My primary resource will be the internet. Through internet sources I can locate acitivities devleoped by many other teachers that I could use as is, adapt, or gain ideas from.
There are also many people within the district who I can consult. I can collaborate with other teachers in the building both who teach in my subject area or use technology tools I am interested in incorporating. My district also generally provides one or two technology training sessions each year in which they bring together all the teachers who teach the same subject area together to focus on learning to use new devices the district has purchased for us and collaborate on activities we can use those devices for in our subject area (last year it was Smartboards, the year before last it was LabQuests). A lot of my teacher resources also have on-line activities and links to various multi-media sources as well as activity ideas. The district also has a technology integration specialist, curriculum specialists and most of the schools have teams of teachers which serve as a technology integration team for the building.
The knowledge and practice I am gaining through my Walden experiences will also provide me with a good working knowledge of many free web tools available and confidence in using them to develop my own activity and lesson ideas.
Given that I am currently not teaching full-time but am substitute teaching instead, my progress towards my game plan has been primarily limited to the knowledge and practice I am gaining through my Walden experiences. Although I have been seeing and using lesson plans created by other teachers. Generally these lesson plans aren't typical because they are plans left for a substitute to follow but the experience is providing me with exposure to some of the activities other teachers are using in different subjects and grade levels including some being used in special education classes and alternative schools. I am also getting to know many different teachers through out the school district who could serve as resources for me.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Hello Laura,
ReplyDeleteI think that you are very smart to use online resources as well as colleagues’ expertise in developing your own plans. I think that we often try to re-invent the wheel. While starting from scratch is a good way to learn about the entire process of developing good technology lessons (and it can really give you an appreciation for the effort it takes), we should not waste time doing things that have already been done. Do you have a good system of documenting and/or saving the resources you find? (I am trying to figure this part out…I used a great internet source for a book-report project for my students last year, but do you think I could find it again?! I had saved it on my school laptop’s “favorites,” but when our computers got re-imaged, the favorites were lost. I can now use an online bookmarking tool, such as www.delicious.com to save these resources in a more organized and reliable way.)
Good luck on your projects. Also, good luck subbing…you are right, it can be a great way to get ideas. I remember writing a lot of things down (activities, posters/quotes, scheduling ideas, seating ideas, etc., and sometimes I found out what NOT to do…) and I still use some of those ideas today…eight years later!
Erin
Even though you do not have your own classroom, you can use your time subbing as a great way to spark your creativity. Typically teachers probably leave some type of busy work for their students, but you could try to adjust it for the students to make it more interesting while still accomplishing the objective the teacher wanted to accomplish.
ReplyDeleteAs a substitute are you able to attend the technology training sessions? In my district the substitutes don't have computer logins so during their time in the classroom they can't even use the computers. Technically the students can't even use the computers with a substitute in the classroom which is also inconvenient. Be creative when executing another teacher's plans. The kids, and the teacher, will appreciate it!
Erin,
ReplyDeleteI tend to bookmark sites on my personal laptop which I usually take to school with me too. Though I do now have a delicious account also. Also, when I was full time all the teachers and students had their own personal folders on the school server. These could only be accessed from our log-ins, were accessible from every school computer and weren't subject to being affected by computer refacing.
Emma,
Since I was previously full-time my log-in may still be active. I haven't checked, and if it is, it may only be active at the school I was at before, I may have to check. However, I usually take my personal laptop with me and I've found I connect it to the school internet hookups without a school log-in.
Also, although most subs are not technically allowed to supervise student computer use, I have the district's on-line student supervision certification which allows me to supervise computer use even as a sub. Actually the technology teacher at the school I used to teach full time at made a point of getting my number since he knows I have the training needed to supervise computer use, which is an issue he runs into every time he has to call a sub. And though some technology training is limited to certain groups of teachers, many of them are open to any district employee, including subs. However, most of the current offerings are either smartboard (which I completed last year), the internet certification training which I already have, or basic computer skills courses which I could probably teach. These are on using programs such as Microsoft Word, Power point, and the district's electronic grade book, and parent communication site.