Least not we repeat

For my next act: an autobiographical post that in no way resembles my entry for 3100.

Ahem.

Once I was an annoying student. Intolerant of slow moving material, lamenting labored lectures, and as a new Mom, was just ready to get on with things. Soon I took maters into my own hands. I learned my material, but also taught peers who were struggling.

One brave day some time later I dropped my resume onto the Directors desk at my institution of learning and claimed "Even the half trained monkey that I am could do a better job than that."

So they hired me.

I have since been humbled at the brilliance of the students that sit before me. I have come to acknowledged that my first years as an educator may have been only marginally better than that which I had been so sure I could improve upon. I'm still sorry that for those first students I was not able to do better when they were with me. But along that road of making mistakes and learning, I've discovered there is always another way to deliver material, and likely soon, if not already, a student who needs another dynamic method will come along.

I've learned the surest way to find a new jackpot of technology is to ask a student what they are looking at, and not be afraid to ask how it works and what they use it for.

One student took the time to enlighten me to the marvels of anatomy apps. Check out Essential Anatomy! How neat is this?

That particular student makes quiz's for himself and his peers.

Prezi was another eye opening application, as apposed to my hum drum power points. When a student used one for a presentation my class, I immediately began to play with making my own. Here are some of my favorite pieces from the orientation "prezi" I made for our year 1 orientation.

So, in summary, I'm working my way into embracing and utilizing technology in the teaching realm, but my strong suit still remains in live theater bluster and old fashioned low tech. determination. For the purposes of student engagement however, being willing to ask, invite dialogue and integrate the new technology is a worthy path to explore.