Thursday, January 9, 2014

Aspirations

After teaching 4th and 5th grades for 15 years I had the good fortune of becoming a Technology Resource Teacher at a K- 5 school this year.  So far the position has been both exciting and challenging.  Designing computer skills lessons for upper grades has been one of the most interesting parts of the job.  It is inspiring to see how engaged and motivated students are by web based tech tools and educational programs.  One of the biggest challenges has been equity or equal access to technology.  The computers and devices that students have access varies some from classroom to classroom and vastly across the district.  As a classroom teacher with limited access to technology I had to find resources that I could use whole class such as projecting the daily free BrainPop animation if it was at all relevant to anything we were learning about in class.  Now I find it exciting to research and integrate technology that can help develop tech skills and compliment the lessons students are working on in their classrooms.  Even though the technology varies from classroom to classroom all students are able to visit the Computer Lab on a weekly basis, the computers are connected to the internet and in decent working shape.

I've been reading a lot about educational technology, following a lot of educators on social media like Twitter, attending some online courses and webinars and attended a CUE and Launch conference.  Beyond trying to soak in as much inspiring knowledge as I can  I haven't been as active as I could in connecting with other educators.  As the remainder of the school year dips towards June I want to continue to stay current on developments and best practices in Educational Technology and become more active participating in online ed tech chats, blogging and connecting with other educators to gain and share ideas.

Here's to 2014 Aspirations!

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