Part One: Reflect on the entire course.
What you have learned?
I feel this course has exposed me to exactly what I hoped for with the M.E.T. program. Not only did this course challenge my thinking, but it opened my eyes to various technological tools that I had never heard of. Moreover, I was pushed to develop content for various subject matters and exposed to ways in which technology can be embraced through diverse platforms.
2. How theory guided development of the projects and assignments you created?
I tend to follow the model of “I do, we do, you do” when giving instruction. As a result, much of the content produced on my project site seeks to give students an example, opportunity for practice, and then the independence to apply their understanding of the material on their own. I am heavily influenced by the connectivist theory which seeks to create opportunities for students to apply knowledge to real world situations using the World Wide Web as the initiator of connectivity.
3. How the course work demonstrates mastery of the AECT standards? (Note: If you are not in the M.E.T. program, you can omit this.)
Through the creation of various lessons and learning activities that utilized several technology resources I was able to meet the AECT standards listed below. In evaluating distinct technology resources, I often sought to look for those that would aide in creating meaningful learning experiences for students. Moreover, I sought to determine the relative advantages of each source along with the realistic application of using the source in the classroom. It was also important that I consider my audience and assure that the tools being used were appropriate for my 9th grade honors English students. The relative advantage chart along with the assistive technologies presentation demonstration my understanding of how particular resources might be used to enhance student learning.
4. How you have grown professionally?
I entered this course not fully completely sure of what to expect and have been extremely pleased by the challenge this course has presented. One of the ways to which I have seen this course grow me professionally is by allowing me to develop curriculum and lessons that can be applied to various academic terrains. For example, creating the different content lessons pushed me to think outside the box. In the process I quickly found that I struggle in overthinking the development of lessons. Sometimes simple is better. I often get overwhelmed by the possibilities technology rich lessons have to offer and can end up missing the main points of a lesson as a result. Identifying this struggle was a great thing for me in this course.
5. How your own teaching practice or thoughts about teaching have been impacted by what you have learned or accomplished in this course?
I often designed lessons with my students in mind. I wanted to be sure to create meaningful lessons that I can use in my own classroom. I think this helped guide the direction of my lessons as I was able to design content that is applicable and appropriate. However, at times I allowed this to hold me back as I became more concerned about the realism of a lesson in my classroom than creating something that had potential. For example, my school site doesn’t have a 1:1 device to student ratio. Most of my lessons seek to keep that in mind, yet I wonder if things might look different if I made more assumptions and allowed myself more creativity.
6. What will you do differently as an educator as a result of this course?
I think I will seek to be more diverse in the resources I use in my classroom. I tend to stick with the same mediums when teaching out of comfort. Instead, I plan to push myself out of my comfort zone and find new and innovative ways to teach. If I am constantly kept on my toes, I know I will be keeping my students on their toes as well.
PART TWO
With regards to my engagement with blog responses I feel I was an active member that contributed to the learning environment of the class. It seems the best way to self-evaluate my participation in the blog environment is to reflect based on the criteria laid out in the rubric and below:
Content- I believe all of my posts reflect a thoughtfulness and sincerity in seeking to make connections between the content of the course and the classroom. I fought to draw from my personal experiences in the class and connect those to theories or practices being touched on in the course content. It is hard to testify to the amount of time spent working on course content when we never meet face to face, but I can honestly say I spent a good chunk of time each week working on my blog postings. A perfectionist at heart, I would write and then revise several times to assure my work was quality for my classmates. I really wanted to challenge others’ thought processes and add to healthy academic conversation.
Timeliness- I made sure that all of my blog postings were completed by the weekend to assure time for responses. At the beginning of the semester my posts came at the beginning of each week. My last few posts came later in the week because I struggled to work through the content a bit (a healthy thing in my opinion), but still allowed plenty of time for peer review.
Readings and Resources- I believe I met the requirements for this section in that all my postings contained proper APA citations and a works cited. Moreover, while I often included information from the assigned course readings I really fought to do research of my own and include material from outside the course that contributed to our understanding. Assuming we all read the required readings, I felt my job was to add to the discussion by hopefully presenting information that my classmates weren’t necessarily familiar with yet. In doing so I was able to stimulate to the quality of conversation presented.
Responses to Other Students- Each week I thoughtfully responded to at least two of my classmates’ blogs. Not once did I fail to not respond to at least two classmates I sought to challenge my classmates thinking by asking meaningful questions that hopefully provoked their thinking. At times it was difficult to come up with questions because the quality of my peers’ posts didn’t lend themselves to be questioned, but only affirmed. Moreover, when others commented on my blog I did my best to respond to their meaningful questions as well. However, the last few weeks I didn’t respond to all of my classmates comments because their comments were only affirming my post and not questioning. I acknowledged that I read their post by selecting the 1+ to let them know that I heard what they said.
Based on my reflection above I believe I should earn 95/100 points with the below breakdown of point distribution.
Content- 70 points
Timeliness- 20 points
Reading and Resources- 20 points
Responses to Other Students- 25 points
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