thoughts

I've got to tell you, right now I am just looking at these tools as ways of making doing my job easier. I am not really thinking of how to best use these programs with students. I need to check out more of the lesson plans that are available on AL because they look promising. I tend to think everything is easy and get waaaay ahead of myself and my students. I forget how to slow down and think about the steps I used to get there. So anyway, I am going to concentrate on really understanding backward design rather than the cool programs. Frankly, (sorry in advance Pam) we started having so many tech problems at South this spring that I stopped logging on to my networked emac. I only used my checked out laptop for everything, especially grades. I knew teachers that couldn't access their grades, never mind post them or check e-mail or post attendance, for days at a time. By stating the obvious here I'm not trying to place blame. I'm just wanting to remind people (and this builds on what Jason Ohler was trying to stress) that it's not the technology that's vital, it's the ideas. If I plan to do an iMovie with students I need to make sure that all of their planning is done and done well. If the network fails or we run out of ram or a kid can't login then there has to be a low tech back up plan. Crayons and paper? Well, after the macs were reimaged it took 20-30 minutes, half a class period, to open Word during the time my students were typing final drafts of a year-long autobiography project. I had to have a backup plan.
What I'm trying to say before I head to bed is:
Technology integration is not the goal of this program, great teaching and great learning is the goal. I think at times during the day we all lose track of that because we are so excited/tired/stressed/busy. I am loving it though.