My teaching environment changed quite a bit in the last two years.  The campus computer lab has changed to Macbooks and I have received a Promethean Board in my classroom this past spring.  The ability to access so many sources in a matter of seconds is a great tool to have when teaching students how to research and builds upon their critical thinking and inquiry skills.  In regards to research, I have access to online databases such as EBSCOHost, Newsbank and iCONN to get reliable resources (Appendix E).  During my research projects, I teach students how to use these online resources to steer them away from unreliable resources such as Wikipedia.  Hopefully, within the next couple of years we will be able to get the Promethean boards’ Activote devices, which is the Promethean personal response system, to assess students instantly as they “cast their votes” or answers. 

I have used Microsoft Office for many years, and in the past two years I have used it in a research project for my Civics classes.  Two years ago, I had students create a PowerPoint presentation about various constitutional amendments.  This past year, the students created PowerPoint presentations about landmark Supreme Court cases (Appendix F).  The students conducted research in the Library or through online databases (especially for the more recent cases), and then had to compile their findings in a PowerPoint presentation using graphics and other various visuals. 

To keep my students and parents connected to major test days, projects and handouts, I have an EBoard through the Norwich Free Academy website (Appendix G). On my EBoard, I keep a calendar with important test dates and due dates for major projects.  On my main page, students and parents can review the syllabus and other classroom policies.  Under downloads, I post unit organizers (study guides), class handouts and project information.  Eventually, I would like to have some sort of e-learning environment set up where students can submit their work online or have threaded discussions. The Student-Save folder on the common drive at school is the closest thing we have to a electronic submission (Appendix F). The online discussions are a great opportunity for the more soft-spoken students to get their views out in a constructive and organized manner. Initially, one might think that e-learning is much easier than learning in a traditional environment, but it still applies many of the same higher-order skills and assessment.  In fact, much more responsibility is placed on the student in an e-learning environment.  According to Holmes and Gardner (2006), there are many layers to e-learning from developing higher-order skills, self-assessment and reflection and trying to foster motivation through an internet connection.  Not only do Holmes and Gardner (2006) outline what the requirements and challenges are, but they provide some successful options in achieving those goals through types of learning engagement including virtual case studies and field trips as well as simulations and webquests.   While there are so many things that I have tried and used, there is so many various lesson ideas that technology presents that I have yet to utilize. 

Sometimes, the teachers are asked if there is any particular software that we would like to use for our department or personal classroom if there is room in the budget.  In this opportunity, I have made requests for such programs like Inspiration to use on the computers so students could create personalized graphic organizers like concept maps (Appendix I).  I found the criteria for selecting software to be the most useful because I am not that familiar with a lot of software besides Microsoft Office software.  Roblyer (2006) had criteria for each type of software.  The “Criteria for Selecting Good Tutorial Software” was interesting to read and I will be sure to use it when finding different software to implement into my lessons.  I would not have thought to evaluate if a software had adequate record keeping for documenting students’ progress.