My Reflection

Name: Donna Hannah	Date:  March 20, 2016
School/District:  Lakewood Elementary School
Role/Position: Grad Five Math Teacher
Email Address: donna.hannah@hsv-k12.org
Blog Link:

Reflect on how your personal learning network has changed and grown during the course of this workshop. Discuss your plans for how you plan to continue to grow your learning network and how you hope to contribute to the professional learning of your administrative colleagues. 

I can honestly say that my PLN has changed dramatically having taken this course.  I know that "keeping in touch" has been simplified through technology.  It is my hope that I have become more personally involved with my PLN and consequently more involved with my profession.

Currently, our school system has opened up access to social networking sites, blogs, podcasting and twitter for staff.  This is great because we have found so many positive resources that can be used to increase our involvement with technology.  It is my opinion that we should continuously update our Acceptable Use Policy and provide serious training for faculty, parents and students on Digital Citizenship.  We should not live in fear but rather utilize technology for the good that it can do as a tool for learning and professionalism.

I plan to get permission from my principal to provide training to the teachers in grades 3-6 on the web 2.0 tools that are available for use.   My first step will be to introduce the idea of a PLN to each of them and show them how importance it is to an educator.  It is my hope that this training will open up the opportunity to begin either a blog, podcast, or both among the educators at my school.

I look forward to the opportunity to develop a plan for guiding all stakeholders through the technology that is accessible.  Wish me luck because there are many minds to be changed.

I found an article about technology in education today.  I want to share a highlight. The site is:

http://theconversation.com/education-in-the-information-age-is-technology-making-us-stupid-10844

Check out this statement....Do you think we are becoming more knowledgeable or is technology making us stupid?

"The pub argument is dead. Google killed it with a little help from your smartphone. Instead of long fought debates about who’s right and who’s wrong, an answer is nearly always within easy reach.

With so-called intelligent personal assistants becoming more sophisticated, it won’t be long before we have the same kind of access to information as the characters from Star Trek: “Siri, at maximum warp how long will it take to reach the bar?”

The question is, does this make us knowledgeable experts or is the easy access to information making us stupid?"

Things I cannot change

What is it that we work so hard for as educators? Is it the success of our students? Is it popularity and success for ourselves as we reach the end of our careers? What is our ultimate purpose? Do we still have the spark that ignited the fire in us as we began our careers many years ago? It saddens me to think that for many of us that spark has died.

There are so many things that constantly bombard us. The changes are continuous. Unfortunately, we are left wondering whether or not this job is still worth the effort.

I am determined to look for the positive things that still exist in this field of education. As issues arise, rather than get angry or consider retirement, I will seek ways to make the best of the situation for all individuals involved. I must constantly remind myself that I came into this field to impact students' lives in a positive way. I am still committed to that task.

Don't Get Mad

Parents have certainly changed! Gone are the days when you could count on a call to a parent actually making a difference in the behavior of a student at school. If anything, the call to the parent only creates a larger problem.
It really makes me sad to have to admit this, but the reality of the situation is too evident to ignore. How much more can even a good teacher take from irate parents who come to school to 'get' the teacher without bothering to learn the facts? This problem seems to be getting worse despite all the efforts to improve parent/school involvement and cooperation.
Unfortunately, this means many good teacher are throwing in the towel rather than continuing to be disrespected, ignored, and ridiculed by uncooperative parents. Could it be that we have moved so far away from what true education was that maybe, just maybe, we have created this problem ourselves. If so what are we going to do about it before it is entirely too late.

This is Why I Teach

Haim Ginott shared the following

"I have come to a frightening conclusion. I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or de-humanized.