Thing 23

My 23 Things journey has had a very steep learning curve. I have always been considered one ot the techies in my building. When I started teaching at Lowell Middle School ten years ago it was unheard of for a teacher to have a laptop. We had one computer lab in our building and we were still taking attendance on paper and sending it down to the office with a student each hour. I have always tried to stay on top of things as far as technology goes. I will admit though that in the last couple of years I have started to fall behind. I didn't have a google account, I didn't know that RSS feeds were, I knew what a wiki was but never thought I'd be creating and using one myself. I set up a blog once, over three years ago. I posted two updates about my kids then forgot about it. No one else ever noticed which means that no one was wathing it anyway.

I have been intergrating computers into my teaching when I can but I see it as more of a necessity now. I used to view it as more of a luxury. I used to figure that if my students got some computer time it was almost like a bonus. Although there will always be a place for pencil and paper math I need to integrate the use of technology more regularly. I am working on ways to let my students demonstrate their understanding through alternative assessments. There is not reason that the kids couldn't show they know a set on concepts through a powerpoint or a movie. The biggest limitions I see here are time and money. I can't give kids a week of lab time to creat a presentation or movie at this point. And not all kids have access due to their family financial situation. The only way I see it working right now it that if a student wanted to opt out of a test they could prepare an alternative assessment piece of out school. Hardly seems fair though that they have homework just because they are choosing to live in the present and the future. This will be something that I will need to work out over the summer in order to implement in the fall as I move into middle school teaching in the world of web 2.0.

My big take away from this is that being a life long learner is not just something to say to indicate that I read the occasional teaching article. It means that I must continue to be an active participant in the world of technology that is unfolding before us. I will do the best that I can to teach my students not just math skills but also additional technology skills that will make them more prepared for their high schoool years.

I will continue to explore google docs and some of the other web utilities. The RSS reader has changed the way I view the internet. It saves a great deal of time and I will do what I can to teach my students how to use it in their own lives. Something else I have taken from this is the importance of my job as a role model for my students in the digital world. I am "facebook friends" with a lot of former students and even a few current students. I live my life online the same way I do in the real world. I feel that as an educator I can never tell my students enough that once something in on the internet it is potentially there forever. Once you do or say something it cann't be undone. It is my job to make them responsible young adults in my classroom, in the hallways and also in cyberspace.

I have enjoyed the 23 Things and will recommend it to everyone who will listen. It would be a great benefit to our district if all of the teachers were required to complete this program. Thank you to the KISD for making this available to me and to the other participants.