Statement of Personal Growth

Statement of Personal Growth

At the beginning of the semester, I found myself walking blind into the world of technology. I started this course knowing what the end product should be, but having no idea of how to achieve it. I began this course knowing it was a requirement for education majors, but having no idea why. But as the semester progressed, I slowly learned, piece by piece, how to build a webfolio; and I slowly learned, bit by bit, how this computer class would affect my teaching.

I will admit that at the beginning of the semester I was wary of, if not totally against, using technology in the classroom. I had only seen it fail. I had only experienced teachers putting students on computers to gather frivolous information from the internet; to do math assignments on Excel which would have been beneficial to the students but then the students only put the bare minimum into the assignments. I had only seen students learning from computers, not with them; memorizing what the computer told them, not applying what they taught themselves through the computer. Don’t get me wrong, I was not against technology. Technology, in my mind, has always been a bonus. But I had never seen it successfully used inside the classroom.

Then I read some of the Technology Forum articles, and I began to change my mind. I was still wary of the ability of teachers to integrate technology into the classroom, especially elementary and middle school classrooms, but I read testimonies. I saw how kids could have fun and learn at the same time, making projects on the computer about the latest findings in their science class, about the different layers of the forest. So I became more open minded.

At the same that I was discovering how technology can be integrated into elementary and middle school classrooms, I saw it being integrated into our own. Obviously, the whole class and all of the assignments were done using a computer, so I learned to lean on it heavily. I grew to turn to the computer for help and assistance. I looked at my computer and I saw limitless possibilities. Working on my PowerPoint, I discovered how to make a presentation that would support the words I was saying, and not the other way around. I found out how artistic one can be in designing a PowerPoint, how unique, and how that is essential when working with technology. I think that so many people are timid with computers and that is why there are so many stale PowerPoint, so many dry applications of technology. We must use the computers to compliment the creativity already in us. You can make technology do whatever you want it to for you; you can make it serve your goals. I learned that in Excel; I made that Excel sheet look that way I wanted it to in order to serve my purposes. So I began to adapt technology to me.

Then I was doing the Mindtools Rubric and I was evaluating Inspiration. I love Inspiration. I looked at sample from kids in middle school and they were amazing. I was enthralled by them, by their creativity, by both their simpleness and complexity. It was then that I could see myself teaching and using Inspiration. I could see my students loving it. I could see them learning so much from it, because I had learned so much just by looking at what they created – imagine actually creating it! Inspiration, ultimately, was my inspiration (I know that was corny).

So, in the end, technology has to be approached slowly. It cannot be conquered all at once, it cannot be rushed into. It must be a slow process, because it is then that it is truly learned and developed. Somehow I managed to reach my end goal of creating a webfolio, and somehow I finally understood that technology does have a place in the classroom, every classroom. It can be simply an internet scavenger hunt, a web quest, an interactive crossword puzzle; or it can be creating a web of ideas, a PowerPoint or a poster on a certain topic. Technology is a way for students to teach themselves, to learn themselves, and the earlier the better.