Professional+Growth+and+Development

=__**What's Next**__= Before taking this course I was not aware of how much useful technology sources were so easily available for teachers. The internet has an amazing cache of free resources that are available at a click of a button and they can really be used creatively to keep the interest of students and the teacher as well. I think that these resources can serve as great motivators to try new things in the classroom and stay very innovative as a teacher. This class made me see technology as a much more useful application in the classroom and helped me to not be discouraged because of the difficulty of learning new resources. Many of them are very simple to use and can be applied in an amazingly wide variety of areas. As a teacher I will definitely use technology in more meaningful and useful ways because this class has helped me to see outside of the box.

I my classroom I will definitely use technology to support my 21st century learning environment. Having the capability to use many of the technologies we learned about in class is a very crutial part of the present society. I will use smart boards, very often as a interactive tool that can spark motivation and interest and I will take advantage of the many free online resources that are, new to my knowledge, very easily accessible and free. Both the teacher resources and the student resources can be used in lesson plans that will facilitate learniong and expand upon the use of technology.

As a teacher I think that the tool I will most often use is the computer because there is a plethora of information and resources available through the internet that I could use and expand upon. The smart board is another tool that I hope is available to me because of it's interctive capabilities. I am not sure if I will use webquests because I think and in class discussion of the guidelines for an assignment is much better and allows for the aid of the teacher if students are confused or have question. I doubt my classroom will have the availability of smart boards and computers for each strudent because I want to teach in a poverty stricken area, but the web 2.0 tools and other free online resources would be ideal for use in expanding the diversity of my teaching environment.