Final Reflection Blog

From this course, I have realized that when integrating technology in the classroom, to be effective the technology needs to accomplish set goals and be aligned with the curriculum. Too many times people think "hey if I just use technology with my kids somehow, I'm being innovative." Well, no. Students need to effectively be able to use and understand the technology, there must be a set goal one wants to accomplish with the technology, and of course it has to be aligned with curriculum standards and benchmarks. There is so much out there related to web based 2.0 technology. The one thing I'm really going to try to do next year is create podcasts on math instruction done in the classroom to post on my classroom blog. I was scared at first to even try to do a podcast and when I did it for this class I had a million problems. I feel confident now and will do it for sure next year. I feel I've met my personal goals for this class. My main goal is to keep learning new things/information that I can incorporate into my classroom and use to improve my teacher instruction and effectiveness. My new goal for the future is to use this new found knowledge to increase student achievement, performance, and motivation.