Greetings! I know the year is winding down and I hope that you all are staying well rested to finish out the year strong! As I make decisions about next year and transition into new beginnings I take a look back at all that I have learned and accomplished this year as a computer teacher.
I began the year not having any clue about how to teach computer (especially to Kindergarteners!). I was given my state standards and a classroom with 30 computers and was told "good luck". This was my first year to be in a classroom by myself with no mentor to guide me through and I must say it was a learning year indeed. What I thought would be my classroom management plan quickly failed and a new one quickly took place. I learned the reality of being a classroom teacher - some lessons will go great and others will completely fail. The great thing about being a resource teacher is that I was able to teach the same lesson 8 or 9 times so by the end I had worked out all of the kinks and had turned a "fail" lesson into a success. At the beginning of the year it took me a few times to teach the lesson before I called it a "success" but as the year has progressed I have learned how to anticipate the issues before they arise allowing my lesson to be a "success" the first time I teach it.
I have learned a lot about technology, how to introduce it to students, how to break down each concept into simple steps and terminology, and most importantly, I have learned unique and fun ways to incorporate technology into lessons being taught in the classroom. This year I was able to collaborate with teachers to find out what they were studying and what events would be taking place in their classroom and then incorporate some sort of technology activity to assist what they were learning.
For example, second grade was learning how to write friendly letters so we went over the steps again in computer, the students completed a graphic organizer, and then learned how to type one on the computer and add different components to make the letters more appealing. We did this around the time of our school wide grandparents day lunch so that we could write the letter to our grandparents, print them and give it to them at the lunch.
I had a fantastic year and learned so much! I am so excited to see where God will place me next year and what new experiences I will encounter. I look forward to learning new things from new people and sharing all that I have to offer.
God bless and good luck to all of my teacher friends finishing out the year!
Ms. V
