Demonstrate sufficient technology skills and the ability to integrate technology into classroom teaching/learning.
Clearly, we are in the 21st-Century and technology is a huge part of it. Technology in the classroom gives us the opportunity to break out of the four walls of the classroom and go beyond our original expectations. Technology allows different portals for our students to enter through our classroom as well as build on their critical literacy skills. If we do not incorporate technology into our classrooms, we are not preparing our students to be successful participants in the world after school. We have to teach them digital fluency, how to be appropriate online, how to decipher what is reliable online, how to research, and how to create a positive digital footprint.
It is time that we stop pushing technology out of the classroom and embrace it. Whether we like it or not, our students are faced with technology and media all day and we have to find a way to incorporate it into our teaching. William Campbell calls technology a "pot of gold", why not bring that to our students? We may be surprised with what they can create.
Keeping this in mind, with my seniors I started a class blog. I loved using this blog because not only was it a way for me to get technology into the classroom, but it also allowed the students to put Hamlet into their own words, and even gave me a way to assess student learning. This helped students put Hamlet into a different lens: the lens of their fellow classmates. Students would put up questions, quotes, answers, comments, similar stories, music, etc. I loved this blog and I would definitly use it again!
Having a Smart Board in the classroom is amazing! I love having a Smart Board with my 7th graders. I've realized how much of a convenience this is and I don't know what I would do with out one (kind of bad, maybe?). While doing poetry, I was able to annotate and analyze the poems right in front of them! No need for over heads or just orally explaining the importance of poetry, but students were able to get a nice visual. The Smart Board is like having one big computer right in the front of the class and makes it very easy to spruce up lessons and make them interactive!
In order to introduce A Midsummer Night's Dream to the 7th grade, I used a really cute YouTube clip - a Disney version of A Midsummer Night's Dream. This little clip really helped me introduce the play and get the kids excited about it! YouTube is the simplest version of technology to incorporate into your class - it is so easy! I love YouTube, I think it is a great resource in the classroom.