Looking Back and Looking Ahead

    When I made the decision to finish the remaining courses for my Technology Specialist I endorsement, I felt somewhat uneasy, yet determined. Jumping back into blogging and the prospect of learning new ways to integrate technology into my classroom excited me. Now, as I reflect on the last 8 weeks and look towards the future, I feel secure in my knowledge and prepared to try new things. Let's do this!

Image Source: Giphy

    In the grand scheme of things, I don't feel my views on technology have changed all that much. Before taking this course, I understood and appreciated the impact that technology has had on both my professional and personal lives. Particularly in education, the benefits of technology seem limitless. Of course, there will always be drawbacks or learning curves, but I feel that the positives certainly outweigh the negatives. Having technology engrained in basically everything we do means that the world can be basically at my students' fingertips... as long as we have a solid Wifi connection!

    In my opinion, one of the most interesting topics we explored was the concept of accessibility. As a special education teacher, this is a topic near and dear to my heart because accessibility and accessibility features allow my students to have equitable learning experiences. I was even able to grow my knowledge of accessibility features on Generation 9 Apple iPads and put my knowledge into practice. I was proud to share my infographic on some of the accessibility features offered on iPads with a colleague last week who recently got a new student that is learning English as an additional language. In my classroom, I have also been teaching some of my students how to use the screen reader function so they can have an easier time conducting and analyzing research for their food chain projects in Science- taking away the demand of reading has been such a weight lifted for my boys, especially because their auditory comprehension of more complex, lengthy passages is off the charts!

    Another aspect of our course I enjoyed was getting the chance to view different "decide" tools on a weekly basis. While not required to use, read up on, or look into, I appreciated getting quick facts on different technology tools I could use in addition to the exisiting ones in my toolkit. One such "decide" tool that has become my new favorite is ClassroomScreen. This website provides an online whiteboard for teachers to use as a classroom management tool. With features like visual timers, noise meters, and other fun personalization options, ClassroomScreen has given me an additional tech tool that I rely on every day. Because I employ station teaching in my math class, this tool is particularly useful to help organize students into groups, time our rotations, and display set expectations for class. 

Image Source: Personal Screenshot of ClassroomScreen

    In all, I am very satisfied with everything I have learned and have been able to accomplish over the past 8 weeks! Time really flew and I'm excited to start putting more of my skills into practice... after I take a well-deserved nap!