Course Reflection
At the beginning of this course I must admit I was very skeptical about the information this course would provide, and specifically how it would impact my classroom instruction. But now that we are at the end of the road I can honestly say this course has helped further my knowledge of how to incorporate technology more effectively in my classroom.
Although my technology skills are pretty solid, I had never used an inquiry based project in my classroom. The information I learned about different ways to search and how to use sites that were more reliable really helped improve my classroom instruction. I thoroughly enjoyed sharing this information with my students, especially when they would come into class and tell me how they were using this information in their other classes.
I also found the information discussed in week four relating to 21st century skills learners today need in order to be successful in the real world. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that a number of my classmates agreed that public speaking is a skill that many students today are lacking. Maybe it is because of emailing and texting that students today feel they do not need to know how to speak in front of crowds, but with the ever changing technology and tools like Skype this is a skill that schools around the country may need to reinstate for the well being of our students.
Lastly the information acquired in this course has given me the courage to try a classroom partnership activity next year. I have heard of and read about these projects but I never saw myself as someone who could follow through with an activity like this. But as result of this course I have already contacted a friend who teaches in a different school district than mine and we have begun to collaborate in order to get this project up and running next fall. Since we are both coaches that teach ESE math, we would like to do some activities that combine math skills and sports. So if anyone has any ideas please send them my way.
