Reflection

As a substitute teacher, I usually do not have the option to choose technology; therefore, how I currently teach differs from how I expect to teach when I have my own classroom. One advantage I have had as a sub is to practice thinking how I could include technology to improve the lessons I do teach.

When I have my own classroom, I want to integrate students creating concept map software. Until my own experience using it, I did not realize its potential to help students gain a deeper understanding of the concepts I am teaching. I would also like to introduce students to VoiceThread and give them an option of using VoiceThread to assess their knowledge gained. I believe that both of these tools give students another previously unavailable opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.

As for long-term changes, I cannot make or plan these types of goals until I get a full-time teaching position. I know that I will include technology in many different ways, but without knowing what grade I will be teaching, it is hard to say how I plan to integrate. I think using technology is important for many reasons – motivation, familiarization as they will use technology in the future, provides more modalities for the brain to make connections, etc – but specific goals and strategies in the long-term are hard for me to set when my future career is so foggy right now. If anybody has any suggestions or ideas for goals for somebody in my position I will consider them.