The Darche Growth Effect

Over the past 6 weeks, I have been in the "Technology In Education" course presented by Kim Darche. (She is awesome!!!) Tonight will conclude this course and I must say that I am definitely going to miss it. This says a lot since going to class for 4 hours (6-10 pm) is the last thing I want to do after working all day (6:30 am - 4 pm)!

I have grown so much in such a short period of time. Not only did I learn a ton of new tech teaching tools and their applications, I became open to these tools. I see now that tech is not the enemy. There is extreme value to using technology in the classroom for everyone! I was rather skeptical of my being able to accept the idea of incorporating tech into the classroom. As I've said, I am a mother of two boys that have their face in front of a screen every chance they get...and I DO NOT LIKE IT! Like it or not though, technology is the future. So, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right?

I've learned that there are so many ways to really engage today's techie students of all ages. There are great quiz apps, collaborative programs, and games that get the students excited about learning concepts that would be really boring in the traditional lecture format. When we tried some of these out in class, I was LOVING it and wanted to keep going. If that's how excited and engaged I felt, as a tired old grown up, then I can only imagine the benefit to our children!

Once I am a classroom teacher, I will have so many skills to put to great use from this class! Programs like Padlet, Google Classroom, Quizlet Live, and Screencastify will allow me to get my students engaged and excited to learn any concept that would otherwise be boring. All the while making me a more effective teacher, in terms of time spent grading creating and assignments, communicating with parents and developing lesson plans. Even leaving notes and lesson plan details for a substitute will be a breeze with the skills I have learned. God knows there is nothing more frustrating than spending so much time on leaving detailed notes and materials, just to have a sub ignore them and do their own thing!

So I say...Thank you, Kim Darche, for changing my mind about technology in (and out) of the classroom and giving me the tools to be a much better teacher than I would have been without them! 😍