Techie Teacher Reflection

Before I begin with my current technology goal, I felt it was necessary to give some background knowledge. I'm no stranger to technology. I grew up in a home where it we had a desktop computer available. Mind you it was Windows 98 if that gives you a perspective of time. My father worked in the elevator industry. He worked with technology in his career. He was always encouraging me to embrace technology as it would become my world.

When I was twelve years old, I didn't really think on a global scale. I understood the use of the world wide web, but didn't see the future of collaboration around the world. I became more comfortable with technology as I continued to grow up with it. I remember learning to type on an electric typewriter in my high school typing class. We were the fortunate group that experienced the change over from typewriters to computers. I remember typing final drafts of writing assignments on old Mac computers.

As I entered college in the fall of 1999, I remember taking my first Educational Technology (Edtech) course. I excelled in that course. I was no stranger to technology, and that was my opportunity to grow my use of technology into a professional usage for my future career. I loved everything about that course. I remember learning about PowerPoint really for the first time. Oh the possibilities were endless when new technology was introduced to me.

During my student teaching semester in the spring of 2004, I was fortunate to student teach with a remarkable teacher. He was definitely a fan of technology. He had several computers in his classroom, a projector, digital cameras, etc... He even had a computer for me to use as a student teacher. I felt like the power of the world was at my fingertips. Mr. E challenged me to grow myself as a teacher. He encouraged my constant use of technology and showed me how to refine it in my lessons to be more applicable than just "using technology for the sake of using it". He even had me facilitate an interdisciplinary unit with the other teachers and our students in the computer lab. I was very comfortable with the use of technology. I learned how to troubleshoot through the problems on days technology didn't seem so great. I didn't allow it to frustrate me. Thus began my love for technology in the classroom. I liked how much the kids were excited about using it. They struggled with it, but loved the lessons that promoted technology usage. I decided at that point that I wanted to be an ITEC teacher (a district technology leader) and to obtain my Master's degree in Educational Technology.

I went back to school in the fall of 2006 to begin working on my Master's degree. I was teaching at the middle school I grew up in. At that time I was teaching math. I felt that if I could incorporate technology usage in the math classroom, I could do it anywhere. As I moved through my coursework, I built lessons that I would incorporate in my very classroom. I didn't have quite the amount of technology I wanted, but I was working on writing grants to obtain it. I'm happy to say that I eventually became an ITEC teacher and obtained a 1:1 classroom with ipads. I worked very hard for that classroom environment. I received my Master's Degree in Educational Technology in the spring of 2008.

Being an ITEC teacher was one of the highlights of my time teaching in the Calcasieu Parish School District in Louisiana. The professional development obtained through the ITEC grant kept me abreast of technology. We were given technology devices or access to different programs to stay innovated and continue being technology leaders in the district. I remember those professional development days were among my favorite to attend. I couldn't wait to see what the new technology was going to be presented to us. I couldn't wait to brainstorm with my colleagues and see what new challenges I could bring to my students. The technology facilitators were always patient, knowledgeable, and willing to brainstorm and grow me as a professional. Even now being a state away from them, I still find that I reach out to them when I need to brainstorm an idea.

Now, I find myself in Texas. After twelve years of experience, I felt like a brand new teacher all over again. Thankfully, I teach at a school that's similar in size to the one I moved from. While there are many similarities, there are quite a few differences as well. This district is a 1:1 district with laptops. It was like I hit a goldmine. I was sad to have left my technology behind. I had worked so hard for it. I wrote many grants and invested the time to implement it into my classroom. I didn't know how to teach without it. After reflecting on my first year in Texas, I realized I didn't implement technology into the classroom like I wanted to.

My professional goal this school year was to really work at incorporating the technology into my classroom. My school is 1:1 with students having laptops. We have a few students who have opted out of the technology usage, but the majority of them have the laptops. This being my second year in the district, it was time to utilize my technology expertise in my classroom.  It can also be an extremely overwhelming tool. There are so many options, its hard to decide where to begin. It's time that I grow myself in the area of technology and grow my students as well.