RunningHeader:ReflectiveEssay

Reflective Essay
Lauren C. Meyer
University of West Georgia

RunningHeader:ReflectiveEssay

2
Reflective Essay
Introduction

During the 2014 and 2015 school year, I teach sixth grade Language Arts and
Social Studies teacher at Westside Middle School in the Whitfield County Schools
district. I enjoy teaching in my classroom computer lab equipped with thirty desktop
computers (I only have a maximum of 22 students in my classes this year), a networked
printer for teacher use only, an interactive white board, a DVD/VCR player, a digital
projector, and my own teacher laptop. The classroom is one of two within the school
with access to this amount of technology on a daily basis. Other teachers can use
computer labs with this much technology, but they have to sign up for to use them. Our
school currently has 3 computer labs similar to the amount of technology I have in my
classroom. Integrating technology as much as possible is quite difficult all the while
implementing the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards in both subjects.
As of now, I plan to continue working in the classroom and maybe, one-day move
into the role of media specialist. I love being with my students; however, I think I could
also use my interpersonal skills that I have developed, my rapport with my colleagues,
and my love for educational technology to help move my school into the future and still
continue working with students.
Review of Learning
During this semester, I learned quite a bit not only about technology, but
technology in the classroom and educational technology reform. During this time period,
I completed many activities that helped me meet the course requirements/descriptors:

RunningHeader:ReflectiveEssay

using new technologies, evaluating trends in educational technology, problems with and
using instructional technology, and the emergent technology and its impact.
One of the most valuable exercises that was completed in class was the
evaluation of a piece of instructional technology and all the posts on the discussion
board. I was able to post about my most valuable piece of instructional technology and I
was then also able to read my classmates most valuable technology. This helped me
out so much, not only in the class, but also in my own classroom. I was able to read
about other technologies, read reviews by fellow teachers, and determine if the
technology would be beneficial in my own classroom.
Implications
By participating in this class, I have learned many new things that I want to
incorporate in my classroom daily. One idea that I have taken away is a new technology
to use with my students for an upcoming project, Audacity. This computer program that
is downloaded is audio editing technology. In a few weeks, my students will be
completing a research activity on World War II. The students will be making a
1930s/1940s radio show including PSAs, propaganda ads, commercials, news
segments about important events of World War II, and even a Little Orphan Annie
program. The students will use Audacity to record themselves and edit each segment.
They will then merge all the segments together to make one big radio broadcast. I am
even having our media specialist come to class and help me introduce Audacity.
Another form of technology that I already use, but was discussed several
times in class was Edmodo. Edmodo is similar to Facebook, but is just for teachers,
parents, and students and is a safe means of communication. Discussion posts,

RunningHeader:ReflectiveEssay

quizzes, dropbox, and content locker are all on Edmodo and can be accessed by any
one who is given rights to the class by teacher permission. My classmates gave several
more technologies to me and I cannot wait to try them!
Conclusion
This course was beneficial for me not only in my personal educational journey,
but also in my teaching career. Ive learned so much about different forms of technology
to try to use in my class, what I can do to help other teachers now and in the future (if I
choose to become a media specialist), and a lot of the future of education according to
Christensen. As Ive said before in this essay, the most valuable assignment we had
was experimenting with a new technology, writing about it, and then reading what forms
of technology our classmates used. I was able to review their technologies and see
which ones would work for the current students in my class. This class has not only
helped me with my current students and fellow teachers, but also with my future
students and teachers.

RunningHeader:ReflectiveEssay

References
FREE Federal Registry for Educational Excellence | FREE Federal Registry for
Educational Excellence. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2014, from
http://free.ed.gov
Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2014, from
http://www.educatorstechnology.com
Edmodo. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2014, from https://www.edmodo.com
Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2014, from
http://audacity.sourceforge.net