Blog Journal #6

I visited Leon High School's website to look at the different teacher pages they had available! When browsing their website, I found that some teachers made more information available to the public than others. There were a few teachers who had no information on their public page. However, those that did typically included basic information about themselves such as where they got their degree from, what their degree is in, their email, their office hours, etc. Furthermore, they would include a page with their class assignments posted so their students could always access it and outsiders could view the general curriculum. I specifically explored two different pages, one for 12th grade English and one for AP Physical Science which did not specify which grade level it was for, but I am guessing it was for 11th and 12th-grade students. I have included screenshots from both of these pages below! 

I plan to use technology in my future career as a Literature Professor as a way to enhance my students’ learning experience. As an English professor, my students will be writing lots of papers, so having access to Microsoft Word will be extremely beneficial to them when writing papers. Secondly, I will use a SmartBoard in my class as a way to share my notes on texts with my students. Before each discussion, I will create a document giving any and all background information that I believe will be useful in our discussion. Furthermore, I will post these notes online so that my students can have access to them at any point in time. Lastly, I will use technology as a means for students to never miss out on what we do in class. The SmartBoard has a function which allows you to record the screen with audio and post this video online. This way, if a student has to miss class, they will be able to listen along to the lecture and follow along with the notes on the board. Using these various resources will make my students' educational experience way more efficient and effective. 

While I did not take any photos in the Technology Sandbox, I still thoroughly enjoyed my experience there and learned a lot! I think what could be most useful for me in my future career would be the SmartBoard. The multitude of activities that are available through it are truly invaluable to education. For instance, as I mentioned in the above paragraph, you can record the screen while you lecture and post this for your students. Secondly, you can write directly on the board, on notes, and have your students contribute during lectures. Interactive lectures are crucial as it keeps the students tuned in the entire time. Another piece of technology that I learned about that could be useful in my classroom would be the Virtual Reality! While hard to come by, this could allow my students to tour some of the locations that we are reading about in our novels! Furthermore, they could tour the literature museums in London and even the houses of some of their favorite authors! All in all, my experience in the technology sandbox was pretty incredible, and I am glad I had the opportunity to learn more about some of these resources that I can use in my future career!