Final Reflection

During this course there were some challenges that I faced.  The biggest challenge, of course, was time.  I am only in my second year of teaching, so I still spend quite a bit of time at the school to get my lessons ready.  I also enrolled in 502 this semester.  It was quite challenging trying to balance everything.  I did become very organized in my weekly plans. I  mapped out a week at a time of what day I needed to complete what work to keep myself on track.  I also started bringing less of my schoolwork home from the class that I teach.  Eventually I quit bringing any home.  I realized that I could do it before school or during planning.  It made me realize that there is actually more time during the school day to get things done than I previously thought.

Another challenge that I faced was finding resources.  Sometimes I got so scared that I would not find the resources or research that I needed to complete an assignment.  When we did the Digital Divide presentation, my colleagues were great about taking my survey in a timely fashion.  This was one that I was worried about.  I also had a difficult time finding all the information I needed for the School Evaluation Summary.  Luckily for me, I have a Technology Facilitator in my building that was so helpful.  She answered many of my questions and helped me find the Technology Use Plan.  She helped me find resources of ideas for many of my assignments.

I feel that the Technology Trends artifact was my best.  At least it is the one that made the biggest impression on me.  I researched deeper learning approaches and found a great website for project-based learning.  I took this and created a unit for my second graders.  The two other second grade teachers at my school hopped on board and are using it in their classrooms as well.  This is a great way for us to bundle the standards, which our district is slowly moving toward.  In my other class, 502, I was able to build a website that went along with this unit.  I actually took the second part of this unit and used it for the final website for 502.  It really makes me feel like I am on the right track when I am designing units that can be used across different classes for my Master’s program and also in my own classroom.

One thing that I plan to do in my school, other than use more project-based units, is to really encourage teachers to dive into technology.  After creating a presentation on the Digital Divide, I think that it is so important to get those students immersed in technology.  Our school offers Tech ‘n 20’s on Fridays for teachers to learn technology tips.  I will be more active in these meetings and share the ways that I am successfully implementing technology in the second grade curriculum.

School Evaluation Summary

Here is the link to my survey and evaluation.

After doing this evaluation, I placed my school at an Integrated stage on the Maturity Model Benchmarks.  My district is a flourishing district with the funds to purchase a lot of technology.  I have always noticed how much technology there is in the school.  The district is starting to award grants to teachers to have class sets of technology so that they do not have to check out a mobile cart or reserve a computer lab.  Thinking about all of the access, before I completed the survey, I thought, surely we should be at the Intelligent stage.  After completing the survey, I realized, we still have a long way to go.

One thing that was interesting on the evaluation was that the Infrastructure/Resources usually outscored the Behaviors.  In my school, there is so much access to technology and the Internet, but the teachers have to utilize the resources.  After taking the time to think through the evaluation, it is not so surprising that the school ranked at the Integrated stage.  There is training available for the staff, but most of it comes down to time.  A lot of the implementation process will not occur until the teachers have used their own time to get familiar with the technology.  I believe with increased support from the administration and more allotted time for training and experimentation, our school will make great technological maturity growth.

Technology Trends: Shift to Deeper Learning Approaches

I absolutely loved this assignment.  This has definitely been my favorite assignment so far.  With the Common Core Standards, we are really trying to dive into higher level questioning and deeper level thinking.  I decided to do some more research on deeper learning approaches.  I chose the Digital Learning Day site and chose the Buck Institute for Education: Problem-Based Learning Resources, Videos, and Planning Tools. This took me to a resource on project-based learning.  Then I was able to search projects.

I found a project for second grades on animal habitats that I want to try.  My district is considering moving to bundled standards, so I approached my second grade team with this idea and they jumped on board.   I used the unit design that they provide and created a unit that fit the needs of my students and district.  I am every excited to do this project with my students.  It will include reading, writing, science, math, technology, and social students.  I know that my students will get way more out of this project than just reading an article on animal habitats. Here is the link to my unit: Animal Habitats.

After completing this assignment, I am so excited to do more research on project-based learning and incorporating it into my classroom.  I think that students will really have that shift to deeper learning by being active in project-based learning and bundled standards, instead of segmenting out the day with reading, writing, math, and science blocks.