EDSS 531 - Reflective Journal

Prompt

Prepare a one-page written reflection commenting on the course readings, discussions, activities, etc. of the class.  make sure that your writings include personal connections, explanations as to how and why your perspective as an educator has changed, or is changing, as related to the course content.

Reflection

At the start of this semester I felt unsure of where I was going as a future high school instructor. I was unsure of my teaching style, how I would manage my classroom, where I want to find a job placement, what I wish to teach and where I want to see my career in forty years. In many ways these are still lingering thoughts that may never be fully understood. However, during the course of this semester I learned a great deal about other aspects of the teaching profession. These lessons include ITUs and integration of technology.

When my professor first introduced the concept of an Integrated Thematic Unit or ITU I was unsure of its usefulness in the modern classroom. In many ways I envisioned the modern classroom as detached from other curricular studies. The ITU forced me to collaborate with a prospective English teacher to generate lessons, a unit plan, a website, theme, art component and service learning component. Together we created a unit on heroism which combines content from both our curriculums. After completing the assignment I realized relevance ITUs can have in the modern classroom. There is no doubt that I will actively pursue opportunities to create and utilize ITUs in teaching career.

Prior to this semester I had prior knowledge of how to integrate technology into the classroom through a prerequisite. During this semester however I learned even more. I greatly developed my Personal Learning Network or PLN through the use of Twitter, Diigo, Pintrest, and Scoop.It. These tools allowed me to gather resources from educators around the world. In addition, I was able to spread my knowledge to others. Not only did I find these tools beneficial to my own learning but I also look to implement many of them in my future classroom. I look forward to having Twitter debates in the classroom. I look forward to having students create Facebook pages for historical figures.

I started this semester with numerous questions about the teaching profession and in many ways these semester gave me additional questions to ponder for years. However it did teach me a great deal about the use of collaboration and technology in 21st century education.