Post 4: Reflection of the Course

I came into this course apprehensive somewhat because the fantasy I have of myself teaching is at whiteboard and with tangible books all around. However, I learned over the last few months that the internet will be my friend and a wonderful colleague come August. I may not have access in schools with less funding to every tool that we learned to use, but I feel like knowing about Promethean boards, iPads, and the many web resources that we explored will help me make a case for implementing them (or for allotting some of the budget towards getting them).

I loved that most of the sites or apps that we learned to use are fairly universally accessible from any computer. I can do most of what we did in class on my own laptop, which really makes it more likely that I will use it in the future. We actually did a case study in my teaching methods course and part of the solution I thought of for the conflict was to share more about my instruction (well the teacher from the case's instruction) with the parents on a course website. I honestly never would have said that four months ago! I wanted to do a newsletter, typed and un-tree friendly; not because I don't care about environment but because I had no idea how to begin a course website or much of what I now know how to do.

I really liked that we had to explore multiple resources and familiarize ourselves with standards for both content and technology. I also enjoyed getting to apply my own personality and learn more about my teaching style through this course because every week we had to think about a lesson and try to shape a resource around it. It was really fun, interesting, and I feel way more prepared to use technology in the classroom!

Best of all, I now have a website to refer back to that broadcasts to everyone that I CAN DO THIS STUFF!