time to tech it up with yearbook.

There were two weeks left of school when the Principal asked me what I thought about being the yearbook adviser at my school.  My immediate response was, "well, I've never really thought about that before."  Although it was a position I had never seen myself taking, I applied for the job and got it... surprise surprise because I was the only person who applied for it!  Nonetheless, I am officially the yearbook adviser for the upcoming year and have already jumped into the role with excitement. 

I hope to continue to teach Algebra AB sections and will have a period of yearbook.  I will continue to incorporate technology into my math lessons and daily routines, including powerpoint and a smart slate.  In addition, I am really looking forward to using technological strategies that I have learned about in our ED 240 class with my yearbook class.  The students and I will use an online program called StudioWorks to create the yearbook, and so we will definitely have access to computers in the classroom.  This will foster an environment that is conducive to helping students learn with technology.  Of course the students will be required to use StudioWorks, but I would like to extend the students use of technology to other aspects.  I plan to have the students use photography programs such as photoshop to edit pictures.  In addition, it would be great if I could use google docs to have the students work on stories.  They students could share the stories with one another and with myself.  This would be a great way for the students to collaborate outside of the classroom and for me to assess and read what they are working on.  I have truly realized the epic features of google this summer as a way to work together without having to be together!  This will be very useful when trying to meet deadlines and it will help to spread out the workload and keep students accountable.

After learning about the research on technology's influence on learning in the classroom, I will be aware of how the students on using technology to enhance learning.  Also, I will be sure that the students are properly trained on how to use the programs so that we are able to maximize the program's capabilities in order to create an awesome yearbook.  I will be learning about the program with my students so it will be important that we collaborate often.  It would also be helpful to have a representative from our yearbook publisher to come in and highlight important features of the program with all of the students.  Again, as I have learned, it is not what you use, it's how you use it.  With that said, I'm excited to get techy with my yearbook class and incorporate strategies that I have learned thus far to create a collaborative learning experience for the students, in and outside of the classroom.