Final Blog Post

     This course has helped introduce me to new forms of technology that I can successfully use in my classroom. It has allowed me to become more confident with introducing new types of technology to my students since I know the value of using them and how they can be successful in a classroom if they are integrated correctly into a lesson topic. I have deepened my knowledge of the teaching and learning process to the point where I know that technology is creating a shift to teachers becoming facilitators of the technology and the students becoming self-directed learners. After learning about the shift from teacher-centered to learner-centered, it definitely shifted my thought process when I do lesson planning and how I incorporate the use of technology into the lessons. I plan to continue to attend professional development programs that focus on integrating technology in the classroom. I also have a working relationship with my CITT for my department and she offers a lot of new ideas of ways I can use technology with the topics I teach.

     My first main long-term goal is for me to be successful in incorporating the use of iPads into my curriculum so that other middle and high school teachers can begin using them in their classrooms. I have definitely faced some negative comments about allowing middle school students to use iPads. Many teachers have told me they would never allow certain students to use them. I hope to change that attitude when other teachers hear the positive comments from students. My second long-term goal is to get positive articles about Family & Consumer Sciences into the school division newsletter and local newspaper so more people will become aware of the life skills we try to teach students. In my school division there are 6 middle schools, but only 2 have FACS classes. I would like to increase awareness about the importance of these classes so we can have it back in all middle schools.

     I don't think any of my answers changed from my week 1 checklist. I think that after taking this course I definitely have a greater appreciation for the shift that technology brings to the classroom and I have a great understanding of the best way to incorporate that technology so it is most effective for the students.

Partnership for 21st Century Skills website

After looking around the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website (www.p21.org), I found a lot of great tools for educators to use to help them integrate these skills into their curriculum. I can see where some of these skills may be challenging for core or elective teachers to integrate into their curriculum, but the website offers a great mapping tool for various subject areas. I think the layout of the website was very user friendly. Under the educators tools and resources section, there are maps for various subject areas and they offer different ideas for different grade levels of ways to incorporate the skills into a lesson. I can definitely see where some teachers may see this as just another task on their long to-do list, but these are essential skills that the students need to be competitive when they enter college and the workforce. Overall, I think the implications for our students and for educators is that we all need to be more open to change and develop a new way of thinking to integrate technology into our methods to help us teach students the various skills they need. If we use technology and collaborate with other teachers to think of new, innovative ways to teach the students, then the students will be more excited and on-task to learn.

Blogs in the Classroom

I think it would be productive for my students to blog over the summer about different activities they're involved in and then when we return to school in the Fall, the students could discuss what they read on each other's blogs. I would love to hear about different sewing projects, traveling or summer jobs the students are involved in. I think the students would love to showcase their work on a blog so other students could see their ideas and creations without the student actually having to bring in things for a "show and tell" session. Since I teach about positive peer interaction and building relationships, I think it would be a wonderful tool to use to teach the students how to give positive feedback to each other. I teach Family & Consumer Sciences in grade 6-8.

iPads in a Home Economics class??

Yes. I am a Home Economics teacher (now called Family & Consumer Sciences) that is getting ready to embark on the journey of integrating iPads into my curriculum starting 2nd semester. I plan to find ways to use the iPads in all of the units I cover with my 6th, 7th and 8th grade students. The following topics are what I teach: Child Care, Sewing, Money Management, Food & Kitchen Safety, Nutrition, Cooking, Table Manners, Career Choices, Fashion, and Interior Design. I hope to find free apps that I can use on the iPads as well as other tools by searching various education technology blogs. I will be posting tools I find on my blog. I also hope to post information about how the student involvement changes based on the integration of this technology.