Chapter two posted by Jamie Pool

After reading chapter two Technology Standards for Teachers, I now understand what technology standards involve, as well as, what technology standards are expected of all teachers. Being in a school that is not yet focused on technology is a very challenging concept knowing what I read in this chapter. I want so much to involve my students in learning through meaningful ways that are taught through technology. I know that I can do this every week when we go to the computer lab and I also can teach through my SMART board in my classroom. I think this is a good beginning point and I hope our school continues to grow in the technological era.
The second idea that I grasped from reading this chapter, is the sense of technological change. Some teachers still have a chalk board in our school. It isn’t that our school can’t afford another teaching tool, but some teachers prefer what they grew up with, which is also what they are more comfortable with using. It was very beneficial to read that our era is changing to using more updated technological tools, strategies, and skills. I understand that sometimes it is very hard to want to change to recent research, but I believe doing what is best for kids is most important.
Lastly, I believe it is very important that teachers are prepared with learning the technology standards. When I was getting my bachelor degree, I only had one college education course and it did not involve the teaching standards for technology. I feel, for teachers to become more confident in educating about technology, we need to learn ourselves and be more comfortable in understanding how technology works. If we are educated and are encouraged to take professional development courses on technology we will become better teachers for our students.
I would like to have my students exploring more with power points. For, example in the book the science teacher did a great article on Tornadoes. It would be great to split my kids in groups and have each group take a part of a topic. For example, we study about different types of rocks. We could have three different groups. One group could research metamorphic, another group could study sedimentary, and the last group could study igneous. Then when they have researched all the parts about their rock, they could put it in a power point and present it to the class. We could also put each group into one power point and each group could teach their rock type to the class.
Another idea that I would like to integrate is using more hands-on educational websites with my SMART board. I believe this get students very engaged which therefore will help them grasp the concept being taught. Having students interact with the SMART board and experience the different features will help them develop a better understand for technology.
I believe a concern that I have after reading chapter two is getting my school more involved and consistent with the technology standards. My goal is for me to fully understand them and then be able to teach others about the importance of technology standards in the classroom.