Week 16 - Technology Overview

I have a lot of friends and family members who are teachers. Since I've started school at Utah Valley University to become a teacher, I've enjoyed talking with these friends and family members about their jobs. It's been interesting to get all of their perspectives about teaching and what resources they use to help with their lessons. Last weekend I was speaking with two relatives that have been teaching for over 20 years. They teach in a very small town that has minimal resources available and there is only one teacher per grade. Because of this, there isn't much collaboration with other teachers and they tend to rely on the same lessons they have always taught.

I mentioned to one of them what a great resource the internet is to find new ideas and lesson plans. If I were a teacher in a rural town with limited supplies and no one else to collaborate with, I'd want to rely on the internet for a lot of assistance. I was shocked to hear that these teachers didn't really see a need for the internet and don't see anything wrong with teaching the same lessons as always. This doesn't even mention what message they are giving their students about the Internet and technology.

I asked this same person if they she adapts the lessons to meet the needs of the students in her class each year or just teach the same lesson as she always has. Her response was just as shocking. She said that every year she has "smart students" and "dumb students" and that her lessons aren't always going to reach all of her students, but since there will always be the "smart students" and the "dumb students", there isn't really a need to adapt the lessons each year. How sad is that???

My sister and good friend are also teachers. Both of them have been teaching for less than 12 years. They are younger and have been converted to computers. They both teach in a large city and a large school district. They have resources available for them and other teachers to collaborate with. In fact, they both teach at the same school and grade and spend a lot of time collaborating with each other. As I've learned new and exciting things in this class, they have been excited to have me show them what I've been learning about. While they haven't integreated all of the fun things I've shown them, they have been open to the ideas and want to experiment with them.

I've become converted to technology througout this course and with my own personal experiences. I'm excited to use the items that I've learned about. I hope that when I become a teacher that I'll stay open to new ideas and willing to use the excellent resources that are available through the computer and other forms of technology.

VIDEO REFLECTION:
"Do You Believe in Me?"
What a great video for educators to see. Dalton Sherman is a brave 10 year old boy to speak to over 20,000 people at this conference. In addition, he has had the opportunity to be on the Ellen Show. I saw him on this show and he is very inspirational. I loved the fact that he believes the fact that he knows that he can "do anything, be anything, create anything, dream anything, and become anything". The reason he believes this is because of teachers who also believe in him. I hope that I can be one of those same teachers who can instill belief in my own students. I'm excited to start the journey.