FINAL REFLECTION

I thought the 2013 Summer Camp 2.0 was, by far, one of the most applicable, relevant, and fun professional development classes I've taken in a long time! While I consider myself pretty adapt at learning and using technology in general, this class gave me the opportunity to see a large variety of different web programs available that could be used in the education world. There is just so much out there, it is sometimes overwhelming to even narrow down programs to use. I liked the options given each week and the ability to practice with them. Some of my favorites or ones I could see using in my specific classroom include: Animoto (would need to pay for additional length/features), Zooburst, screencasting via SmartRecorder or ScreenCastOMatic, Tagxedo, expanded use of YouTube, and expanded use of cloud computing in terms of professional activities. In using these tools, I think I will almost need to train my support staff (paras) in how they work as well. Given the high level of cognitive needs of my students, I don't see many of them developing learning things with these tools on their own. However, I would love to see students develop products of their knowledge to share with their parents. In order to do that, they will need support in creating things, which will be from the paras. I also see class-wide use of some of these things. I feel fortunate to have a SmartBoard in my classroom (I know many teachers still do not) and that works as a visual/projection where we could develop classwide things. I think the visual and interactive nature of many of these tools are just what my students need to become more engaged overall! Some of the things I struggled most with in this class was the application piece - how to I really apply this to teaching high school kids with such significant cognitive disabilities? The other struggle I have is, while I think these are all wonderful, I an overwhelmed at thinking of how could I possibly develop and implement these into an already maximized schedule and workload? In addition to lesson development, student management, and endless special education due process paperwork - this is another thing on my plate! I know many teachers probably feel this way. Not enough hours in the day! That being said, I think I will set a goal for myself to utilize 1 new tool each month in class. That way, I am using them but not trying to do everything at once!