Working in groups can be very efficient for some students and not for others. I usually find that in my own experience, I’ve done most of the work when I’m working with other students. Since I am a perfectionist, I usually only trust myself to do the high-quality level work that should be done. There have been times when I’ve worked with other students and they do the bare minimum for their portion of the project. I’ve been hurt before with grades when the entire group got one grade and one student let the rest of the group down by not doing a good job. In my future classrooms, I would like to use some group work, but make sure that one grade is never given to the entire group. Students should still be evaluated individually and on how well they work within a group. It is also the teacher’s job to make sure that every student is contributing to the group so one student isn’t left with everything to do. A way that teachers can hold all students accountable is by having group meetings with them as well as having the group fill out peer evaluations for the rest of their group members to see how they felt their group worked. In practicing writing lesson plans this semester, I have used a variety of group work and activities. When exploring a website, such as a WebQuest, students could split up the different pages and assign themselves sections to research and report on.

I think integrating technology in my future classroom is very important. As I said before, technology is an important part of our society today and it’s crucial that students learn how to use different programs on the computer. I could share the information I learned in this class through creating my own website for colleagues and my students to look at. Teaching students through the use of technology can help them and their comfort level with using such technological devices. I could even create a WebQuest for students to learn about different aspects of technology and new programs that I may introduce to them.

I want my students to be able to feel comfortable going on the computer, researching information, and presenting the information using any kind of program on the computer, such as PowerPoint, web design, Microsoft Word, etc. I often find that a large problem for some students is that they don’t know where to start when starting a project on the computer. They don’t feel comfortable using search engines on the Internet to research or present their information in a technological way. Helping students with this early on can be useful for them for the rest of their schooling as well as years afterwards.