As I tend to be very “linear” in my thinking, I decided to tackle this reflection in a point by point format. It’s not polished so to speak, but I think I attempted to hash out where I am in my current teaching. I find the school/funding to be part of the reason behind why I may not be a “digital-age” teacher. I work at an “inner city” school and I have some students that actually don’t have access to computers or other technology at home. Yes, most of my students have all of the lastest gadets, but some have nothing and it’s hard for me to assign a task that requires it. Of course I’d improvise, but it still causes those kids to be signaled out.

So, in my own teaching, I…

1. facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity;
• I always try to make the tasks that I have my students do realistic, things that they might actually do once they leave H.S. (rather than having my students perform skits in front of the class for oral speaking interaction marks, I give them starting phrases in small groups to initiate a conversation. Then they take that conversation where ever it goes)

2. design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments;
• I am definitely lacking in this area, but not really by choice. I would like to incorporate digital tools and resources; however, because my school is in the process of being rebuilt, we’re not allowed to get any new technology. We have a computer lab that is available to book; however, it is usually fully booked and if I get into the lab, the connections are so slow that it makes it impossible to get anything done.
• I do have a projector in my classroom, so I do use powerpoint and various websites for listening and such.
• If the students have smart phones, I do allow them to use them fully in class (not texting other friends in other classes). Many use language dictionary apps to help them in class.

3. model digital-age work and learning;
• I guess I use email to communicate with parents all the time…
• I use facebook with my Leadership class to help keep the kids on top of all the activities and events that are taking place in the school.

4. promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility;
• When I taught English, I taught my students how to site used sources and about plagiarism.
• As a language teacher, I do not let my students use translators and explain that using a translator is simply cutting and pasting someone else’s work. In lieu of translators, I have showed them a site that is an actual language dictionary to help them to say what they want to say.
• I do not provide my students with digital tools because there is no funding to do so.
• I am in the process of setting up a skype lesson with another Spanish teacher in Alberta (who recently graduated from MET)

5. engage in professional growth and leadership?
• I have lead collaborative Pro-D sessions to help teachers set up websites for their classes.
• I am currently sitting on the “techie” committee for our new building
• I continually help other teachers with various computer programs • I am one of the school’s Facebook administrators
• I am enrolled the MET program

Overall, I’d say that yes, I am advancing in digital age teaching, but it’s a slow process that I can’t do on my own. As much as I’d like to do more, my options are currently limited. In this next semester, I will be trying some new things, such as setting up a wiki for my Spanish 12’s so that they can collaborate on writing projects as well as the skype lesson with another class from Alberta. I feel that I am fairly skilled and have lots of confidence in using learning technologies – I’m “not afraid to click!” In fact, I love to click and find new tools on the web all the time.

I believe that ETEC 565 will help me become a digital-age teaching professional by “forcing” me to try new tools such as Moodle, wikis, etc. I already have two websites that are powered by wordpress (www.mrslearle.wordpress.com and www.monkguin.com). One is a work-related-educational website that I set up because a past MET student told me that it would be wise to start a website to keep track of everything that I do in the program to make ETEC590 smoother. The other is a personal website about my husband and I and eventually will house information about our future children.
I feel that I need to develop my awareness of the tech tools that are available and how to actually use them. As I said, I’d like to create a wiki-like site for my Spanish 12 students to collaborate on; however, I don’t really know how or where to even begin. I’d also like to learn about podcasting. It would be nice for my students to be able to login to something and view podcasts of lessons the may have missed due to illness/sports/vacation/etc. Module 3, looks interesting because of the Interaction and Assessment components – I’m a huge advocate of FORmative assessment and I think that module will be quite helpful. And interacting is VERY important in the language classroom.

I guess that’s it for now. I don’t want to make a list too long that I can’t achieve it. Baby steps!