When I was in elementary school, I learned to type on an electric typewriter. I can also remember a few Apple IIe computers in the room that had some programs that we could access with floppy disks. I had my mother as a teacher for four years as part of a gifted program I was in. She made use of the technology that she had, but the technology was never the focus.
I would like to say that I followed in her footsteps in that regard, but I would have to say I have been and still am guilty of instrumental thinking often. My first year of teaching I thought I was so cool because I had my students do a PowerPoint presentation for Black History Month. It was pretty pathetic when I think back on it. I was so focused on getting the technology that the report aspect and the depth of content was minimal. But, I remember getting compliments because of the use of the technology.
I know I have grown in my use of technology, but I know I have a ways to go. Currently, I use technology daily. My students have Chromebooks, and there is a SmartBoard in my room. As I’ve been thinking about this idea of instructional vs. missional thinking, it has made me revisit my use of the SmartBoard in class. I basically use it as a glorified chalkboard on steroids. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great educational benefits to being able to display problems and videos. It is a great focus point when I need the students to all be on the idea. But, one short term goal I have is to move away from using it simply as a presentation board and giving the students more time to interact with it. Further, I want to use my other whiteboard space as a way to record the story of the lesson each day, as it is done in Japan. The SmartBoard has a limited amount of space, and content on it changes as the lesson progresses. That means that you can’t see the progress of the ideas in the lesson all together. I hope to improve upon that. Building off of that, I then want to spread those ideas to the teachers that I am coaching at this time.
Over the next couple of years, I want to improve my ability to use technology to enhance my instruction. In particular, I think that coding can be a great intersection in the curriculum for having students display and enhance their understanding of math concepts. For instance, I have experimented with using JavaScript this year as a way to deepen the understanding of variables. I think it has gone well, but I want to develop that idea more fully. Another aspect of teaching that I want to improve is that I would like to help other teachers be able to deliver math content more fully by helping them with their own knowledge.
I would like to say that I followed in her footsteps in that regard, but I would have to say I have been and still am guilty of instrumental thinking often. My first year of teaching I thought I was so cool because I had my students do a PowerPoint presentation for Black History Month. It was pretty pathetic when I think back on it. I was so focused on getting the technology that the report aspect and the depth of content was minimal. But, I remember getting compliments because of the use of the technology.
I know I have grown in my use of technology, but I know I have a ways to go. Currently, I use technology daily. My students have Chromebooks, and there is a SmartBoard in my room. As I’ve been thinking about this idea of instructional vs. missional thinking, it has made me revisit my use of the SmartBoard in class. I basically use it as a glorified chalkboard on steroids. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great educational benefits to being able to display problems and videos. It is a great focus point when I need the students to all be on the idea. But, one short term goal I have is to move away from using it simply as a presentation board and giving the students more time to interact with it. Further, I want to use my other whiteboard space as a way to record the story of the lesson each day, as it is done in Japan. The SmartBoard has a limited amount of space, and content on it changes as the lesson progresses. That means that you can’t see the progress of the ideas in the lesson all together. I hope to improve upon that. Building off of that, I then want to spread those ideas to the teachers that I am coaching at this time.
Over the next couple of years, I want to improve my ability to use technology to enhance my instruction. In particular, I think that coding can be a great intersection in the curriculum for having students display and enhance their understanding of math concepts. For instance, I have experimented with using JavaScript this year as a way to deepen the understanding of variables. I think it has gone well, but I want to develop that idea more fully. Another aspect of teaching that I want to improve is that I would like to help other teachers be able to deliver math content more fully by helping them with their own knowledge.