Tales from the Classroom

 This has been a particularly interesting 3 weeks of learning.  I think the thing that really stuck with me throughout the activities is that we need to focus on technology, not on our own, but together with our colleagues.   Having done the staff survey, it was interesting to me to see the different obstacles that my colleagues are facing in their classrooms that could be resolved if we talked more about what we are experiencing. Technology is such a great tool, because it provides very authentic and real ways for us to expose our students to different concepts and ideas by showing them things like source material over the internet.  Teachers it seems feel a little defeated by the technology that we are provided with to complete this task. I think this week, more than any other has changed the way that I look at how I can support the staff in my school, and eventually the staff in the board.

This week has been the most interesting for me so far from both of the IICTIC courses.  I really enjoy looking at assistive technology and how it can benefit the teacher and the student.  I know that a lot of teachers find the concept of differentiating their instruction to be a difficult and cumbersome task.  The reality is that there are a lot of technologies out there that can stop you from needing to reinvent the wheel. Describe one significant idea or issue that has arisen for you, as you were engaging in the topics during Learning Experiences #1 and #2. For me, the significant idea was to think about the tools that we use, and think about new ways that they can be used.  The video of Westfield Technology College had a profound impact on my thinking about not using technology for technology sake.  They took things I use every day and put a whole new use to them.  I love the idea about using idea mapping tools to co-create expectations. Elaborate on how...