Week 7: Tech for Productivity & PD / TPACK Wrap-up

This week's readings centered around using technology both to increase productivity and as a method of professional development. Throughout my entire teaching career, technology has been an important part of connecting with other teachers, especially the other music teachers in our district. I have often emailed colleagues with questions or advice, and just this simple task made me feel less alone and helped me grow as a music teacher.

Technologies I Use

Over the last few years, I have been increasingly looking to the Internet for professional development and lesson ideas. The most obvious is this class: it is part of my Master's degree in music education that I am obtaining entirely online. Working a full time job, being a mom and wife, and living at least 45 minutes from any college that would offer a music ed degree has made it convenient and achievable. While it hasn't always been easy, I have found certain classes very pertinent to my teaching and have definitely helped me grow as a teacher. Additionally, I have used webinars offered by NAfME to fulfill professional development hours required by my district.

I surprised myself when I realized that I actually like using my PLN to learn about new technologies and articles pertinent to my teaching. In the past, I have had to search out inspiration and lesson / unit plans for my teaching. I think even after this class is finished I will still read items in my Feedly and Twitter accounts, both of which I may keep for professional reasons. Facebook will always remain a social thing for me! 

I have been taking advantage of Google Drive as a way to stay organized this year instead of my flash drive that I hang on my school lanyard (in fact, I could probably take it off - I haven't used it since October!). It has been a great way to share documents and collaborate while planning integrated units and lessons.

Technologies I Plan to Use

Last week, I attended the Magnet Schools of America Conference in Raleigh, NC. Part of the conference was the opportunity to tour some truly inspirational magnet schools, similar to my school. After hearing about Internet-based programs such as DropBox, Edmodo, and Evernote that are being used daily at these schools, I am excited to explore their use in my classroom. Out of all of these, DropBox seems like it will be the easiest to integrate.

While I haven't always been good with it in the past, I know I must start using the Internet to communicate with my students' families more effectively. My students do not always give notes to their parents, and the Internet gives a more direct route for the information. While I cannot use social media as a platform to reach families directly (district policy), part of my professional goal next year will be to communicate with families via email both in group emails or with individual messages. I am also in the process of designing a new website for my classroom using Weebly to communicate with families. I also have just begun to use YouTube links to share performances and student work with families via the use of QR codes.

TPACK Wrap-up

This class has given me a great deal of knowledge that I have applied or plan to apply to my teaching. I am certainly quickly becoming more comfortable using technology, and I am excited about using it with my students!

(As a follow-up to earlier posts: some of my fifth-grade students finished their GarageBand tracks today, and they are FANTASTIC! One group in particular went above and beyond, adding electric guitar to their accompaniment. The students have been so excited to explore the technology, and are proud of what they have composed! It went so well, I am planning on using it in one last unit with my fourth-graders too!)