After nearly three years of teaching 9^th grade social studies and working on my Masters of Science in Educational Technology, my experiences with technology has broadened dramatically.  While I use technology on a daily basis, I have learned how to use my resources more effectively through the courses of study in the educational technology program.  I save time and energy tapping into the resources provided online and through software.  Having grown up with a computer for most of my life, I feel very comfortable using one, and I can only imagine what it must have been like before there was easy access to computers. 

Most people imagine technology implementation on a higher level than it has to be. Of course, one could use all the innovative software and get the state-of-the-art computers and display monitors, but technology is available on a simpler level, as I have learned through this process.  DVDs or VHS, projectors, digital cameras, and stereo systems are other forms of technology which many teachers feel comfortable using, as well as computers. 

                With my curriculum, I utilize many of the programs in the Microsoft suite on a daily basis, especially Word and PowerPoint.  For class notes, I always used to  use PowerPoint because it save time and energy, it is easy to read and the notes are easily saved for multiple classes and multiple years.  Its also wonderful for organizing many images that are linked with the information students are taking notes on, like my Renaissance Art PowerPoint (Appendix A).

      But since last spring, I have received a Promethean Board, so I make flipcharts instead of PowerPoints because they are more interactive for the students (Appendix B). The resources available on the Promethean Board are endless with an associated website http://www.prometheanplanet.com/us/ to chat with other users, obtain existing “flipcharts” , read their professional development information and more.  The Activboard (as they call it) allows you to take personalized notes on “flipcharts” and maximize viewing of online resources like video links, pictures as well as a big screen view of resources like Google Earth (Appendix B).  The Promethean Board has changed the way that I teach my students and the way that they learn for the better.  It is proof that technology really does advance education. Many students are visual learners and to be able to see visual representation of not only the words they must write down and images of those terms really helps them understand the material. 

     Apart from lesson planning, there are many other responsibilities that teachers a responsible for doing like grading, communicating and professional development.  Communication takes a lot of time because I am constantly communicating with our colleagues, administrators and concerned parents.  Email makes this much easier than traveling around campus, scheduling meetings and making phone calls. Our school uses GroupWise Software for email and scheduling meetings.  Beyond simply grading the assingments and tests that we give in our classes, we must submit them for progress reports, marking periods and end of the semesters Electronic averaging and submission makes this much easier, I input my grades through GradeQuick (Appendix C).  Starting the 2008-2009 school year, I have begun a new curriculum of World History.  There were new books purchased that come with online programs and an interactive version of the book (Appendix D).  The online program has multiple resources including note-taking templates, related websites, primary sources and review games.   Beyond my textbook, I search for additional resources on the internet as well as online databases like EBSCOHost and Newsbank, and the Connecticut Digital Library (Appendix E).  .