Final Reflection Post

I experimented with all of the tools and found it a challenge common to all students working to understand expectations and methods.  Thankfully, I was familiar with screencasting and creating a YouTube channel due to teaching a flipped class.  Other presentation tools, Zoocast, Prezi, Quizlet were interesting, but not as directly useful for the time I have to implement technology this year.  The polling and Googledoc tools will be useful and I plan to implement one or both of them.  Using real-time, student information to refine instruction in my classes as well as across my PLC, will be an advantage.  Although our district and in fact America, has been successful through innovation and continuous improvement, I believe too much change can overload those it is meant to benefit.  It would be interesting to collect feedback from parents, deans, teachers, etc. to determine the cost/benefit of the variety of communication tools we employ.  I feel very fortunate to have such high energy, available practioners of the cutting edge technology that is defining the modern school.  Please be patient with those who want to get on board, but lack some of the capacity to really run with it.

The tools used for this summer camp were well chosen for a teacher’s application.  They mesh together well and allow flexibility for a teacher to choose the tool/s that will work best for the subject.  I can’t imagine having the time to use all of them.   The amount of options causes me to question/clarify my goals for teaching, which is a good thing.   I also began to wonder how parents receive the plethora of mediums they must manage to track/support their child.  As a parent, I will need to engage in certain formats of communication chosen by my children’s schools.  Adding in applications that Irondale requires and our ARCC relationship has me feeling a bit overwhelmed.