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.