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Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Blog Post #16- Final Reflections:







PART 1:
In Blog Post #1 I responded to:
"Imagine your classroom when you start teaching. What will be the methods of teaching that you
will emphasize? What tools will you use, and what tools will your students use? Think about the
learning that will take place in your classroom. Now, in four or more paragraphs describe you
and your teaching, your students and how they will learn, the tools that you and your students
will employ as part of the learning process, and what your classroom will be like."

You should take a look at this whole post, but if not- A very brief summary of my post is:
Basically, I wrote about having a very bright first grade classroom in which I plan to have hands-on units/stations and incorporate non-traditional methods like Venosdale describes in “If I Built a School". I will emphasize technology, readiness, positive criticism, and reinforcement. I plan to use a variety of methods to teach, especially technological tools, such as: the SMARTboard and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). I wrote that I want my students to know that everyone is different but yet equal. That everyone learns different using different methods. I also wrote that my primary way of teaching will be to incorporate many teaching styles so that these different learning types will have equal access to learning and understanding. 

So how has my views/thoughts shifted now that 
I have completed EDM310? 

Throughout this course I have been given [and found] tons of resources that will be useful in my future endeavors as a first grade teacher. 
Some of these include:
  • Blogs
  • Podcasts
  • Skype
  • YouTube
  • Social Media (such as Twitter)
  • Prezi
  • Voki
  • iCurio
  • glogster
  • SMARTboards


I have also learned that technology is always changing and getting better- and educators must change and grow with it or get left behind- thus leaving the students behind as well. So I have created a video talking about my thoughts on technology now. It describes specific things I plan to do in my future classroom. Basically, I plan to use a class blog to update parents and put assignments and homework information on. I also plan to post weekly (or possibly monthly) pictures. I plan to use Skype to interact with people from all over the world and learn about others’ culture, tradition, geographical information, as well different learning styles. I also talk about using social media and the benefits of sites like Twitter. In all- using technological tools provides educators the ability to teach in a way that is appealing and involved. Teachers are capable of finding out what drives each student and playing on their interests through an almost limitless/endless variation of tools. Of course there are many tools that are "popular" right now that may not be the best out there in two years when I begin to teach- but that is a HUGE lesson I have had to learn in EDM310 this semester: "Technology is always changing"! So educators must maintain this thinking and must change with the technology. My views have shifted drastically from what I planned to use during Blog Post #1 to now. The video is below and is more detailed and thorough! Thanks for watching!





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PART 2-
I have made another video pertaining to my final reflections about what I have learned, what I can do, who I am, and how I have grown as a result of EDM310! 






***Note: I did not talk about tools I plan to use in this video due to having talked about this in this same blog post in the previous video.

***Special Note: THANK YOU for all of the Lab Assistant's help, especially that of Lindsey Estes! Also- THANK YOU Dr. Strange for pushing me and helping open my eyes to the future!




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