LE 1 Reflections Part 2

Developing a 2 year Learning Plan made me more aware of what courses and what conferences are available especially in North America. I had no idea how many conferences I was interested in! Here are some links to some global conferences and some in our continent:

http://www.celea-aceel.ca/Global-Conferences

http://educationconference.info/

http://10times.com/canada/education-training/conferences

I also realized how many different programs and workshops are ongoing and the amount of learning that is possible. Talking to fellow teachers, the only thing that is problematic is the release time. Each school differs on how much release time they allow you, and in my school over the last 5 years, I have been allowed one or two seminars that lasted a day. 

When I was given a new Smartboard, there was no training provided and I literally had to go on YOUTUBE and learn myself. This was difficult as I did not have the software to install on another computer (was only on the school provided laptop that came with the Smartboard) and I had to wait to get to school to practice. It is such a huge learning curve to become efficient with a Smartboard.

In conclusion, I have definitely 'woken up' to the fact that there are many different types of technology that are available to be used in a classroom setting and it is just up to the individual to become proficient in using them and then delivering them as part of a lesson. It can be a little frustrating trying to figure out some software and programs, but the pay-off is that you will engage the students 100% more and the lessons will be so much more interesting to plan and deliver for you as the teacher, also. In my opinion, that is a win-win situation.