Final Reflection by Joseph Brewer
This has been a fun quick eight weeks. I love technology and this was a perfect course for me to take. I cannot believe that podcasting is simple to create. I surely will use this skill that I learned next year in my classroom.
In what ways has this course helped you to develop your own technology skills as a professional teacher?
This course helped in many different ways to develop my own technology skills. I thought I knew some fun and interesting skills, but nothing like what I learned. The biggest skill I took from this course is how to create podcasts. I never really got into podcasting because I did not feel podcasting was something that I could use in my classroom. Fortunately, I could have been using it the entire time. This course taught me some new skills, and allowed me to brush up on a few others by working hands on with assignments. I feel I learn better hands on, but also the hard facts were there with the text.
In what ways have you deepened your knowledge of the teaching and learning process?
Learning about 21st century skills has deepened my knowledge of incorporating skills into my classroom lessons. Not every student learns the same way and not every teacher teaches the same way. I have to be creative and give the students what they will need to be successful. This course gave me the opportunity with the hands on assignments and resources to help me deepen my knowledge.
In what ways have you changed your perspective from being teacher-centered to learner-centered?
I have always liked the idea of learner-centered learning. I am there to assist the students, give them the facts and allow them to work with one another and myself. I like to have it as the classroom learns together. Especially when I have the students do group based projects. Some students may already know how to do what the class is learning. So why not allow them to show their skills. This can help with the overall class camaraderie, especially with a 5th grade classroom.
In what ways can you continue to expand your knowledge of learning, teaching, and leading with technology with the aim of increasing student achievement?
With my love of technology and teaching, I am always reading up on anything and everything new with teaching and technology. I will continue with my integrating technology into the classroom program, continue going to appropriate professional development courses, and just listening to the students. The students always have the newest and coolest items in technology. Gaining all this knowledge will ultimately help me increase student achievement.
Set two long-tem goals (within two years) for transforming your classroom environment by which you may have to overcome institutional or systemic obstacles in order to achieve them. How do you plan to accomplish these goals?
My first long-term goal is to incorporate appropriate 21st century skills into all of my fifth grade lesson plans within two years. I plan on accomplishing this goal by working these skills in this upcoming school year’s lesson plans. I will go throughout the year incorporating these skills in my lessons. It will be a trial and error type of year for me, but I should have a better understanding by the end of next year on which skills work best with what lessons and where I can use the skills in my classroom. That gives me the second year to have them in place and master them with my class.
My second long-term goal is to create a web-based classroom site where the students can post questions, find homework assignments they might have forgotten, deadlines for assignments, links to help with different subject areas, etc… This would take a full school year to develop. I will have to develop the site as the school year progresses. At the end of the year it will be in place completely for the next school year, give or take some assignments and dates changed. I think this is a great goal to have for my classroom.
Refer to your checklist from Week 1. Have any of your answers changed after completing this course?
After completing this course some of my answers have changed. I have always tried to teach the students many different ways to learn topics. The answer that I feel is the best change is now I will be able to allow the students to manage their own learning goals and plan their own learning strategies. I have the tools know to allow them to do this.
This was a great course. The biggest thing I have taken from this course is the knowledge that I can use to help my students succeed in life. This is a great feeling to have heading into a new school year.
Until next time, keep it real homies!
Mr. B
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