If I have not mentioned this
before the creation of this blog is for a course I am taking to help me
integrate technology into the classroom. Many of my peers say “oh ya …
Technology… A power point here, YouTube video there, maybe on a big day some
clicker activities... Technology. No big deal”. Upon enrolling in the course I
crossed my fingers that my peers would be wrong… and were they ever. Day 1 (or
should I say night as this course ran from 7-9 in Hamilton, a minor commute
from St. Catharines for me Wednesday evenings) I found myself scooping my jaw
up off the floor when I felt the drool forming a puddle in my dimple. Now my father would ask
me “Who was the hottie in the class?” This wasn’t the case (No offense to my
peers reading this...). But instead it was the arsenal of technology that our
professor Zoe showcased for us. I was hooked. Wednesday evening tech classes…
bring it on.
This leads me to my first
challenge. Deploy tech in the classroom. In Block 2 the goal was to use my
google site. I was getting it set up. Ready to add notes, videos, work sheets.
It would have been perfect for me to catch students up who were away. All I had
to do was share the link. Plan B was to dabble with Edmodo in the classroom
also. I chose one thing for my first try. One thing I was going to do and do it
well. Step 2 was to blog about it. How did it go, what were the kinks, what
would I change, what did I love etc. etc. etc. So here I am rambling and not
getting to that at all. Well truth is Part 1 failed.
Upon beginning block 2 I met with
my associate eager to observe the class, gather some information and share with
him some of my ideas and strategies for the upcoming weeks I would be working
with him. The response I received regarding my website was something along the
lines with “That’s a great idea, I use a website also so just email me all of
your files and I will upload them to my site.” For the first time in a little
better than 22 years the stubborn Irish in me rolled over and died and I said.
“Oh, okay”. Dumb move Deanna! Lesson learned. The next four weeks (regarding
the website) turned into a headache. What was on the website, what wasn’t?
Converting everything to a document that he could upload easily, making
modifications as needed for students then inconveniencing him to re-upload and
the list goes on. I also had no control over seeing who was visiting the site
nor was I confident in whether the material was making it up as requested. Now
I am making this out to be a big deal… and who’s kidding who… it really wasn’t
a huge deal, my associate was great. I was just not able to harness the
potential of incorporating a website to accompany my teaching as hoped. But
alas there is always Block 3.
Through having the idea of my own
site tucked away throughout Block 2 I made some
mental notes as to how I will do it in Block 3.
- Provide students with the site and the site only. It will be their hub. Everything else that they will need will either be embedded in it or have a link provided through it
- Provide students with the site again, and again, and again. I found that the students that needed reminders to things and access to resources the most were the students who didn’t take advantage of the tools being provided to them for accessing it.
- Choose one method of uploading docs and stick to it. I want to give the students structure and be organized. If the materials aren’t easy for them to find they won’t use it.
- Make use of the calendar. One of the things I really liked about my associates webpage was that it had a day by day break down of the lesson and the homework. This shifted week to week and kept current.
Rather than being discouraged by this situation in Block 2 I look to my next opportunity to teach.
Instead of forgetting about the whole idea
of a website and moving forward in the ways of the past, I instead move forward with lessons learned and prepared to try again.
Prepared not to take no for an answer … not without a fight at least.
“There can be infinite uses of the computer and of new age technology, but if teachers themselves are not able to bring it into the classroom and make it work, then it fails.”- Nancy Kassebaum
