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Katie Waferling
Professor Potter
EDUC 511
31 March 2013
So what? Who cares? Education Technology in the 21st Century Classroom
Technology has become extremely useful in supplementing educational instruction. Since
graduating from high school five years ago, there have been so many advancements made and
new forms of technology added to the classroom. Being in my first year of teaching, I have
found that I am learning about different types of technology to use in my classroom on almost a
daily basis. I have been amazed at the resources I am able to offer my students with the use of
my ipad and other forms of technology in the classroom. I am very excited to be beginning this
program so I am able to continue to grow in my knowledge of classroom technology and so I am
able to offer my students resources that will enhance their learning experience.
There are multiple elements of an effective educator. I believe the most important
elements of an effective educator are authentic relationship, intentional classroom management,
passionate instruction, and fair assessment. I believe that most important part of being an
educator is forming relationships with students because students need to recognize that their
teacher genuinely cares for them as a student and an individual. This is because students are
motivated to work harder when they know that their teacher is invested in their success.
Classroom management should be intentionally thought out and consistently implemented.
Students thrive in an environment where they feel safe and where they recognize that there are
clear boundaries. Passionate instruction is also necessary for effective educating because students
must recognize that their instructor has knowledge of the content they are teaching and that they
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believe the content is important. A teacher has the power to increase student investment in
content if they present it in a way that students are able to enjoy. Assessment is also an important
element of effective education. It is the role of the educator to create fair assessment based on
content that was taught in class. Assessment should also allow students the opportunity to take
demonstrate what they have learned in authentic and creative ways. Effective educators will
tailor instruction and assessment to fit the needs of their students. This is because the needs of
their students will always be their first priority.
One of the most influential people in my life has been my middle school Home
Economics teacher, Mrs. Parker. I had the privilege of having Mrs. Parker as a teacher three
times over the course of my middle and high school career. Mrs. Parker showed genuine love
and care for me at a time in my life when I felt like I didnt matter to anyone. She demonstrated
the love of Christ to me and taught me what it meant to be a woman who loves and fears the
Lord. From the time that I was first in her class, in the sixth grade, she mentored me and would
write me weekly notes of encouragement. Mrs. Parker clearly communicated an authentic love of
her content and of her students as individuals. She has continued to be a source of
encouragement in my life over the five years since I graduated from high school. This year as I
began my teaching career, she has taken the time to email me once a week to let me know that
she is thinking of me and praying for the Lord to work through me as I teach students in a public
school. It is because of teachers like Mrs. Parker that I have chosen to pursue a career in
teaching. My hope is that I can touch the lives of students in the same way she has touched my
life.
Measuring student success is an interesting notion because it is not the same for every
student. Student success cannot be measured the same way for each student because each student
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learns differently, at his or her own pace. What I have found is that students will be most
successful when they know that they can ask for assistance. When I give reading quizzes in my
class, which is often considering that I tech 12
th
grade English, students know that they can ask
me questions during the quiz to gain greater clarity about a specific question. I want students to
know that they have this option because the point of a quiz is not to trick students, it is to
measure what they know. Some students need added visuals to understand content or to recall
information on a quiz, which I provide for them because I want them to be successful.
Ultimately, I believe that a teacher must measure student success for each student on an
individual basis. It is possible for all students to be taught the same information and assessed in
the same way as long as differentiation as happened throughout instruction and is carried over to
assessment.
Faith has a huge impact on the way that I approach working with students. The first thing
that I do every morning, before students arrive, is pray over my classroom. I ask the Lord to
bless each of my students and to be present in my classroom as I teach throughout the day. This
one act has proven to be the most influential thing I do every day because it is really difficult to
be angry with someone that you have prayed for in the morning. My faith also impacts the way
that I interact with my students. My students recognize that I truly care for them and that I am
invested in them as students and as people. I know whats going on in their lives because I ask
them and I follow up with them. Students know that my door is always open if they have a
problem, whether it is school related or life related. This carries over to the way my classroom
runs. I have very specific rules and policies in place in my classroom but I also extend an
immense amount of grace to my students. They know that I expect them to have their work in on
time and complete but they two free passes to use when unexpected things occur. I understand
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that life happens and that students need to be shown grace in the same way that I shown grace
many times throughout high school and college. Ultimately, I believe my faith affects the way
that I view my job. I dont teach for the built in holidays, and certainly not for the money; I teach
because I love students and I have been called to educate and love the next generation.
There are many reasons that technology is important to teaching and learning. First of all,
technology is important to student comprehension. I have many students in my class who are
visual learners and benefit greatly from the video recourses and Apps that I am able to run via
computer and Ipad. Another reason technology is important to the learning of all students is that
it enhances the content that I am teaching. I just finished reading The Taming of the Shrew with
my senior and I was able to use a number of technological resources to supplement my direct
instruction. Students were able to see visuals as we read through the text via Prezi presentations
that I created to accompany my instruction and run on my Ipad. Students were also able to listen
to a lecture about the unanswered question in The Taming of the Shrew, which I was able to run
through the iTunesYou App on my Ipad. Finally, students were able to watch the film, 10 Things
I Hate About You, which is a modern adaptation of the play. Throughout this unit, I was able to
use technology to supplement the learning of my students and increase comprehension of
difficult content. Ultimately, I believe that technology is important to teaching and leaning
because it offers teachers many different ways to present content to students, which allows
students of all learning styles to engage in content in a way that is most beneficial to them.
I have two main learning goals for this degree. My first learning goal is to gain
knowledge of new forms of technology that I can use in the classroom. As I stated before, I
believe that technology is an extremely useful tool in the classroom to increase student
comprehension and allow students the ability to learn in a way that is most beneficial to their
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personal learning style. I am hoping to gain knowledge of different forms of technology that can
be used to supplement student learning and assist in student assessment. My second goal is to
gain knowledge specific to the use of the ipad in the classroom. I am currently able to use Apps
such as iTunesYou and Prezi to supplement instruction, but I would like to learn about other
Apps that I can use to keep students engaged during instruction. I am also hoping to learn about
different Apps that I can use to assess student learning. I believe that this degree program will
allow me to become more informed and proficient in using technology, specifically the ipad, in
the classroom.
The Apps that I am hoping to learn more about are Apps involved in assessment of
student learning. Two Apps that I am particularly interested in learning more about are Socrative
and That Quiz, which are both Apps involved in assessing student learning. Socrative can be
used to track student achievement in Socratic Seminars, which are used quite regularly in
English classes. That Quiz is an App that allows students to take quizzes on either an ipad or
iphone and submit their results directly to the teacher. When results are reported to the teacher,
the quiz is automatically scored. I am interested to learn more about these Apps and possibly use
them in my classroom in the future. I believe that adding an element of technology to assessment
will be very helpful to the teacher in terms of grading and returning student work.
On personal level, this degree is extremely relevant to me because the school I am
working at will most likely be providing all students with ipads in the next year or two. My hope
is that I can gain knowledge in using my ipad so that when this transition to the ipad takes place,
I will be able to guide both students and other teachers in using the ipad effectively in the
classroom. I also feel that having knowledge of the latest forms of educational technology is
important because it allows teachers to continue to improve upon the curriculum that they are
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teaching. One goal I have for myself as an educator is that I dont ever want to teach something
the same way twice. I want to continually revisit my lessons and make changes, including adding
available technology to improve student comprehension. My desire is to use technology to the
fullest potential in my classroom in ways that will meet the needs of my students.