Time to Breathe

Last week was quite busy at school--supervising and marking exams, cleaning up classrooms, preparing for graduation, etc.  As a result I have gotten a bit behind in this course.  However, after finishing my graduation duties at 11:30 on Friday night I have had the chance to rest and regroup.  I spent the Canada Day long weekend camping in the mountains with friends and family.  It was fabulous and I was reminded how summer really is the only time of year when I truly have a break from the classroom. 

Over the weekend a 15 year old girl who was camping nearby was complaining that in this age of technology her iPhone couldn't get any service out in the mountains.  Meanwhile I was thinking how great it was to have a technology-free couple of days!  We certainly are teaching a different generation of students.

I also had the chance to reflect on some of the things that had been nagging at me over the start of this course.  There have been a lot of neat web tools to investigate but I have been struggling with how they could be used in my classroom.  Several years ago I used Moodle and I liked many of its features.  After two maternity leaves and a curriculum change I dropped it for Edmodo.  There were some things I definitely liked better about Moodle but overall Edmodo was more user friendly, though I find I really only use it for my Grade 9 and 10 students.  I tried using Delicious a couple years ago on the recommendation of a coworker and hated it.  At least it did not work well for the purpose I wanted it for.  Three years ago I set up a blog and never ended up using it in my classes. 

One of the roadblocks I face is using the technology available in our district.  I set up a SharePoint website for my classes not because it is user friendly, it isn't, but because that is the platform used for all school websites in the district.  At least I know there is tech support available, it is always backed up, etc.  I am also considering using OneNote for the same reasons.  Our computer systems are supposed to be changing over this fall so students will have remote access to files and programs.  Staff can currently remote access almost everything on the network.  Part of me doesn't want to jump too far ahead until I know how this will affect the use of technology for my students. 

I think I am starting to understand the point of this course is to see what is out there, try some new things, and keep what will actually work for you.  I have really appreciated the input and advice of others in the course as it saves time and energy when setting out to use a new program.