RILS Reflection

I really enjoyed the RILS project,and I am over-the-moon that I have a consolidated place to go find technology-filled lesson plans!  YAY!  

My Online Banking: For Kids! lesson kind of fell into place backwards . . . as I was meandering through the Web 2.0 Tools site, I found Zefty.com, and found that while it was meant for parents/kids at home (allowances), I could use it for managing money with my students.  With each new aspect of the assignment, the lesson grew.  It sure didn't start out as grand as it finished (and yes, I said grand, because really, this might be the best lesson plan I've written!).  As I'd add another idea, sometimes spontaneously, my students reacted SO favorably, which in turn encouraged me to keep adding on to the lesson.  The more we did with it, the more I wanted to do with it.  For this reason, I would have like to had even more time to spend on it!  The bottom line is that my students were begging to use the computer to get online to deposit/withdraw money from their Zefty account.  

After their reaction to the initial lesson, I found that I could expand the lesson.  It opened itself up to some very basic economic principles that my students really understood.  In the past year, I have gotten lackadaisical in writing new lesson plans, relying instead on the basal and core curriculum manuals.  Creating this lesson kind of woke me up and reminded me of the joy I had in creating meaningful lessons when I first starting teaching.  

So what does this mean?  I am returning to my roots, but I'm going to plant with new seeds of knowledge: technology-based lessons.  My students deserve the best I can give, and I am really thankful to be able to teach using the newest tools available for them to learn.