So many Choices

This first 9 weeks has been a great growing experience for me. I have found some great uses for technology in the band classroom from setting up a recording station for tests on one of the desktops in my room to using my classroom iPads to remediate some students in my class while accelerating others or using the iPads to take tests where we use Flubaroo to grade them. I found uses for technology that make class instruction more effective and enjoyable for my students. I am also using the technology in my class for student reflection and creating products.

Through this experience, I have found my favorite app, Doceri. It is a powerful app with a lot of uses. I have used it to create instructional videos about songs that we are performing. The Cultural Relevance piece of the Common Core standards gives me an avenue to share with students the background, historical context, and relevance to the lives of of my students needed to make a connection to the music. With the app's interface you can write on screen while it records your voice. There are several very useful backgrounds that can be used and pictures can be inserted. I have experienced many of these features from other apps, but the things that puts Doceri over the top is the desktop download. When Doceri is placed on your desktop you can sync the two and then you have control of your desktop from your iPad. Not like a mouse...you can actually see what is on your desktop on your iPad and you have a touch screen desktop right in your hands. Doceri has proven invaluable in my classroom instruction.

The most difficult thing I have dealt in this process is all of the choices. Sometimes it is so overwhelming trying to decide what exactly which tool to use for the task and why use one tool over another. Through this process I feel that I have become a better educator, because I am really thinking more about what i want my students to learn, how to get them there, and then I look at the results and try to do it even better the next time...whew!

I feel very fortunate to be a part of this process and just like the kids, I get excited and doing things in new and more engaging ways.