Reflection on Becoming a 21st Century Teacher

This course has helped me tremendously in further developing my technology skills. I have learned about many new tools throughout this course. I have never made a wiki, a podcast, or even my own blog before. I enjoyed the experiences I’ve has working with these tools. I feel that I can continue to use the skills that I learned and become even better at working with them. I am excited to explore the tools that are available online so that I can learn even more.

I plan on continuing to expand my knowledge of technology integration with the aim of student achievement by trying the new tools that I have learned from this class in my classroom. I want to see how the students work with the technology and integrate more of it into my lessons. My students will work hard and collaborate on creating online artifacts that will be seen by all of the class and others online that want to see their work. If the students put forth their full effort, then they will achieve more. I also want to explore the internet to find more tools and ideas that I can use in my classroom that will integrate technology. I want my students to collaborate to solve problems because it will help them in the future if they can do that successfully.

One goal that I have for transforming my classroom into a place where technology is integrated to meet instructional needs and increase student achievement is by using computers on a daily basis. This will be not be as challenging as in the past because my students will all have a laptop to use daily. This will allow for more collaboration on assignments. I want to have a class blog that the students will participate in on a weekly basis and I also want them to create wikis and podcasts frequently. An online audience will also play a large part in helping my students work harder and accomplish more. Another goal that I have for the immediate future is to use collaboration on more assignments even when technology is not used. The students need to know how to work effectively with other people on anything that is thrown their way.

Becoming a 21st century teacher is important for me because it will make me better at teaching my students the skills that they will need to succeed in the future. Students are using technology daily at home, so I need to use it as often as possible in the classroom. I want to teach my students how to use technology successfully to learn and solve problems through collaboration.

Podcast: Technology and the Students of Today

Check out my podcast. I interviewed students at my school about their use of technology. Making a podcast was easier than I thought and my students and I had fun in the process. I think that students would really enjoy making podcasts in the classroom.

http://dlatchaw.podomatic.com/