One month ago I was told by my school district that I would be receiving 30 netbooks for my classroom and for my students. I wrote a proposal for them, but never did I think I would ever receive them. I did. After a celebratory minute I started thinking about the task I had just taken on. Crap...what do I do now. This is only my third year of teaching and this is the first year that I'm starting to feel like I know what I'm doing. It is such a trial by fire job. I remember Chet Laine, an amazing professor at the University of Cincinnati, said it took three years of teaching before he felt like he was even thinking about his students. In the three years that I have been teaching I have been given some compliments, but that doesn't change the feeling of uncertainty.
In this blog, I am going to try to focus on my journey through the use of technology in the classroom. For the past couple of hours, I have twitted, blogged, ninged, and even rode a google wave. It truly is a sea of technology. There seems to be no beginning and no end.
I love teaching "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell because of the line "Time is like a winged chariot." Truer words have never been written. Time is always coming. There never seems to be enough of it. It is the most valuable commodity that I have.
Yesterday I met with Cary Harod. Something that she said really stuck with me. This is a loose quotation. "Don't think about how you will use technology, but think about the content goals first and then find ways in which technology can enhance it." Or something like that. I don't want the use of technology in my classroom to be just for the sake of it. I want real collaboration to take place. I want real creativity to take place. I want real thinking to take place. I want real learning to take place.
The tone of this blog may sound drab or down, but that is not the intention. I'm excited about using the netbooks with the students and I'm excited about what they will share, produce, and invent.
Lunn
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
"Don't think about how you will use technology, but think about the content goals first and then find ways in which technology can enhance it."
ReplyDeleteThat's about right, David. This is a great post because of your transparency and your openness to exploring the deeper ways in which technology can support and enhance learning. As you think about your upcoming work with your students, what are your goals? Where are the gaps? What will make the experiences in your classroom more authentic and relevant to these kids' lives? I look forward to working with you.
Hey David!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to introduce myself to you! I am also looking forward to this new semester with these new netbooks. I hope to meet you face-to-face soon.
-Sherry