End of Semester Journal Entry
Through out this semester, one key takeaway was how simple integrating technology in the classroom can be. Since my practicum was in a younger grade, I was worried that I would be unable to find ways to meaningfully integrate technology into my lessons. However, after completing the technology course, I have been provided with resources and strategies to effectively and consistently use technology in the classroom everyday. Some of these strategies have been as simple as playing a video on youtube as part of my hook for my lesson.
One of my burning questions from the beginning of the semester was how can I integrate technology while still providing hands on experiences to my students. Throughout this semester, I have learned that integration of technology does not have to be the students using Ipads and laptops. It could be a group lead activity thats completed on the Smartboard. While providing students with hands on learning is very important, with technology being such an important factor in todays society, I believe its also important to provide students with technology experience at a young age.
In my practicum, I used several different forms of technology in my classroom, one being Scratch. During my practicum, I was able to share different resources with my MT and she shared many with me. This allowed both of us to expand our resources and gain new strategies on how to integrate technology into classrooms.
Throughout this semester, I have been able to significantly increase my knowledge regarding technology and how to integrate it into my classroom. A lot of this new knowledge has been gained from peers, my MT and staff at my practicum school. By observing and communicating with my MT and other teachers in the school I have been able to increase my strategies to integrate technology into classrooms, specifically younger grades. For example, my mentor teacher using a math program called Splat. Splat is an online program that works on students number sense and fluency. It is a program that I hope to use in my future classroom as it can be used for all grades.
