Throughout the semester, I was very back and forth about this class. There were days when I thought the materials covered were elementary and days when I thought the materials were very useful. Maybe the problem was that I have grown up with computers and have taken many technology classes prior to this one, so I was very familiar with many of the programs we were using or projects we were assigned. The other big issue that I had during the semester was that I felt like we never applied our projects to the classroom. It's extremely difficult to incorporate technology into the math classroom, and since we didn't center our projects around our subject areas, I was having a difficult time figuring out how I could make use of these things in my own classroom. What I realized, however, was that it was all about imagination. Any piece of technology can be incorporated into any single classroom, the teacher just has to be creative enough to find an idea that works.
What I discovered was that I could give my students a great resource outside of the classroom. By using what I learned about digital storytelling, I can create step-by-step video how-to's for any math lesson that we do in class and post it on a class blog or even a class wiki for my students to access. This can be extremely helpful when studying for tests or even doing homework assignments at home. It can give the students an extra resource when they don't have the opportunity to stay after for extra help or if they have a difficult time following their notes or the books instructions, and especially helpful for the students who had to miss school that day. Using what I learned about poster designs, I could easily create my own posters for my classroom, all of which are math related. I can create educational posters to hang in my classroom that will teach my students definitions or theorems about math in a very memorable and easy to follow way.
What I really learned from this class, and all of my other technology classes combined, is that the possibilities are endless. If I can dream it, it can be achieved, and that is the most anyone can ask from a teacher. Using technology and all of the resources that I have been shown, I can bring life to my classroom and give my students an edge. I can make learning, and math especially, fun and exciting again. I can assign projects that will not only teach the students the material, but will teach them how great technology can be and how much fun math is. Using technology, I have the opportunity to recreate the math classroom into an exciting and fulfilling experience for every student.
