My Experience with technology
I grew up in a very tech-friendly household. Starting from a young age, my parents encouraged my sister and I to use the internet for learning, communicating with family members and for fun. They also taught us the value in protecting our personal information online and how to identify an unsafe website. My mom even helped us design our own website about horseback riding. Since that time, my knowledge and use of technology has continually increased and expanded.
Because of my familiarity with technology I was very interested in trying to incorporate it into my teaching experience of the first practicum. I find websites a very useful tool in communicating with students, and used the website builder WIX to set-up class websites for the courses I was teaching, as well as for the school team I co-coach. During my actual teaching, I tried to incorporate social media into my class by having discussions based on interesting tweets or blog posts I had read. Since the majority of students at my school were not able to bring their own devices to school, I had to rely upon the school Chromebooks and tried to reserve them as often as I could.
Because of my familiarity with technology I was very interested in trying to incorporate it into my teaching experience of the first practicum. I find websites a very useful tool in communicating with students, and used the website builder WIX to set-up class websites for the courses I was teaching, as well as for the school team I co-coach. During my actual teaching, I tried to incorporate social media into my class by having discussions based on interesting tweets or blog posts I had read. Since the majority of students at my school were not able to bring their own devices to school, I had to rely upon the school Chromebooks and tried to reserve them as often as I could.
I’m very interested in using more technology as an educator, both in the classroom and in my own professional development. Specifically, I think student-response systems like Plickers and Poll Everywhere can be beneficial to helping teachers better recognize when students are struggling. Additionally, I’d like to encourage my students to use more online tools for collaboration and studying, as well as teach them the essential skills on how to use the internet safely.