent and student followers might alleviate some of that confusion and give students another forum to connect and communicate. By September, I strive to have both of these things set up as well as 5 alternate lessons plans per unit that use applications like Voicethread and Prezi to help my ESL, special needs, and visual learners.