Staying Connected Inside and Outside the Classroom
When some teachers think about technology, they think of something out of a science fiction movie. I view technology as a tool…something to help make my workload easier, faster, and more accessible. And it has to be engaging for students.
The most significant technology tool that I use in my class is my website. My site, AHSvideo.com started as a free Weebly site about 6 years ago. I wanted a way for students to turn in their papers to me so I could see EXACTLY when they turned them in. Then I used it as a way to post my lessons so I did not have students saying they never “received” the rubric that they left in class. And now it’s a site that hosts our Morning Show (10,000 hits per month), a place to hold our students’ work; a place for students to learn via tutorials; and a place where administrators, colleagues, industry, parents and curious students can go to learn more about what we do.
My website is the single most effective teaching tool I use because it allows me to adjust my lessons on the fly from anywhere I have an internet connection…and it’s helped grow my program to over 150 students per year! Get your website done today whether you use Weebly or Wix, or even WordPress.
The trend I see as most important in CTE is workplace simulation. Part of delivering workplace simulations is keeping pace with changing technology.
In video/media our technology has changed so much in the past 5 years that I have very little, if any, of the equipment that I had in 2012. I think it’s important for teachers to be encouraged to learn more outside of the classroom.
I stay current with today’s technology because I stay “in industry” by networking, actually producing media, and maintaining my relationships in industry. Whether the CTE teacher teaches video, construction, automotive, digital design or hospitality, the teacher should be encouraged by all levels of administration to network and to learn new technologies outside of class in their industry.
When I first started teaching video production in 2009, I was convinced that all the students in my class actually wanted to be there to learn. And then I took it personally when some students did not want to learn what I had to teach. Then, somewhere in my fourth year teaching, the seniors who had been in my program for 4 years started helping other students in the school with video projects; some of my students even helped out local police producing videos.
It was then I learned to just be patient with my students and that education is a process that sometimes takes years to show its true results in students. It took me 4 years to learn to be patient. Learning how to be patient became instrumental to how I teach because it forced me to look at the student a few years down the road rather than right now. It also helped my strategic planning efforts, my relationships with special need students and with students who excel everywhere in school.
Rather than focusing on just today’s lesson, I can step back and see the potential in all of my students.
By Tracy Misner
Alpharetta High School
Audio Video Film & Technology