September is always a rough time of year for teachers. It takes time to get back into the swing of things. Besides having a new class of students to worry about I also had a new class at Montclair to prepare for. When I walked into class and starting hearing about all the technology that was involved I have to admit I was concerned. I really didn't even know what a blog was and now I was suppose to have one of my own. I thought for sure this class was going to be a nightmare. I am glad I was completely wrong. At times this class was challenging with some of the assignments that we had to do, but in the end I really learned a lot and enjoyed doing some of the projects at the same time.
This class I feel will help me in becoming a better teacher and one day an administrator. I knew that technology was an important aspect to our future, but I guess I never realized just how important it is to our future. I learned many new skills that I can pass along to my students. These skills will allow my students to become life long learners. I am not only teaching them a new idea or a concept I am teaching them how to apply it to many different situations. Having children realize that there is a connection to the real world helps the learning process along.
Another technology aspect of this class that I really enjoyed was the blogging. I tend to be more on the quieter side and at times it is hard for me to state my opinion about something, but blogging made it very easy for me. I also really enjoyed reading other blogs. I think if I taught an upper grade this would be something that I would want to incorporate into my curriculum.
Another aspect of the class that I like that didn't have to do with technology was the readings. I found the articles that we had to do for this class to be very enjoyable. I really like the article "Reading Don't Fix No Chevys." We all try to incorporate differentiated instruction into our classrooms, but this article made me realize that there is more to differentiated instruction than just high, medium, and low level thinkers. Incorporating articles into a lesson is a good way to help get a point across and there were many articles that did that for me this semester.
I will walk away from this class with a better understanding of much change is needed in our schools and a better idea of how to go about making change happen. As a future administrator one day it is important to know those two things. You can't walk into a school and expect change to happen over night. Change is a process that will take time and needs to be done in the right manner.
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6 comments:
Kristin - I was surprised by how much I liked the blog aspect of this course, too. And I have also thought over the course of the semester that blogging would be a great instructional tool to use with upper grade students.
On the other hand, I've also wondered about how the communication skills of our younger students are going to develop in this flat world. Spending so much increased time communicating with technology rather than with people will have some sort (be it postive or negative) of impact on their interpersonal and intrapersonal skills. Also, I can't stand the way that proper grammar and mechanics are not required or even expected when you blog! I think constantly being exposed to this type of relaxed writing will impact the written communication skills of our students in the future.
To Ellen's point they say that greater use of technology has made kids less emotionally aware and worse at reading non verbal cues. As a result, that is why there is a rise in cyberbullying and regular bullying.
Hi Kristin! I really enjoyed using the blogs in this class too. I found it to be better than just writing about my ideas on Blackboard. I also agree that it was nice to learn a little more about the use of the computer. This is an area that I always feel a little nervous about. This class has really helped me to feel like I know a little bit more!
Thank you Kristin...same here. I also enjoyed "Reading Don't Fix NO Chevy's". I also feel that "change" was the salient issue in this course and the manner in which it was presented really captured the aforementioned.
I was also concerned about the blog when I first started this class. I also agree that it could be beneficial to use in a classroom. If you have that student in class that is apprehensive about speaking, this could be a great outlet for them to express their ideas. I would think that you would have to conduct a blog etiquette class to reinforce proper ways of communicating to each other.
Hello. This post is likeable, and your blog is very interesting, congratulations :-). I will add in my blogroll =). If possible gives a last there on my blog, it is about the Aluguel de Computadores, I hope you enjoy. The address is http://aluguel-de-computadores.blogspot.com. A hug.
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