Reflections on Chapter 1

Chapter One provided useful information on how to integrate technology into the classroom. With the help of the National Technology Standards, integration should be a lot easier for teachers, students, and administration. These standards are designed to guide teacher preparation programs and define the fundamental concepts, knowledge, skills, and attitudes for applying technology in educational settings. As long as teachers use these standards to their advantage, the National Technology Standards' will continuously play a huge role in helping teachers adapt and understand technology. While integrating technology, teachers must also learn how to manage their classrooms. Along with managing equipment access and layout, time, and student behavior, teachers must make student's experience with technology meaningful by tying them to content area and the real world. Technology should be used as something new to help students think outside the box. If all else fails, teachers should never hesitate to ask for help! There is a team of people waiting to answer teacher's questions, including the all important, technology coordinator. By combining these skills and the technology team's insight, there is no reason a teacher should not be able to manage his/her classroom. After using technology or any other lesson plan, a teacher should assess his/her students performance. The connection between learning outcomes and assessments is simple, a teacher should use one to make sure the other is being completed. Each lesson plan a teacher makes should have a learning outcome, a specific knowledge that each student learns and understands by the end of the lesson. Assessments should double check that the teacher and students did their jobs right. By using assessments, teachers are able to see exactly how much their students have learned and comprehended, and whether or not their learning outcome was achieved. Teachers should always be prepared for special learners. These children are defined by many different characteristics, such as, living in poverty as well as in affluence, differing language and cultural backgrounds, varying physical abilities, gifts, cognitive abilities, and emotional needs. No matter where the children come from or what their challenge may be, teachers should be prepared to help them in every way possible and give them a brighter future.