Nicole+Final+Reflection

Nicole Final Reflection

Dear Dr. McGregor,

First, I wanted to thank you for guiding our class. I’ve very much enjoyed this class and have actually found myself using some of the information that my fellow classmates and I have used.

I have learned many things about myself from this class, and from taking a masters’ class in general. I began this journey as both a need to complete college credit hours for my license renewal and as a starting path on my way to my Masters degree. I wasn’t sure how well this would go for me, as this has been an extremely busy year for me. Even my adviser wasn’t sure if I’d be able to handle classes! We moved this year to a completely new town, I started a new job at a new school, teaching a new subject, and sponsoring new activities. We were trying also to sell a house, travel back and forth with all of the kids for their activities, and maintain some sense of sanity! All of this alone was enough to stress me out just thinking about it! But we’ve succeeded in most everything except selling a house...hopefully that will come soon! I’ve wanted to do my Masters for awhile, I just wasn’t sure this was the right time with everything going on, but it turned out to work out well. However, the two classes I took this semester were a great way to ease into it. My other class was much easier, but this class was much more interesting and applicable to me. I truly enjoy integrating technology into my classroom and the resources I’ve learned from this class have been invaluable. (Although some of my students wish I’d never heard of Powtoon! Lol) Anyway, what I’ve learned about myself from participating in this class is that I have a lot more technology knowledge than I realized and that I am capable of completing Masters’ level classes. I also learned that I like education classes more than I thought I did. With a bachelors degree in Biology, I tend to like the science classes better, but I really enjoyed the topics in this class, which I didn’t initially think that I would. I also learned that time management is something that I definitely need help with! Although hopefully that will get better for me as we adjust more to our new surroundings.

What I learned about being a teacher from creating my products is that my students may have projects that they are not comfortable with, but that they will still be rewarding anyway when the final product is complete. I’ve heard moans and groans before as I describe a project, but regardless, I now realize (after feeling the same way) that sometimes these moans and groans are necessary to get the students to step outside the box a little bit. As a teacher, I too may be stuck in my comfort zone and this class has helped me to realize that that’s not always the best place to be!

What I am most proud of as a result from doing the classwork for this class is the actual final products themselves. Especially doing the podcast. I loved this project because it is applicable to me as both a teacher giving a podcast as an assignment and as a teacher putting a podcast on my website for students to listen to. I’m proud of that because it gives me another option to deliver the information that isn’t just typing the instructions for the kids to read. I am also proud of all the work I put into the assignments. This was definitely not a class in which you could just turn out a project very quickly, they all had many facets to them that had to be completed and I am very proud of the work that went into them.

Next time I use technology I will definitely explore more apps that my students can use instead of just using my old favorites. Some of the projects for this class that we had to do in which we explored different apps and websites were very helpful for me because even if they didn’t fit into the assignment I was doing, I still found many things that can be applicable to class. As a person that loves to integrate technology into the classroom and do assignments that are not the same week to week, i really enjoyed this part of the research. It is definitely research that will be put to use! My concerns with technology are all of the separate accounts that have to be created. I know it is a necessity and can’t be used without it, but sometimes the students aren’t comfortable creating accounts for the different apps and websites, and I can almost predict the parent phone calls that will be heading my way. For example, we are using myfitnesspal.com for my Nutrition and Wellness class, and in order to save their recipe analysis the students had to create an account. There was one student that didn’t like having to do that and the emails that they continually recieve. I understand their hesitation and honestly it’s not bad with one app, but using several different apps and websites in class might get to be a burden with all of the emails coming their way and information that is asked for, so that is definitely a concern. To overcome it, I think I will just need to address it at the beginning of each semester/school year so that the students know to expect it in advance. I feel like if I address it before we even have to start using them, then maybe there will be fewer objections.

What I am most excited about in regards to technology is the many applications it has. There are so many more things that we as teachers are able to use now than there has ever been and the classroom applicability for that is infinite! Students are no longer confined to paper and pencil assignments and enjoy my assignments so much more when they find out they can put their notebook away and get out their chromebooks. Technology truly does make learning more relevant for the kids!

What I am most intrigued with on teaching is the ability to reach the students that sometimes fall through the cracks. I feel that technology is a way to try to bring more of them in, but there is always someone that has much more going on in their life and is distracted at school. I realize how many kids are facing real life situations that make coming to school on a day to day basis a hassle or an impediment sometimes, but I am intrigued on how to close that gap a bit and make it a place for them to be able to relax from the daily stressors of their real life situations and enjoy being in the presence of their teachers and friends. I think that is a very difficult situation to try to figure out for me, and hopefully by offering assignments in different ways for them, it will help them to enjoy being at school.

I believe that I will teach in the twenty-first century. Technology, new ideas, new innovations will always be in my classroom and I will always strive to find what’s new for the kids to keep the information and activities up to date. I feel like I’ve always done this anyway, but it will definitely be a big part of my classroom now, as I have more tools to be able to do so.

The difference that I will make is that I will be the teacher to reach kids that don’t want to be reached. I have a unique opportunity being a non core class that teaches some life skills, to have kids in my class that need skills to get by on a day to day basis. Sure, they will use science and math and reading in their lives and definitely need that information, but teaching them how to cook and sew, balance their checkbook, communicate with others and to try to be better individuals is something that I am very proud to teach my students. I believe that it will make a big difference in their lives as they transition to the stage of taking care of families of their own and drawing on these skills that I have taught them. Thank you for the opportunity to reflect on these items, and thank you again for guiding us through this class. Sincerely, Nicole Welshans