Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge...

As a future teacher I think it is immensely important to understand what the TPACK framework consists of. The article, “What is Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge?”, really goes into detail about what each section entails. Every teacher should have an idea of what content is needed to be taught and how to teach it. What gets tricky is thinking of ways to build students understanding with technology. In the article, “Too Cool for School? No way!”, it talks about how using technology doesn't necessarily mean using technology made for educators. This is a great example of implementing the TPACK framework into your classroom. These teachers had extensive knowledge of the technology they were using and understood how to teach the content and technology.    

As for me, I think my strongest areas in the TPACK framework is the technology bubble. As a freshman here at ISU I decided to go for the Learning Technologies Minor. Since then, my knowledge of technology has grown and grows everyday. One great experience of learning about technology was working at the ITEC convention this past year. I learned about many different kinds of technology and how to implement them in your classroom. I am still learning about teaching methods and the necessary content areas for each grade and age. I am currently in my block one classes so I am learning about how to teach reading, writing, and math. These classes are allowing me to grow in the pedagogy and content bubbles of the TPACK framework.

What I would like to learn...

In this class I hope to learn about many things. In my past classes here at Iowa State I have learned a little bit about TPACK and NETS. However, I would like to refresh on those ideas and go a little bit more in depth about them. I also would like to learn about more technologies to use in the classroom. Specifically I want to learn more about choosing which technology is the best for certain activities. In the past, I have kind of just stuck with what I know regarding technology when writing lesson plans. In this class I want to discover new technologies and be able to use  them to their full potential.

Another big thing I want to learn about is using social media in the classroom. I have read about using blogs and twitter in the classroom and I want to know how that would actually work. I want to practice more with blogs since I have only used them a couple of times. I want to create a blog for my classroom to allow parents to see what we are doing and for students to be able to communicate with each other. Blogs in classrooms are a great way to create a community within the classroom. With social media, I also want to learn how to use it professionally. I want to be able to share what I am doing in the classroom and I also want to be able to follow others. I hope to grow as an educator in this class through learning about all these things and more.

This past semester I was at practicum in the Ames Middle School observing their instructional coach, Jeremie Knutson. During this experience I learned a lot about what he does and how he helps integrate technology into the classroom and school. The biggest thing I got out of this experience was looking at what he does as an employer. I have thought about becoming an instructional coach since this practicum experience. I hope this class can help me make decisions about what I would like to do in the future. I have always wanted to be a classroom teacher but I am open minded to trying something new as well. 

A little about me...

My name is Ashley Yap and I am a Junior at Iowa State University. I am currently achieving an elementary education major and the learning technologies minor. Along with my major I am gaining a reading and social studies endorsement. I am hoping to become a classroom teacher but I have thought about becoming an instructional coach as well. I would love to teach the lower grades but I am open minded about trying any grade! In my classroom I hope to teach students to always be themselves. It is so important for each student to feel valued for who they are and I hope to achieve that. I want each of my students to feel safe and confident in my classroom. Which is where the really cute picture of the giraffe comes into play :).