Module+1+Reflection

=__//**Module 1 Reflection** //__=
 * //This week in technology...//**

**Description:** The co-teacher I work with found a really neat slide show from a website called SlideShare. The website is set up similar to YouTube, where you can post your own slide shows, leave comments, or look at related slide shows. The one she found was "Does McDonald's Sell Cheese Burgers?" , which is a mnemonic for the steps of long division (Divide, Multiply, Subtract, Check, Bring down). Since we were reviewing long division with our 5th grade math class, we thought this would be a great thing to show our students. So, Friday morning I log on to my school computer and type in the URL for the slide show. BLOCKED! I should have known the website would be blocked at school...

**Impact:** It seems every school year more and more websites are being blocked at my school. I often do searches at home for internet-based resources that I would like to use in class. What I have learned this week, however, is that many sites are blocked. I need to do more of my internet searches at school so that I am aware of what is not available. After this experience, I thought: I understand that students need to be blocked from certain websites, but why do the teachers? As professional educators, we should be able to access all the resources that we need in order to provide effective instruction. Therefore, I feel a little frustrated that I am not being trusted enough to have access to all the resources that are available.

**Intent:** I intend to speak with our technology director in order to work out a plan for dealing with blocked websites. On some occasions, I will be able to download material at home and transfer it to my school computer via flash drive. On other occasions, I hope that my requests for a website to be unblocked will be accepted by the technology director.