First of all, I want to congratulate all of us for successfully achieving our goal. Can you believe this chapter of our lives is coming to a close?I have learned so much about myself as a learner through this process. I have learned that I can push myself pretty hard and remain standing. I can be faced with a challenge and persevere. I have learned how our small cohort has different learning styles, and I realize more clearly now that my students have different learning styles also. Becoming a student again has really opened my eyes as to how my students view me and the workload. In addition, I have learned a lot about digital citizenship, purposeful websites, online games, online activities, different online organization tools, media tools and which ones work the best for me and which do not. After I wrap up my assignments for my Master's degree this summer, I am looking forward to creating DC/SEL/BEST lesson plan templates for each grade level at my school site. I have already reviewed my research and research findings with my principal and she is on board to move forward with the lessons for all grade levels, K-5. This makes me very happy! Once the exhaustion is done and I have more time again, I plan on going back to school to get my Administrative Credential. If one day I do decide to do something different and outside of the classroom, I need this credential to move forward. Therefore, I will continue to push myself and grow some more!
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What is your biggest takeaway from the 703 class? What’s been your favorite part of the class? Where did you struggle and what did you do to push through your struggle? How do your skills in transliteracy relate to the TPACK model? Biggest takeaway My biggest takeaway from this class is how I persevered to get A LOT of work done in a very short amount of time. I will never forget how overwhelmed and intimated I felt after looking at the long list of all of the necessary projects to complete this term. However, as the term is coming to a close, I can feel a great sense of accomplishment. I still have a bit to do but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Favorite part of class As always, my favorite part of class is investigating new ideas, seeing what my peers have created and our discussions. I have really gotten to know most of my colleagues pretty well and I feel we have a created a "Master's BOND". The discussions stimulate my brain so much that I can't turn my brain off to go to bed for at least an hour after class. I just keep processing it all because it is exciting to me. I know we are all ready to receive our degree but I will truly miss my Tuesday and Thursday school dates. It has been a nice way to spend my evening. My struggles What wasn't a struggle for me? That is really the question. However, if I really had to pick one task, it would be the WeVideo. I had the most obstacles and the greatest block from this task. I had a difficult time from the beginning to the end. Now that it is finishing up though, I have to say it is probably one of my most rewarding challenges. TPACK All of the courses throughout Touro's Innovative Learning Master's degree has taught me more about Transliteracy than I thought I would ever know. It has been great because I am able to include my new tech knowledge into my pedagogy of teaching. I am also able to help family and friends with so much more technology than I was before. In addition, I believe this was the best time to get my Master's because we were all forced to learn how to teach differently, with the use of technology and Zoom, due to Covid. So, my content knowledge also shifted. I learned how to create slides, use gaming for educational purposes, use ZOOM, CLEVER, and so much more. Next year, with the students coming back into the classroom, I am going to take the TPACK model and continue it without the virtual learning. How are you doing with making progress? Where do you need to manage your time and energy resources? How will you complete everything by the end of class? What organizational strategies are you using to get things done on time? How can you translate those strategies to your students in the classroom? Where do they struggle with time or resource management? What lessons might you need to develop to help them cope with classroom assignments:
1. Logo 2. Infographic 3. Mini-documentary 4. Executive Summary 5. Capstone Poster Progress? To be honest, I feel very overwhelmed because having an impacted semester in Semester 3 is A LOT of work. I am working on my webpage, which is quite detailed, but I am also working on my mini-documentary and executive summary at the same time. Both of these classes this semester work together for the greater good of completing the program. So, if I work too long on my webpage and not enough time on my mini-documentary (because frankly making a movie is outside my comfort zone) I get behind in one class but ahead in the other. I need to manage my time in this class, EDUC 703. This class pushes me to be better, to be challenged and try new things. I appreciate being pushed outside my comfort zone but due to the fact that we are so close to the finish line, I tend to do what is in my comfort zone first and push back what I find resistance to. Completion? I plan on spending this upcoming week working on completing my projects. I am a couple webpages away from finishing my website (with the exception of adding a few items from this class). I have completed the first draft of my executive summary, my logo, and I have filmed my documentary questions for my documentary. I need to finish my documentary, and begin working on my poster. These are two HUGE projects, and I am intimated by them. I know I can do it but I need to get in the proper mindset to get me through it. Strategies? My strategy thus far has been to get items accomplished that are within my comfort zone. The items, as mention above, are still waiting for completion because I am not as familiar with how to get them accomplished. However, all items need to be completed and they need to be done in a timely fashion for school. Therefore, I will spend tomorrow working on my documentary. I will try to begin my poster tomorrow afternoon or Tuesday before class. Translate to students? I live and teach by checklists. I try to teach my students to create a checklist and work on what they know first. This creates a feeling of accomplishment for them and gives them confidence to do items that they are not as comfortable with after they have completed what they know how to do. It also provides a sense of relief because they know they have items finished so they can be prepared for class discussions. Future preparation for students? I work with third grade students. They are between 8 and 10 years old. I provide the "whole picture" approach but then break up the large, overwhelming lesson into smaller bits and pieces. This allows them to know what I expect by the end of the project but hopefully eliminates a little of the scare factor. In summary, I am very proud of myself for working so hard this past year. It has been an interesting year, to say the least, but we are all getting through it with and will be better professionals because of it. As stressed as I happen to get, I have learned a lot and pushed myself beyond what I thought was possible. Thank you all for being a part of my learning and my journey. How was it to be in front of the camera? Where was it challenging? Honesty...it wasn't hard to be in front of the camera but it was EXTREMELY frustrating filming. I spent hours writing my script and preparing to video. First, I made sure I was presentable. Second, I finally found a good place in my home to film. I believe the place I chose was a good choice because it had the best lighting in my home with two nearby large windows, and I had an attractive but not fussy background. Finally, I have so much to say to answer my interview questions but I couldn't memorize the material. Therefore, I try to look at the camera as much as possible but my eyes bounce around from reading and then focusing back to the camera. I tried to use different angles to help but you can still see my bouncing eyes. Where can you infuse a growth mindset in this project? How often do you personally do the projects that you ask your students to do? Where are you in your learning pit experience right now? In all reality I feel like I am currently in the learning pit. One of the reasons for feeling this way is I am always on time completing my homework and blogs. Due to the fact that I was on vacation this past week and our homework included filming with all of the restrictions like sound, space, background, angles etc...I was unable to do any of it while on vacation. Therefore, I am frantically and stressfully trying to get it done today. With all of my struggles, I feel very overwhelmed and frustrated. I am trying to think of how my students feel when they get to this stress level. What would I tell them? I would probably tell them to take a breath and count backwards from 10 to 0. I would tell them to get up and walk away from the problem for awhile or to do something else for the time being. I would also use some growth mindset talk. I would say, "Mistakes are proof you are trying", "Don't give up" and "Use the power of YET". Therefore, I am going to take my own advice. I have filmed what I need but I know it isn't the quality I want from myself. So, I am going to use what I have for this evening and rethink how I am going to get what I want from my documentary. After talking it over with my son, I think I am going to write down the questions and speak without the structure of my poster-boards. Hopefully this will make it film more as a documentary and interview and less like a speech. |
Photos used under Creative Commons from wuestenigel, wuestenigel