Teaching With Technology-- Liz Kolb

The most interesting guest speaker we've had this semester was Liz Kolb. Her presentation on using cell phones in the classroom was very engaging and based off of a platform that she has used and implemented for years. I believe it can be difficult as a beginning teacher to see how to use technology in the classroom innovatively and effectively, Liz provided examples of this. I especially appreciated her response when I asked how to use her platform in lower resourced schools and with children who have disabilities, in her response Liz gave examples of this platform being used in both ocassions and actually discussed solutions to doing so. 

I appreciated Liz's passion for the topic and her genuine want to continue to develop this platform. Often times, I do play devils advocate when technology platforms are introduced to  lower resourced schools, as a student to attended a lower resourced high school I know how difficult these platforms can be when trying to implement, even if the person doing so is highly passionate and optimistic about the topic. I appreciated Liz Kolb's real examples and advice on how to make technology available to all kids, not just those who are fortunate to attend high resourced schools, or those who live without  a disability. 

I hope to include technology as much as possible in my classroom while continuing to balance the use of traditional resources. The Spanish language can be expressed and studied many ways. Due to its creative nature technology can be used to connect to other Spanish speakers. I hope to build connections with other Spanish speaking teachers in other Spanish Speaking countries in order to give my students a better exposure to the language and world. I plan to do this by using Skype and the connections I have with teachers in Mexico. The presentations on technology given were interesting in providing innovative examples that teachers have used, not just hypothetical dream solutions. When doing so I will be sure to take advantage of the many bloggers who are passionate about technology platforms.