Reflection+for+TSLC+2007+Dana+Tessin

Teaching has changed so much in the 22 years that I’ve been at it. Students are a different breed of animal. Parents seem disconnected. NCLB has removed so much of the creativity and independence teachers once enjoyed. Fortunately, we also have a whole new world of technology tools. I took this course to learn about some of the 21st century skills, new practices and tools that might just keep me motivated and energized. I’ve never thought of myself as being “geeky”, but after taking this class, I can say that I now qualify.

I found podcasting to be one of the most exciting innovations in education. During the summer, I enjoyed listening to the broadcasts of Friedman, Pink, and November. I actually used Tom Friedman’s joke about “the 3 billion people in China that are starving for your job” when I began the year and tried to encourage my students to do their best job in the coming years.

I was impressed with the podcasts of Bob Sprangle’s room 208 students in Maine, but was shell shocked by the professional quality documentary style videocasts created by Mabry students. I started thinking that ipods had loads of possibilities in the classroom.

Since I’m not much a a music listener, I could never justify purchasing my own ipod until this past summer. Now I subscribe to several programs including Ben Hazard and Joan Badger. Thanks to my Mac. and garageband, I’ve been able to create, record and publish my own podcast series.

Another tool I’ve discovered to be incredibly valuable is the Wiki. I’ve created websites before, but this is a much more simple way to create and edit pages. I found the Wiki to be a useful tool keep notes, share ideas, create lessons. The collaborative feature is the best! It allowed us to collaborate, dialogue, and co-author. And we were able to do this from our own homes on our own time schedule.

The Sheldon Foresters project we created will hopefully engage students, and parents community members in learning. The Wiki could be around long after we are gone, and I can imagine new teachers and new students taking up where we left off.

Using del.icio.us. really opened up another door for me. This really cool social bookmarking tool has got me hooked. Every day, I’m organizing, sharing, filing, and tagging online resources. My list keeps growing, and I keep sending and receiving incoming links. I love the way I can access my del.iciou.us from any computer. It has really changed the way I think about storing, finding, and sharing information.

I still know next to nothing about smartboards, but hey.. that’s something to learn in one of your next courses. Thanks for a great course. Dana