Blog #1 - Beginning of The Semester Journal Entry

    Wow. Third year sure has come quickly. As we enter this semester I can't help but feel anxious, yet excited. I think the combination of the state of the world right, now mixed with learning how everything will work in online instruction has a great deal to do with my anxieties. My greatest concern is that there will be so much to track and follow over this semester with the new online format that I will lose track and fall behind. I will try my very hardest to accomplish every assignment and stay on top of things, though I know it will be a challenge. Ahead, I will discuss the 5 learning competencies outlined in the B.Ed program, and my goals for each of them. Following that will be my experiences with technology, a burning question related to technology in the classroom, and a brief section on why that question is relevant to me personally. 

Professional Responsibilities: 

    My goal for my professional responsibilities this year is to become familiar with each of the topics that we are learning (Math, Science, Art, & Technology). I want to be able to effectively communicate with my students about a variety of subjects, especially those that I am becoming more familiar with over the course of this semester. 

Planning for Learning: 

    My goal for planning for learning is to get a solid grasp on how to effectively plan full units in the forms of medium and long range plans. I have only had one experience with medium range planning and want to expand my experiences with planning in a longer range so I can be as prepared as possible for the upcoming practicum, and ease my own anxieties about being prepared for each lesson I teach. 

Facilitating Learning: 

    My goal for facilitating learning this semester is to have my students be able to show me the connections they make between subjects. I want to take a step back as the presenter and have my students use the tools at their disposal to come to their own conclusions through discussion, exploration, and discovery. 

Assessment:

    My goal for assessment this semester is to have an assessment plan for each lesson I teach. I want my students to feel comfortable while being assessed formatively and summatively, and I want ot feel comfortable doing these assessments. I will do this by informing students of my assessment process, and have them be involved in the assessment process as much as possible.

Classroom Environment:

    My goal for classroom environment this year is to make it as safe as possible with considerations to COVID while still being interactive, community based, and welcoming to students. Should I have to teach in on online classroom, I want to make everything easily accessible for students, and create an inviting environment for students to share ideas and express concerns through the use of online tools.

Previous Education Technology Experience

    I have had a range of experiences with technology in the classroom, both as a student and as a Teacher Candidate. As a student, we regularly used technology to research topics in the later grades, as well as sharpened our typing skills and used programs like Powerpoint and Microsoft Word to create interactive and interesting presentations. As a Teacher Candidate, I have seen the ever-growing expanse of uses for technology in the classroom that ranges from applications that help students learn math, all the way to using google translate to assist ELL students. I think that the need for technology in the classroom will continue to grow as technology advances and students become technologically fluent.

Burning Question:

    My "Burning question" about technologies in K-9 education is: How do we know if a certain form of technology is doing more harm than good to a student? For example; if a student has learned a certain mathematics process through an application but is not able to replicate their work without the use of that application, is that student going to have more problems later on as a result of that app?

    This question is important to me because as we enter this technological age where students are becoming familiar with tech at a rate faster than we have ever seen, it is concerning to see how may parents will throw an iPad at a problem as opposed to finding a concrete solution. I fear that if technology is over-used in the classroom, and then overused at home, students will ultimately be at a disadvantage when presented with real life problems, and they may have more trouble coming up with solutions by themselves. My greatest fear is that students will rely on an application instead of relying on themselves and their own abilities and unique talents.