This week's second question, the one inquiring as to where we look to find emerging trends and issues in the field, led me to a powerful reflection of where and how I find this information. Historically, I'm not one to venture out on my own and research these things. I tend to get my information from peers and leaders; I thought about lying and saying that I regularly read Educause and other sources to keep abreast of the latest tech trends and issues, but sadly, that's not the case. I regularly attend CUE (Computer-Using Educators), which is under ISTE's umbrella, conferences. At these conferences, I have the opportunity to learn from others how specific digital tools and pedagogies are used by the presenter. In my district and our individual schools, we also have our own tech and instructional support staff that are available to help and highlight new tools to use and ways to teach our students. In the summer, my district hosts "Summer Institute" which run by instructional coaches but has teachers volunteer to present sessions to their peers, with the same format of choice that we see at ISTE or CUE conferences. I also learn from my peers. For example, I have a spreadsheet where I update student progress weekly. Another teacher helps me set it up with a few formulas, one of which calculates projected end dates bases on a student's pr
ogress. As well, this teaching peer showed me how to add AUTOCRAT to the spreadsheet which will run neat and tidy individual student reports for me, that I then add my own written feedback for my students.
In our reading this week, we use a link to Educause and select three articles. Right away I found three that I was interested in, learned from and enjoyed reading. As I'm doing this, I'm thinking, "Why am I not doing this on my own?" I think the answer lies in the fact that for ten years I was drowning as an English teacher. Now, I'm in my second year of a new teaching position where I mostly work one on one with students. I have time now to keep abreast of new tech and issues on my own instead of always relying on other people. This is powerful for me as I hadn't thought about it before.
Here is my edShelf link. One of my favorite tools I learned about this summer is there; it's the Noun Project. Do you and your students need ICONs for an infographic or some other digital media? It's a great source!
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