My ideas of teaching have forever changed. In my first blog post I talked about how I was not entirely sure on how I would approach teaching in my future classroom. I knew I wanted lesson to be interactive, but I wasn't sure how to do so. I wanted my students to be curious and have a desire to learn, but I didn't know show to instill that in them. After this semester in EDM310, I have a much better idea of how I can achieve these goals for my future class.I know I don't want to use the traditional "pencil and paper" method of teaching, or "burp-back" education. I really enjoyed project based learning were we got to work in groups as a team to achieve a common goal. I also liked how we got to learn independently and were given endless opportunities to be creative. I would love to use project based and independent learning with my future students. I believe it would give them the opportunity to be creative and learn in their own way. I also LOVE the idea of using a class blog for the students. I think it would be a great tool to help the students get acclimated to using computers, the internet and how to use proper etiquette when using the internet. Of course, I am aware that many parents will be concerned with the safety of their children on the internet but I will do my best to encourage them that we will practice "blogging safety" by only using first names and never giving personal information out to strangers. I also love the idea of using a PLN with my future students. I loved using mine through out this past semester and plan to keep using it through my college. I think that the students having their own PLN will help them greatly when having to research and papers. I would like to use SMARTboards as well in my classroom, because they help get the kids to interact with technology and the lesson being taught at the time. These are just a few of the technologies I would like to use in my future classroom.
At the beginning of the semester, I was absolutely terrified of EDM310 because of all the rumors I heard prior of how much work was involved, how time consuming it was and how particular Dr. Strange was about the projects. After this semester and getting use to the course, I absolutely loved it. I know I still have to learn about using technology in the classroom, but after this class I'm not afraid of technology anymore. I would love to learn more so I can teach kids how to use it as well. Thank you, Dr. Strange for an amazing semester of learning!
