Saturday, December 1, 2012

Reflective Blog #3


I am currently in my 5th year of teaching and my 4th year in the fourth grade. Throughout these 5 years there has been constant change. I have switched grades, changed math curriculum, adopted new math and language art’s standards, and have changed teaching partners each year. Amongst all of this change one thing has remained constant, the standards to which I am held.
            As teachers, we are continually expected to meet the highest standards. We have taken on the task of meeting the educational needs of all of our students to help prepare them for the world outside of the classroom. That means providing quality experiences that are relevant to the real world.
The world that this generation is growing up in is one that is fully dependent on the use of technology. In order to prepare this generation there needs to be a change in the way that teachers educate their students. There needs to be a focus not only on introducing students to technologies, but also on providing appropriate modeling for how to use the technologies.
As I continue through my career I need to make sure that as the changes continue to come I remain focused on providing the highest possible educational quality I can. I need to meet the needs of each of my students to help prepare them for the world that they will encounter. In order to due this I plan on continuing to develop my knowledge base for how to best do this. There are many different methods for how to best provide a quality education, but in order to find where I fit best I need to experience the variety of methods.
One method in which to do this is through the Master’s of Educational Technology program that I am currently enrolled. Through this program I will be introduced not only to methods and practices for using technology in the classroom, but will also work on building an understanding for how to incorporate the new information I gain in a meaningful way into my classroom.
Learning to incorporate into the classroom is the area in which I will need to make sure to focus. Many times I have been introduced to programs or techniques for education and have gone back into the classroom and attempted to use the new information, but have failed to use it in a way that is meaningful for my students education. The classes I will be taking are designed to help in this area.
Another method in which I plan to continue to use to improve technology incorporation and teaching is through the use of professional learning networks. Since my fist class at Grand Valley has started I have been introduced to a variety of to participate in professional learning environment. One of the ways that I have begun to take more advantage of is the PLE within my school building and district. I have realized that we are all working toward the same ultimate goal and I should not be afraid of asking for assistance from those with more experience in certain areas. Also, I have learned that there are many of PLN out there; especially online. One that I have been introduced to recently is part on Edmodo. We have used Edmodo in may class, but because I am not real familiar with it I have not used it to its fullest capability. This learning network can help me with those needs, but it also can be used to gain knowledge from a wide network of teachers.
The world is always changing and along with it the students who enter my class are changing as well. In order to meet the needs of these students I need to be willing to change along with them. It does not mean that I have to give up what I know best and the traditional methods of teaching, but I need to adapt them to fit the needs of my students. I will need to continue to push myself toward a new understating of how to teach and continue to use the resources that are available to me.