Forward Thinking

This semester begins some new changes, as I also add to my work load of seven classes of 3rd and 5th grade students for teaching technology. As with any change, there have been many ups and downs beginning this semester.

Each day I am a tech, teacher and Master's Student. But the journey is just beginning because this is my last year of Master classes. Its going to be a rough semester as I juggle to meet demands and deadlines. 

In our class we were asked to reflect upon our vision for the future:

Convenience: In order to be a forward thinker, we really need to think about what students want. There is so much to do today that students are constantly on the go. With this in mind, convenience is key.  In the past, students have had to search through multiple sources in order to find the information that they may need for a certain topic.  “In a world where speed characterizes the flow of information among vast networks of people, communication with friends, colleagues, and superiors takes place faster than ever (Tapscott, 2009).” These communications are becoming so much quicker that it allows students to get more done faster, allowing for them to continue on with their day to day lives.

 Connectedness and Multiple viewpoints:  The ease of connecting to a friend, classmate, or superior is very appealing to many and it allows individuals to stay on top of news as well. They can connect to news, information, others’ viewpoints in order to collaborate, etc. This type of forward thinking allows students to learn f

rom multiple venues and combine all of their newfound information into a solid thought.

Organization and creativity: The speed at which students can become organized is increasing each year thanks to different forms of technology that allow this. While “forward thinking,” it is interesting to think about how far we can go with organizational technology and where this can take us!  We need a creative society for our future in order to remain a well rounded generation. 

As I look to the future a blog post written by Vicki Davis, "Developing a Mindset to Go from Good to Great."  

In selecting my media, I struggled with which type from a book creator, to a movie maker. The possibilities are endless to portray a story. In order to add elements of both visual and audio I went with the movie approach. This movie was created using iMove, Tellagami, POW strip design and Splice for adding a You Tube video in the middle. The challenging part for me was taking smaller steps and breaking it down into smaller steps for students to understand the process. The sound was obtained from soundzabound a royalty free music subscription our local AEA has for school districts. 

Our journey these last 2 years