The List!!!

We had to choose two important points from Doug Johnson's Seven Stupid Mistakes and Seven Brilliant Things Teachers Do With Technology and New Classroom Rules by Education Innovation.

From Seven Stupid Mistakes Teachers Make With Technology I chose Not backing up data. This is so very important and almost second nature. No matter what, I save files to my laptop, to my storage device and I email it to two of my accounts. I know what it feels like to work so hard on something and then lose it. From my first experience, I learned a valuable lesson. I will teach this to all of my students. It is such a headache trying to re-do something from memory. I also chose Ignoring the intrinsic interest of tech use in today's kids. Students love technology; they love computers. As I have said before, if we are not incorporating technology into the classroom, then we are doing a disservice to our students. There are benefits to using technology along with traditional styles f teaching. Times are changing and we should adapt to the new wave.

From Seven Brilliant Things Teachers Do With Technology I chose Creatively find and use resources. We all know that with budget cuts we may have to come out of pocket for many of our resources that we use in the classroom. But there are innovative and less expensive things we can do and also get our students involved in doing to have more in the classroom. For instance, as a mathematics instructor, my students and I can create our own sundials to use in trigonometry instead of buying ONE we can have one for ever student. There are things we can do to make instruction time more fun and interesting. I also chose Accept the role of co-learner. As educators, we never stop learning. Allowing our students to teach us and their peers, their self-esteem rises and they feel more appreciated. Educators should involve students more because we may prepping future educators.

From New Classroom Rules I chose Come to class everyday. It is so important to be present in class; whether it be online or in an actual building. It has been very hard for me to attend one class because I have an infant at home. I have missed so much but it is my responsibility to get notes from my classmates and stay in touch with my professor. Communication is key if you are not able to show up for every class meeting. Although I get notes from my classmates, it is nothing like having my own because I know what is and what is not important to me. I try to get everything that is told to me where someone else may be able to remember more and not write that down. I also chose Complete all assignments neatly and on time. This goes hand in hand with my service learning I have completed in another class this semester. I was at a private school and in a competitive honors class one student did not complete her homework. She went ballistic and became angry with the instructor. We should teach our students the importance of being on time and apply this to real world situations. The same is true for neat work. If students have a problem with handwriting, we should help them to correct this problem and also, if it is too severe, have them type all of their assignments. Technology...isn't it great!