Voices in the Feminine - Digital Delights

"1. Get to know the resources that are offered through your district. Sometimes a program is only around for a year before the next great thing comes along, but at least give those that are being paid for in your district a try. If you get to know the basics of each of these, it makes the next become a little more intuitive. Go to the trainings that are offered and try it out with your students a few times before deciding whether or not it is a valuable resource.

2. Don’t use email for students to turn in work. There are a lot of other options that you can use like wiki pages, student management systems, drop box sites, and many more. The less you clutter your email box, the more organized you’ll feel.

3. Learn from the kids. A lot of students are pretty good with the computers already and they are generally more than willing to show you some good educational sites that they might have used in the past. Don’t be afraid to let them be the teachers some times. Also, ask them what cool, creative things they can do with computers. You’ll be surprised at what some of them can do.

4. Beg, borrow, and steal ideas from other teachers. One of the best parts of being a teacher is the shared knowledge. The internet and your building are full of great ideas that other teachers have tried and they usually don’t mind you trying it out for yourself. If someone is talking about some great site they use or some neat project their kids did on the computer, take the idea and play with it in your room too.

5. Don’t tell students you hate technology or that you are no good at it. As hard as it might be for you and as overwhelming as it feels sometimes, it is important that our students know that it is a necessary part of the curriculum and that just about every job out there will require technology skills. Ask for help when you need it, but try to keep using it and stay positive about your experiences.

6. Choose one technology idea to work on for a given amount of time. If you concentrate on learning one new resource at a time until you feel pretty comfortable with it, you will probably be more inclined to try something new later on.