Technology Evolutions This Year

My ideas in August evolved into much more than I originally expected. Our students are getting so proficient in the use of technology, they were able to do much more than what was originally expected. At this point, you can ask students to create a Power Point on a given subject and the majority of them can do it with no problem. My students were in computer lab today and we had them do a web quest on volcanoes. All students had Internet permission and were able to just log onto their own account. I found myself standing in the back of the room watching them maneuver through the sites. I found myself giving them directions such as, “maximize your screen” and I didn’t even have to explain to them what that meant. They automatically did what was asked. I felt at this point that our year was successful. I could speak to the students using the correct technological phrases and they understood them.

I didn’t do the brochure as I wanted to because when I went to do it myself, I found it very hard to maneuver the paragraphs to fit a given space. I am much happier using Excel to do something like that instead of Microsoft Word.

I am happy with my year as my students have been exposed to Inspiration, Excel, Power Point, Word, Webquests, and Puzzlemaker. I look forward to next year going farther with my students and it will be exciting because I know they will come to me with the knowledge they gained from their 7th grade teachers.

Chris Tooley