some final last words to live by....

• you can't teach creativity or imagination .... but embrace what is there and what you can find
• create a book list this summer to read...engage yourself in teaching material and keep yourself updated with the educational world
• diversity is a strength that we can build upon in the classroom
• KNOWLEDGE BUILDING is key to learning & teaching
• technology can be an enabler and give everyone a voice in the classroom. Kids that normally can't be heard are heard
• scaffolding means that we provide continuous feedback over time and opportunities to improve learning. We as teachers improve our understanding as well

and so it comes to a close....

PROFESSIONAL GROWTH PLAN

Goal: To Better Integrate Technology Into The Classroom

One of my greatest fears as a teacher is that I will get lazy and not plan lessons to my best potential. I want to excel at lesson planning and do the best job I can all the time. I think that I didn't try as hard as I should have in order to incorporate technology in my practicum classrooms because I was lazy and didn't want to go that extra mile to come up with something creative and technologically based. I want to introduce a lot of technology into my future classroom settings so that my students are engaged in their work and have the opportunity to work with technology. I want my lessons to be engaging and I want to thrive in being comfortable with being constantly surrounded by technology in the classroom.


Objectives To Reach Goal: 

1. Think outside the box. When I am coming up with lesson plans for the day I need to be able to think of every possible way to bring technology into the classroom.
2. Get help. I don't want to be afraid to ask around and see what my colleagues or other teachers in the school have done in the past with their classrooms.
3. Plan and be very organized. Organization is key and I need to be very prepared when planning for technology to be in a lesson.
4. Research. I need to be constantly researching on the Internet different ideas and methods of technology that can be used in the classroom. What would be the best learning experience for my students? What would the best form of technology be for a given lesson?
5. Find technology that is easy to use so that my students are comfortable with using it in the classroom. 

Presenters.....and the marvellous Amy Park...

As this course is soon coming to a close, one thing that I need to mention is that I absolutely loved when we had presenters from other schools come and share their experiences with our class. I loved these presentations because it didn't just teach me about technology, but also about teaching techniques in general.  Speakers shared their wisdom on numerous topics. One topic in particular that a learned a lot about is assessment. The speakers would share their experiences with us and would not only give examples of how to assess a class, but would show us how to implement it in the classroom. I learned a lot from what they had to say and I think that I was very fortunate to have been in this technology course to have the opportunity to listen. 

I was personally blown away by Amy Park's presentation and Amy Park in general. I was engaged in what she had to say and the examples she shared mainly because her demeanour was strong and she seemed extremely wise and experienced. I love the way she uses "hands-on" engagement in her teaching and the way she incorporates technology into her lessons interests me. She uses both old school teaching and technology which I respect and hope to do when I have my own classroom one day. 

I have my prof to thank because without her, there wouldn't have been the opportunity to have these great speakers and I wouldn't have been exposed to the wonderful things that i have learned this past semester. 

INQUIRY project reflection!

I am overall, very proud of myself and Kali for our work on our inquiry project. I think that it was a unique concept and it was engaging to work on. I definitely learned a great deal. Our project was an example of a topic that can withhold numerous curriculum subjects. I think that this is very valuable and that a lesson is powerful when there are numerous subjects incorporated into one lesson.  Instead of sitting here and thinking of things to write about the project, what I could do differently and what I wouldn't change; I instead want to take this opportunity to express how privileged I think our class is to be able to have the opportunity to explore other group's projects. I enjoy seeing what other groups came up with because I see new ideas and thoughts and examples of things that I wouldn't think of on my own. I have been told by numerous professors and teachers that "teaching is about begging, borrowing, and stealing". There are only so many ideas that you can come up with on your own. Being creative can be an exhausting thing, so seeing the different ideas presented in this class is a wonderful opportunity for growth. I will remember what my colleagues have taught me and carry those creative ideas with my as long as I'm an elementary teacher...

Comic Life and My Showcase..whoop whoop!

I never knew how much I would learn from my own team members.  I normally don’t like doing group work however this past group experience has been a good one. I am an elementary generalist and during my practicum I had a hard time teaching mathematics mainly because my teacher was glued to math worksheets. I also didn’t have a SmartBoard that functioned in my classroom so I felt like I missed out huge. This Showcase taught me a lot about a subject that I didn’t really get to teach my way plus I learned about the SmartBoard that I didn’t know before. I will most definitely use what I learned from my group members in my own classroom one day.

Comic Life is a wicked program that I REALLY want to use in my classroom. Newspapers  and comics are great to create in the classroom because these are items that are in our everyday lives---great way to bring 21^st century learning into the classroom

Webcam---take a pic of yourself and make it into a comic picture! ---this is great and engaging. I had no idea that you could do this in Comic Life.

A lot of children can’t express themselves using pen and paper. Comic Life is wondrous and will be a new world to particular students that feel the need to express them selves in such a way.

Picasa….finds pics and organizes nicely…I’m addicted to iphoto. Perhaps I will have to change it up and experience this new photo program and learn something new! Maybe I will even like this photo program more!

Reflection on Great Task

I enjoyed doing this Great Task assignment mainly because it was a topic that I was extremely interested in:  Print Ads and the messages that they share with the world. I have to admit that it took a while to choose a specific ad because there was a massive amount of ads and campaigns that I found to be offensive. I had fun playing around with the one that I chose because there was a lot of different ways to approach the ad and send out MY message to the world.
I thought that this task was great because it showed the importance of choosing something engaging to do in the classroom. If I wasn't interested in the media world, I know that the end result of my project wouldn't have been the same and it definitely wouldn't have showed a deep understanding of the task.
If i was a teacher and assigned this great task to my group of students I think that it would be interesting to see all of the different outcomes and ideas of my students.
I overall thought that the feedback from our peers was for the most part extremely positive. However, I think that I would add in more guidelines to the assignment. After some time has past since i completed the Great Task, I now see that there should be more guidance when it comes to expectations for the assignment. My directions are too broad. I think that more guidance and strict guidelines shows discipline and will show me as a teacher who is really listening to instructions.

a taste of the Calgary Science School...

I think that Neil Stephenson's presentation was both interesting and motivating. I feel like he opened my eyes and introduced me to a different kind of inquiry that takes place within a school. His examples of his work and the magic that can take place in a classroom kept me engaged and intrigued as a future teacher...

"Lift the roof off of the school"

Neil used this phrase a few times during his presentation. His explanation, in my opinion, underlies the foundation of a wonderful school community. To lift the roof off of the school means to do whatever you can to open up to opportunity. It also means to share. Classroom discovery, inquiry documentation, presentations, workshops, connections, etc, are all things that "lift the roof off of the school". I realized how  important it is to keep connected to the education world and what it has to offer you. Exposing new ideas and sharing thoughts with other schools, teachers, etc. allows growth and to grow as an educational community is a beautiful thing.

YOUR ATTITUDE MATTERS---This is something that Neil spoke about and emphasized as something that is very important when it comes to inquiry. I realize that a positive attitude towards learning is necessary however the way in which he spoke about the teacher ALWAYS having the right attitude towards the topic content being taught excited me. Inquiry is a disposition. How you position yourself as a learner and how you bring your kids into a topic is what inquiry is all about.

**Inquiry needs to be LIVED out in the classroom...not just in the lesson.