Digital Blog Post #J

Hello Professor Coleman,

I'm happy you gave me a chance to turn in this blog post late because I wouldn’t have ever gotten to reading Chapter 11, in the depths that I did with that extra week.

The story "A New Teacher Uses Digital Portfolios" opens up so many thoughts for me as a student and for me as a teacher. When I was in grade school I was that student who didn’t do well at studying for a test. I did my best when teachers had something for me to go off of or when they were "reviewing" but really allowing us the chance to go over what we learned in depth and from a different perception. Although Mrs. DuBose (the retiring teacher in the story) was an exceptional teacher, Tracy was able to recognize that her assessment methods weren't successful for every student. Tracy was able to engage all students with the power of technology and to me this was a key point for this semester as a whole. Most students and teachers are used to the same ole same, and it shows very much so. It is very common to see students disengage and it is a tremendous problem that needs to be fixed. Students should be taught that learning is fun, learning is something that doesn’t have to be a set standard. Learning is something you can do freely in ways that you choose to learn so that you are pushed to your highest ability. The main point that needs to be made is whether or not a student has truly grasp the information and not just memorized it for the time being.

Digital Teaching Portfolios is a great tech tool for a teacher to have their entire career at the click of a button. To me teaching is a very important job that only very important/special people should have. I believe that teachers are one of the biggest attributors to society because they teach the future. We as grade school teachers spend over 1000 hours in a year with students. In total there are around 8500 hours in a year. That means roughly 1/8th of a year in a child's life is spent with a teacher. May not be a huge chunk but it is One person spending 1/8th of your child's time a year. Just one person. This teacher gets to know your child on a personal basis and teaches them they can be successful. Teaches them that they can be a doctor, lawyer, or even a teacher themselves. Teachers' makeup the basis of what our future leaders are made up of. All of this carries great importance and teachers should be able to show people their successes at the press of a button.

As for student portfolios I think this gives students a prime opportunity for learning enhancement. Students are able to go over past material and think about it from a different perspective. They are given more time to review and reflect what was to be learned. A portfolio should allow for examining the work that has been done, identifying the strengths and weaknesses, and making plans to improve or change certain things in the future. Reflection is key!

Creative Commons Photo By: Rubatacchini

References:

Gonzalez, Ivana. Canva Picture. 

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.