CEP810 Reflection

As we finish up CEP 810, I find myself reflecting on not just what I learned as an educator, but also just in general about technology. I had thought that I knew quite a bit, since I’m one of the youngest teachers in my building I tend to be the person people gravitate towards towards for technology questions. I’ve learned a lot about different technologies to use, how to find new tech for the classroom, how to tie technology into teaching (even for kindergarteners which is sometimes hard!) and how to open my mind a little to repurpose things to make them useful for me and my students.

I love the idea of using technology in the classroom, but throughout this course I realized I’m missing so many great opportunities! I really learned a lot from the 21st Century Lesson Plan assignment. I found so many ideas when searching for new technology and found ideas I don’t think I would have looked twice at any other time. The exploration part of that week was very valuable for me and brought a lot of new ideas to mind that I’m excited to try!

I also think actively writing down my Professional Learning Network was great for me. I never realized how many different people or resources I use until now and it also helped me reach out and try to expand this. I regularly use blogs and Pinterest for ideas, but twitter is not a resource I had used before. I plan to use twitter more frequently as well as expanding on some of the blogs I follow. The RSS feed makes it so easy to follow multiple blogs in one place and filter out valuable content. I plan on utilizing that more often as well.

I still want to work on integrating more technology and using the TPACK framework to my advantage. I find myself shying away from some technology in the classroom because of how challenging it can be to teach students how to use it. They really are more than capable to use it with some guidance, I just need to move past my mental block and open up to the idea. I think once I start trying and experimenting with new technologies it will get easier and I will see my students grow. I plan to dedicate more time next year to working with technology to help it work for me with my curriculum and I’m really excited to see where it will take me and my students!