Reflection

 Reflection: What ya think?  Honestly, I am overwhelmed right now. I am excited, but frustrated. There is SO much potential, but because technology is always pushing itself further, it's unreliable and inconsistent. AND expensive. Education typically struggles to keep up with the newest and latest. And even when technology is purchased, there are still many problems including tech support, crashing servers, and firewall protections that hinder the use of technology. So where does this leave me? What will I spend my time on incorporating in my classroom? I will once again try to implement some of these applications with the 30 iPod touches that my school district purchased for classroom teachers to learn, but honestly, I want this to enhance my class and not become a distraction. I will be using my iPad in numerous personal ways. Honestly, I will continue playing games on my iPad on a regular basis. My daughters and boyfriend will continue to play games! I will encourage my girls to play apps that involve educational opportunities. And I'm going to keep my eyes open for books and vidcast that encourage my daughters to read. I will probably try to read a few chapters of the iBooks I downloaded, but it's going to take me awhile to get used to this new format. My paperbacks are just so intimate in comparison. Books smell good! It's tactile, but I'm sure in time the benefits of e-Reading are going to be more difficult to compete with. Professionally, I'm going to take what I have learned and attempt to pilot different ideas. I really do believe that the potential is there, but there is SO much on an educator's plate. I'm still looking for technology to help be an aid and make things easier and not just one more thing for me to figure out. That's why I'm going to keep using my iPad personally, so it becomes second nature. I want technology to be used in my classroom in ways that make sense and not just another add-on. The App that I'm most excited about experimenting with is iTeleport. This seemed like a natural way to use the iPad in the classroom. It came close to the idea of an interactive white board, but a teacher could control it from anywhere in the classroom. This can free up a teacher to go around the classroom and not be stationary at the front of the classroom. In addition, it would be an easy way for students to take over control of the board. Especially if students also used the Dropbox App to drop their writing in and then it could appear on the screen for students to peer edit and receive feedback on their writing from other students. These are beginning ideas that came out of the sharing session. I personally presented HD Magnetic Poetry. This App has a lot of potential. Students can choose creative backgrounds for inspiration and then the words are provided based on themes. This helps students think about more sophisticated literary terms like tone and symbolism. I really like how one can manipulate the size of the words and can also create your own words. Students will have lots of fun with this and still be able to learn something in the process. I think it would also be neat to provide students with a list of five words that were required to be in the poem.
 *  What impact do you expect to see as a result of using this technology in the classroom?
 *  How do you plan to continue to use your iPad in your personal life? Professional life?
 *  What have you learned from others' sharing that you would like to try or explore more of?
 *  Describe the presentation you gave today and the application you shared / demonstrated.
 *  Describe the presentation you gave today and the application you shared / demonstrated.