EDUC 5203 - Final Post

As I completed and sent in my final project for this course, I was reflecting back on some of the assignments that were completed. I really enjoyed the development and maintenance of this website, and how rewarding it was to use it regularly in my classroom. Another assignment that I also enjoyed was hosting the professional dialogue. It brought forth a really interesting discussion following me asking my participants whether they had taught in a combined classroom or not. After much discussion it was agreed upon that despite not having technically taught in split-level classes, all of us, in one way or another, teach students in one class at varying abilities. Thinking of my grade 3 class, I have students working with building numbers to 10 and some working on complex multiplication problems.  It's amazing to think of how beneficial technology can be to our students and to our lesson planning. It gives students the right-away to progress at their own pace and not feel as if they are lesser than their peers.

All in all, this was an enjoyable class and I look forward to taking more technology classes in the future.

EDUC 5203 - Creating a Growth Plan

I enjoyed the process of creating a growth plan throughout this course. I like to look ahead and think about where I would like to be 2 or 3 years down the road. The biggest point of my growth plan is my plan to apply for another masters degree, this time focusing in technology. While there are some that seem to fight against it, I fully believe that technology will ever expand as a greater influence & focus in our school systems. Some more established teachers feel as though it is impeding our students ability to read, write, spell and do simple math processes, but I disagree. I think that there is a way to use technology in conjunction with traditional techniques in order to provide a stimulating curriculum for our students.

The reason I want to participate in this masters program is that I know that unless you actively work to keep up with the ever changing advances made in technology, you can quickly fall behind. I left teaching for 3 years, and when I came back, all of a sudden everyone was talking about smart boards and google websites, and I had no idea what they were talking about! This technology masters will help support me in my career, which will in turn help me support my students and colleagues.

EDUC 5203 - Hosting a Discussion

This past weekend I hosted my discussion on the benefits of implementing technology in a combined classroom. I had 4 great participants who helped push along the discussion and challenged me on my thinking of a "combined classroom". I was nervous after the first discussion post as all of my participants noted that they had not taught in a conventional combined classroom. However as things progressed, I realized that all teachers teach in combined classrooms. Despite grouping all 8/9 year olds together in my grade 3 class, I have students in that room who are at a preschool level and students who are at a grade 6 or 7 level of comprehension. This goes for all educators who are in the classroom. Grouping students together by age will automatically mean that some students will be further ahead/behind than others. So despite my participants never having taught in a conventional combined class, they all truly have!

EDUC 5203 - Artifact 1

Hi all,
I've been enjoying working my way through the modules thus far in 5203. I'm currently thinking about where to start with module 3, where the focus is to create artifacts using technology that is new to me. For a while now, I've been wanting to learn how to make PDF's, so I am going to start there. I think they will be very beneficial to learn how to make as I'd like to be able to post PDF's to my website for Math homework.

Now...to research how to make PDF's!

Chris

EDUC 5203 - Introduction to Educational Technology

Hello all,

My masters ejournal experience is continuing on to a new course, Intro to Education Technology. I'm very much looking forward to working through another technology course, as I've loved the previous two that I have taken. Please check back often for further updates.

Cheers,

Chris