Reflection

After re-reading my blog about what it means to be a teacher leader in the Digital Age and how I am going to use what I have learned in this class in my future course, my perspective has not changed. It has been strengthened. Our students need to be immersed in technology, but they need to be taught to use it appropriately. We as teacher leaders need to instruct our students and fellow teachers to embrace the technology and to realize that it is an amazing medium with which to teach and explore our world to become literate in the things that truly matter. Technology, especially in my content area- social studies, will enlighten my students about the many different cultures in our state, country, and world. They will learn to be an active part in our globalized economy which is imperative to their success as individuals and professionals. If we can share all the amazing things that can be accomplished by consistently implementing technology in our classrooms, we will have more engagement and success from our students.

Technology in our lessons

 Our students all learn differently and as a result we find ourselves constantly accommodating and differentiating to their needs. Because we live in the Digital Age and our students are digital natives, I often differentiate for them by using technological devices and applications. I find that students work better when they using a technological device or application as opposed to the traditional pencil, paper and textbook. Technology makes it quicker and simpler for students to obtain information in ways that they can completely understand. It is imperative to make sure that students know how to use the technology appropriately so they get the most out of the lessons and their learning. Still, though I encourage technology usage for learning in my classroom, I understand that there may be students who may not like technology. These students are allowed to use the traditional forms of learning and that is ok because I stated earlier, everyone learns in different ways.

The constant usage of technology in the classroom for differentiation has not only aided my students in their learning, but it also has improved my classroom management. I have had to implement more strategies into my management to be able to deal with the technology and keep the students on task. Constantly telling students what to do as soon as they are done completing an assignment with the technological device keeps us all on task and focused on the end goal for the day. Students don't have time to get distracted as they are constantly engaged and working on their assignments. I hope to continue using the various strategies to enhance my teaching.

Using technology is like using everything else that we have in our lives. Sometimes things don't work for some reason and therefore we should have a backup plan. Things such as a blackout at the school building or the internet being down are some big reasons as to why we should always have a backup plan. In addition, some students may or cannot use technology for several reasons and it would be apporpriate to have a back up plan for these students. Technology is amazing and it takes learning to the next level. But on some days, it will be ok to go traditional and just use pen and paper if it turns out to be the best way to teach that particular lesson or set of students.