After reading through all my previous blogs and reflection on this entire course at Meredith, I am left with one word: progress. I have made progress and I have a lot more progress to endure, and the progress will never end. Teaching will never be a stagnant career that one "figures out". It is something that continually needs to be reassessed and re-evaluated. This is largely due to our ever changing world that is inundated with technology. I began my journey in this class with the ideas of Curt Bonk. Overall, I thought that Bonk was this over zealous lover of all things technology. However, he opened my eyes to the overwhelming reality of the advantages and openness for education today because of technology.
Having my eyes opened to this reality also makes me realize how important it is to be discerning. Teachers are not responsible for only themselves. They have their students as their top priority. We must have discernment for which technologies are actually beneficial for the classroom and the students. There are many available tools for teachers, but not all tools are actually a help to the classroom and the students. This is a daunting task and there are room for mistakes as long as there is openness to always reassessing and changing.
I am thankful for this course at Meredith because it gave me time to explore new technologies and decipher/discern which ones will be beneficial for myself and my classroom. This class taught me how to review new technologies and critically think through which ones will be an aid to the classroom.
So far I have learned the rich benefits of SMART technologies, educational apps, organization tools, blogging, and video editing. I have learned overall how to make my class smarter, not harder. I have also learned how to ORGANIZE all the information overload for teachers through RSS feeds. I started a feedly account and now have my blogs and news sources organized on my laptop.
I am hopeful that this class has made me a better teacher.
I hope you are saying what you really believe, not simply what you want me to hear about your evolution with regards to technology. If your your blog is authentic, it really shows a growing flexibility that is positive...a willingness to consider alternative ideas and views about teaching and learning. Your postings have developed to show insights and understandings. They are fluently written and stimulate commentary & thinking--at least on my part! They are written in a mannner that is appropriate for the audience and seem genuine. I think you are coming along in terms of layout, use of graphics & multimedia. I'd like to see you try to support your thoughts a bit more with connections to links, websites, documents that enhance the info you provide.You have been a faithful 'commenter' on the blogs of colleagues and always prompt with your posts. And of course, your writing style is free of errors, facilitating communication.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your efforts this semester!