Looking back at the journey through this program, I am excited to see a lot of growth in my skills, mindset and pedagogy. The areas where I saw growth were surprising. I thought I would leave this program with a few new tools, but I felt that I already had a good grasp on using technology in the classroom and thought that I would only have minimal growth. It had been a very long time since I had been in any type of college level class. I was challenged to think more academically and discuss with the cohort how my students were learning and what motivated them. I was also challenged to use different tools than I was used to. I was comfortable with building a google site but I had never used Weebly. Now I can see its strengths and feel much more comfortable using it for the future. I also had never used tools like adobe spark which has become one of my new absolute favorite tools. I also found out that Adobe Spark has an app where you can make images on the go and access them online through the computer. I think the idea of transliteracy really stuck with me as well. Our students are truly exposed to so much visual, audio and video media. We need to make our classrooms as visually engaging as the games and media that they devour in their free time. Why not turn your classroom into a game or create infographics and visually stimulating materials for your students. I also gained a lot more confidence in making videos. I had done tons of basic screencasts before this program but now I know how to weave that into an even more visually appealing video.
I have also especially loved getting to know my cohort. I think we were slow to bond but as we got to the last semester I really enjoyed the feedback and collaboration I had from my fellow cohort members. I wish there was time devoted to our workday for reflection like these blogs and to read what other teachers on our staff are working on or challenged with at the moment. It was so nice to know that others valued my thoughts, validated what I was thinking and shared that they were struggling with something similar. I am grateful for this program!
0 Comments
|