As you recall
from last week’s blog post my first goal is to incorporate one new type of
technology into my life each new semester of school. I have a Smartphone and
have become very reliant on several of the applications available on it;
however I have not yet gotten used to the calendar feature, or the reminders
that are available through this application. As school supplies are beginning
to go on sale around me I have considered purchasing my new agenda for the
school year, but have decided instead to not to do this and rely on my phone
instead. I picture myself being able to speak reminders to myself in my phone
as I walk between buildings and classes at school, always having my calendar at
my fingertips, and never missing a meeting because I will have text reminders
sent to me. To become comfortable with using the phone as my agenda I need to
become comfortable with the features, and I will likely have someone with a
similar phone show me how they use theirs. I have access to several expert
teenage phone users who I am sure would love to show me how to do everything I
need. Summer seems like the perfect time to begin experimenting with this, but
alas, my phone battery exploded and I have been without my beloved phone for
over a month now. I ordered a replacement battery June 8th, and it
is still on back order… it is due to arrive July 22. Step one to accomplishing
my first goal is to actually get my phone to turn on; I have not accomplished
this yet but hope to do so soon.
My second goal is
to have students use technology in the classroom weekly. To do this I plan to
meet with my colleagues weekly to plan collaborative lessons with them and
present ideas on how to integrate technology into my lessons. Since it is
summer break I have not yet accomplished this. This week’s resources have included several
ideas for my content area: using Microsoft Excel to have students enter data
and create graphs, using software (we have Smart Notebook) to allow students to
create lines to solve for, and assigning online tutorial work to struggling students
to replace missing assignments, (Laureate Productions, Inc., 2011). To keep
coming up with fresh ideas I intend to research lesson plans online. There are
many teachers who post their classroom ideas on blog sites and Pinterest; I will
use these resources to find creative ways that I can adapt technology to my
classroom. I have researched some teacher websites in the past, but if you know
of any great sites for teaching Analytic Geometry please do feel free to share.
References
Laureate Education, Inc.
(Producer). (2011). Meeting Students’
Needs with Technology Part 1. [Video webcast]. Retrieved from
http://www.courseurl.com.
Getting to know and use your phone is a wonderful idea and using it daliy will sure help you to learn it quickly. I my self dont know the ins and outs of my phone as well and I just need to sit down and take a longer look at it. Getting to gather with your colleagues is a wonderful way to bounce ideas off of them and to make your lesson plans work to the advantage of your students. Our district has a social network that is secure and we can contact , have students do research or just email us and it has help our lessons more in the past two years. I add all my assignements on the wall and announcements. Hopefully school districts will come and get to use this type of programs its a huge saver. Best of luck....Jeanne Kitchell
ReplyDeleteOur school has worked very hard to provide for common planning for subject area teachers. With this has come some additional responsibilities and expectations of how we should use this time, but overall I feel it is a huge advantage. We also have a similar set up where all teachers are able to access everyone else's lesson plans, as well as the materials that teachers choose to save on this particular drive. That is also helpful, but I do feel that the time we spend collaboratively planning is very productive (when we are focused!) and beneficial.
ReplyDeleteSarah,
ReplyDeleteBoth of your goals are achievable. The phone idea is intriguing and seems remarkably effective. Unfortunately, phones are banned from my school campus therefore this is an area I cannot explore. However, sharing technology ideas with colleagues is a possibility. The English team 9th-12th grade teachers meet during the same period weekly so planning technology lessons is possible.
Hi Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI would look into getting your school email sent to your smart phone. By doing this any meetings that are scheduled via your email will be automatically sent to the calendar on your smart phone. I treat my emails I receive when I am away from work just as I would if I were at work. I still answer them in a professional tone and I have my personal email for friends and family. I love staying in touch with work and because I am the department head I need to make sure I am up to date on all information. I hope this helps and I hope you get your phone battery soon.
Gayle
Sarah-I can only imagine how awesome it will be to use your phone's calendar regularly in the school setting. This way, you will actively model a 21st century skill--using personal technology in a business setting! Oftentimes, some schools may get "bent out of shape" when they see cell phones being used by students in the building, and granted schools have every right to be concerned about using appropriate resources during school hours, but I believe that that issue will be resolved with continued upgrades and updates on cell phone features. Possibly in the near future, cell phones may have a special setting saying "School Mode Only," similar to the current "Airplane Mode" feature today. Possibly, this "School Mode Only" feature will automatically enable the "high" security level when using the Internet. Yes, I see endless possibilities on how to appropriately use personal technology in a business setting.
ReplyDelete