Journal 4: One Size Never Fits All

Courduff, J. (2011). One size never fits all. Learning and Leading with Technology, 38(8), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/digital-edition-june-july-2011.aspx

Out of all the articles I have read thus far I found this one to be most pertinent to my future goal of becoming a special education teacher.  In this article Courduff explains how utilizing technology in the classroom was not as easy as was initially thought.  Courduff elaborates in how "tiers not years" is the more fruitful approach to getting the most out of technology in the classroom.  There are three tiers to explain how teachers will get the most benefits from technology.  Tier one explains how teachers can participate in workshops, tier two explains how teachers can collaborate using virtual portfolios and tier three is similar to tier three in that it utilizes technology to collaborate using digital storytelling and e-portfolios.  Moreover, what made me the most interested in this article was the real world examples of how technology has actually benefitted special needs students.

Q:  How would you get students more interested in public speaking in the classroom?

A: I would get a students more interested in public speaking by first allowing them to pick a topic that they are interested in.  Next I would allow them to utilize PowerPoint or prezi to make their speech and add their voice narration to their PowerPoint or prezi presentation.

Q: How would you collaborate with teachers if you do not have time to meet up face-to-face?

A: I would utilize e-portfolios or I would use interactive whiteboards to collaborate with teachers who might have useful information about a subject matter that I might need.