For the past several years my use of technology in the realm of education has been limited to three fronts and in this post I will address all three.
The first front has been that of teacher working as student. In pursuit of my Master's and my teaching degree/certificate, I have been quite busy searching the internet, working with colleagues and instructors and reading up on current tech hardware and software. My classes, especially CEP 810, have been particularly useful in providing support in terms of social media, incorporating tech, like iPads, into the classroom; and how to accommodate the diverse community of learners we encounter in the classroom-all with technology. In my CEP 810 class alone, we are provided with proof that technology makes the world smaller as it includes students from various places across the planet. Without technology, this type of collaboration is extremely limited, if not impossible.
The second front is that of teacher using technology. For one glorious year, I had my own classroom, granted I was a long term sub but I taught 4th grade from October to June and was responsible for everything regular teachers had to do: lesson planning, conferences, grades/report cards, and everything else that was expected. The availability of tech, hardware or software, was quite limited in my building. Students had about an hour of computer time and it was quite often a waste of time. I take part of the blame for this because of my inexperience with technology was quite limited at the time so I let the tech teacher run the class. However, over the years, my experiences have grown exponentially, and again; I give credit to CEP 810 and my peers for opening my eyes to a wonderful world filled with tech, social media, glogs, blogs and websites. My potential students will benefit greatly from my growing pains.
The third and final front is my current situation, teacher working as a substitute. I have been working as a substitute for the past 5 years and with the exception of my first year in which I held a long term teaching position; I have worked in different schools all over Kent and Ionia County in western Michigan. The diversity of the buildings range from rural to urban, rich to poor, and large to small. As a sub, you find yourself in a different building, a different grade; each with differing levels of technology available. I have been in large districts with no tech in the classroom except for the teacher’s computer and small schools where each child in the classroom has “their own” ACER laptop with apps built in and are internet accessible. In other words, you work with what you have, and often you get to police what the regular teacher has planned and put in use. Quite often, the only tech that I get to use in the class is the ELMO, which is basically a high tech overhead projector. The few times that kids are using tech to work on a power point or other class project, my help isn’t often asked for; because, after all, I’m just a sub, what do I know? The other type of tech usually involves a “student run” television-style morning news program.
What does all that mean for me in the future? Well, I am still optimistic that I will find a teaching position before I have to retire. Secondly, my exposure to the classrooms and my awakening to the benefits of incorporating tech and social media into the classroom have only helped to make me a better teacher. Notice I said “incorporating tech” and not “replacing classroom instruction with.” My CEP classes, colleagues and my own personal experience have helped provide a solid foundation on which I can construct a classroom community built with the helpful benefits of technology.
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