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Ed Tech Integration goal

Day 2

Write about one piece of technology that you would like to try this year, and why. You might also write about what you’re hoping to see out of this ed tech integration.

I would like to make better use of the oral reading/recording capabilities of apps like Raz-Kids for fluency practice and running records.  Low stress for the students. I tried a few years ago, but I did not model and practice it enough before implementing.  It would also be great for the kiddos (grades 2 and 3) to hear themselves, as well. Done right, it might be a tool  to open up their own self reflection.

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OK, I'm taking up the 30-day blogging challenge for teachers.

Responding to te@chthought's call to make part of our reflections "public"...

Day 1:  Write your goals for the school year. Be as specific or abstract as you’d like to be!

I've always considered myself a reflective practitioner in whatever field I've found myself working. If that sounds random, it has been: open pastures, closed forests, exhausted cityscapes, sports writing, waiting tables, manufacturing engineering. I seemed to wander, eyes on my own steps, oblivious to my surroundings, until finally looking up at a strange environment, I'd feel the need to put down roots for awhile, and earn my daily bread.

I was never half-hearted at my work; it was my honor to serve in whatever place I was, to grow as quickly as I could, to excel, to offer unique value, to ask whatever questions needed answers. Perhaps pride became a choking vine, but I didn't see it as such in those days.  I called it integrity.

Adventures become stale, though, when there is no end to the quest, just one beginning after another. Finally, I decided to stop where I stood and move no more.  Now, in a deep sense, I work for myself, still trying to learn as fast as I can, and to articulate those still imperfectly formed questions that nag me. 

This profession to which I have actually committed myself, that wasn't some happy accident, is public school teaching. Last week marked the beginning of my eleventh year. Specifically, I have the privilege of working with children who haven't developed intellectually, and often physically and emotionally, in the same way as other children. 

Yes, I am first responsible to these children, their parents, and my school district to help my students acquire the skills and knowledge they are expected to have now and as a foundation for further learning.  I answer next to the legislators and individual/corporate taxpayers (salary-payers) to help prepare the children to take their places as citizens of our state.

Yet, each day, at the beginning and the end, I am the chief director and evaluator of my own work. With all these considerations in mind, my goal for this year is to clearly articulate my own questions regarding the ends, means and priorities of my work.  I know these questions need to be asked because my students are still broadly considered to have "learning problems."