The end of a school year is often for me, and I would think for most educators, a time for reflection. That is what I have been doing mostly. Reflecting on how I presented many of my lessons this year, and how I can improve them by incorporating useful technology into them next year.
I wish I had a magic wand so that I could transfer, and translate much of my lesson materials into a digital format. Unfortunately I don't even have a scanner in my room, with which I could capture much of what I have on paper. Nor do I have the time, unless I want to take it all home and work on it during the summer. I am dedicated, but my family is not a dedicated as I am. I don't think that is what they have in mind for our summer vacation.
I have become increasingly anxious and excited about the potential opportunities to improve my students learning opportunities through increased use of technology next year. I have written into my Outlook task list for the summer, to set aside significant time to practice with all the tech programs I want my students to have available next year. A teacher needs to model and in this case demonstrate the best practices of technology, so I plan on being well versed in many of the tech programs and tools we have been introduced to by the beginning of school.
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When you find that magic wand, share it with the rest of us!
ReplyDeletePutting your goals in writing into your Outlook task list is a good way to hold yourself accountable. My family makes fun of my list-making but whether it's my advancing age or my spreading myself to thin, writing things down is the only way I can keep track of everything on my plate.
I do not know what your family situation is, but I have found that mine are often willing volunteers if it means we all get to spend more time together in the end. If you had a naming convention for files so a spouse or child could easily name and save scanned documents, perhaps they would assist you with the enormous task of digitizing everything? I use WH for World history and AH for American History. Here are some examples of my file names: AHCivilWarPriSource.doc, WHWWIIPacificMap.gif, AHIndustrialRevConceptDefMap, etc. My kids are in college now so their help has been pretty reliable and they could name things easily by subject, unit of study, and activity.
I hope you have a fun and productive summer!
Carrye DeCrane
I agree with Carye I would also love to have a magic wand. Nice Post
ReplyDeleteKatherine
A magic wand would be a wonderful thing. I slowly have been making lesson using technology, but it is very time consuming. It is also something where you want to use a variety of tools and programs. I recently went to a professional development where they showed us a variety of tools for the foreign language classroom that I am excited to try and use next year.
ReplyDeleteGood luck finding that magic wand and implementing more technology.
Thanks for sharing.
Kate