Open Mindedness

This week, I learned a valuable lesson in open-mindedness. Since the beginning of our classes at Stevenson, we have kept Carol Dweck's growth mindset in mind as we write our assignments. This week, I was definitely caught up in my other work, and was frustrated with an assignment. We are learning about new and innovative ways to implement technology into our classrooms and I had convinced myself that I already have all of the useful technology that I need at my disposal. I was frustrated with the provided list that was given to us, and I had already written about the other media aids that either I use or assign the students to use.
As I was sitting at my computer Wednesday night, I realized that I had never heard of SWAY, a Microsoft Office presenting tool. Watching the tutorial video, I went into it wondering how it was any different than PowerPoint. After the video I had resigned that I was going to write about it. However, this all changed the next day.
During homeroom, I decided to show an example of SWAY (the red panda example) to my advisory. I was surprised to find that the students were very interested in it. They immediately began searching for other examples and a couple of students downloaded the program, which is provided through the school's Office Suite for the students. The students unanimously agreed that they liked SWAY better than PowerPoint. They especially enjoyed how easy it was to transition between slides and that one could organize the navigation and text box direction in any way they pleased. Because of my homeroom, I will be organizing a new lesson plan for reports on Nutrient Cycles using SWAY in November.
Reflecting on this week's assignment, I learned the hard way that I need to be much more open about allowing new materials and lessons into the way I teach. It is super easy for me to get into a groove, especially since I have been teaching the same material for four years now. However, because I still a relatively new teacher, and one who is now taking my first education classes in this program, I need to be mindful that there are resources that may be new and different that can seriously benefit the way my class and lessons are conducted. It also makes me excited to learn about more resources for my classroom in as this class progresses.