Digital Badge B

At the beginning of this chapter, the author pointed out that teachers who are just starting out usually teach as they were taught. But focusing on how you can create a "lively and inspiring teaching situation" is key. I really liked the emphasis on that, because it is so true. We don't live in a time where being taught by lectures, sitting in rows is the most effective way for students to learn. Working in groups, using technology, being creative, those are the ways to really get the material across to a student! I remember sitting through lectures in AP World History, and then meeting up with a friend afterword and turning our notes into stories so that we could remember the facts better. If teachers worked from the creative perspective, I think that students would not only learn more efficiently, but be more willing to learn.

One section of the chapter asked something along the lines of, "What motivates you to use or consider using technologies in teaching?" The only major reason that I could agree with was to engage students in learning in new and exciting ways. If technology is what will get the lesson across to them in a way that makes sense, then I'm more likely to do that. With the two-year-old's I teach at church, putting a CD in and playing music and dancing and singing with them is the way to get lessons across during praise and worship. However, when we start bible story time when they first come in I find that turning out the lights and pretending like we're camping and need to be really quiet to hear the story is the way to get them focused on the story. That brings a question to my mind that I might do further research on, but why is it that when the lights are of children are more likely to calm down more than when the lights are on, even with the same instructions?I'm assuming it will have something to do with sleep, and how we sleep in the dark, but I guess I will find out!

Another section of the chapter asked "How often do you plan on using the following technologies in teaching?" I chose four from the list provided, two I would use a lot and two that I would probably not use at all. The two that I would use consistently are the computer for professional communication such as with parents and administrators as well as other teachers, and using technology for classroom presentations and demonstrations. I think those two things are easy ways to incorporate technology into my teaching career and they don't require a lot of time or frustration to set up and use on a daily basis. That would be my goal for whatever technology I use in the classroom. If it is easy to set up quickly and can be used on a daily basis without frustrations of outdated software and such then I would be very open to it. The two that i did not like were creating a class website and using word processing for student writing. I would much rather use websites and resources that are already available to me to use in my classroom than create my own website or wiki or whatever I could create. As far as word processing, I think it's a great thing for high school and college students working on long essays and research papers and thesis', but when a class of fourth graders are working on narrative stories for the FCAT, then I think they should be handwritten. Elementary and middle school are still part of a period where students are forming their own personal handwriting, and sitting them in front of a computer with Microsoft Word to write a sentence is not going to help them with that.

Overall I enjoyed this chapter much more than the first one. It encouraged creatively teaching without diverging from the lesson itself. My real focus on learning any type of teaching method is figuring out how to get it across to the students in a fun and entertaining way where they wont forget it as soon as they get on the bus, but it will be a lesson they tell their parents about.This chapter helped me figure that out I think!



Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.