Becoming a 21st Century Teacher and Learner

The new school year is upon us already! I knew time was flying when I saw back to school commercials for Staples and Office Depot two weeks ago! This forced me to begin thinking about how this year would be different and how I could make it the best year yet. I'm entering my SIXTH year of teaching and my third year as the Reading Resource Teacher. After much contemplation and Pinterest viewing, I've decided on two goals for the teacher part of my day. First, I want to integrate more technology into my teaching as well as the student's learning. Next, I want to build the relationship between school and home by gaining more parental involvement. The more I thought about this, the more I realized these two goals are connected. If I expect my students to use technology for projects and to learn from it as an instructional tool, I need parental buy in and support. Ok, so I figured out WHAT I want to do, now to figure out how to accomplish it!

I feel so overwhelmed with all of the possibilities from different apps to having students participate in Google Circles and Hangouts for projects to just sprucing up my presentations so they are a bit more visually engaging. I also want to write grants to get an iPad (or six) for use in the classroom. I've found a lot of great student response apps and interactive review games. I just do not know where to start. Perhaps I should begin by reading some blogs on edutopia, or understanding ISTE's standards for teachers, or just begin using the ASSURE model for my lessons. I'm going to use this blog to track my progress and share what I come up with for various lessons. For right now, I am going to begin with using technology to create an infographic syllabus. I found these on Pinterest and really love the look!