Wow! So I have finally decided to blend my passion for technology and my love of science together into a single cohesive teaching style. To many of you, this sounds logical, of course science and technology should blend together it makes perfect sense. And it does make perfect sense, yet how to develop something that is both meaningful and worthwhile for the students is not as easy as just waking up and saying I want to truly use technology to make my teaching more effective. This is a journey one that will be made of highs and lows, one that will contain successes and failures. And more than any of that one that I want to document to ensure that when I look back on this journey I remember it as a journey and not just the final destination.
Throughout my teaching career I am constantly looking for ways to reinvent myself, and to support my students to become more engaged, independent learners. From using instant response clickers, to developing power points with music to pull students in technology has always been my avenue. I am constantly looking at how I can use technology to allow my room to run more smoothly and be the best teacher I can be. It has become part of my educational philosophy that we must meet students where they are and because students today are typically far more technology savvy than most of their teachers it is time to "go where no man has gone before"...well not no man, but you get the idea.
Let me clear a few things up as I pilot this idea as I develop the use of this new technology, or more so this new way of thinking I have to be realistic of a few things.
1. I am going to have push back from students: Any new idea whether good or bad is going to have push back, not that it is a bad thing, it definitely helps you to continue to evaluate and looking at what is working, what is not working and how to improve upon the idea and all of the aspects of the idea.
2. I have to be aware of my resources: Many teachers say I need x, y, and z if I am going to truly implement technology into my room, and that is simply not true. I currently do not have an interactive white board and just recently obtained a document reader. Most of what I will be discussing and implementing will be done using my school issued laptop.
3. This is a new way of teaching not just a strategy: Although this is not something that I am looking to jump right off the bridge and into, it is something that I am committed to and want to find effective methods to use. It is taking available technology and using it to change how my classroom is run. It is stopping my reign as the STAR of my classroom, and become a coach to the true stars, MY STUDENTS!!
Although I am sure there are many other things to consider and I will probably be adding things as well as expanding on somethings, I wanted you take a look at what I am about to dive feet first into...I am really going to be FLIPPING MY CLASSROOM OUT!
