Final Reflection

Through this class I have been exposed to some new technology tools that I had not considered using in the classroom. It has been a fruitful experience in this class. I cannot wait to go deeper with this stuff in my classroom. While not forgetting that students need to know the basics. If we ignore the teaching of typing and other entry-level skills the students will never be able to keep up.

Teaching has never been about me. I would much rather stand around and watch the kids do some hands-on projects that will allow them to explore and learn at their own pace and in their own way, but until the basics are learned, teaching must be somewhat more teacher directed.

As a change agent, I have to not only make the lab more open to use when there is not a class, but even go to the point of encouraging it. At the same time, I need to convince teachers and administration that an elective exploratory is a need concept, cannot be expected to achieve students learning technology when they come either once a week assuming the day is not cancelled. Three times a week will not help either when students can choose their class and I only see maybe 20% of the class because they choose it. So in short, I need to make the lab more accessible and have students in it a lot more than they have in the past.