I have learned so much this semester about reading and writing. It has been a large focus throughout my time in the education program, but this semester we definitely went a lot deeper. I was also able to solidify some teaching beliefs that I will go with me when I become an educator. How I use and work these beliefs in my classroom may change, but the beliefs themselves won't.
One thing I have a different viewpoint on now, after taking this course, is assessment. I have always been worried about how to assess students in writing; and I think this class along with the books we have read have given me a better understanding on how to go about assessment. We were even given the chance to do an assignment surrounding assessing writing, and I think I have a better idea on how to do it. It may not be perfect, but I know I'm on the right track.
Something I wasn't really prepared for in this class, was the amount of technology work we did. I have never blogged before, nor have I spent time using Pinterest in a professional manner. We were able to do both in this class, and I really enjoyed it. I was able to see how we, as teachers, can use something that is popular with our students in an educational way. Through this, I have gained multiple ideas on how to incorporate technology into my class that will be beneficial to my students. These projects have shown me some great ways to embrace technology and websites our students are using in their daily lives instead of pretending it doesn't exist during the school day. I will definitely keep these projects in mind when I become an educator, and hopefully be able to use them with my own class.
Finally, my biggest take away from this class is being able to reflect. Not only reflection on my students and lessons, but reflection on myself. I have learned how important it is for a teacher to look back and think about what they did as the instructor in order to improve in the future. Education is always changing, and I believe reflection is vital for teachers to change with it. Because of this, I really like the idea of keeping a journal on what I do with my students and how I worked with them. I think this would be a great way for me to look back and remember everything that happened throughout a lesson, and decide what can be done to improve it for next time. I know I am not going to be able to remember every little thing that happened, so I think writing it down will be extremely beneficial for me.
Overall, this class was great and has helped me improve as a future educator. I can't wait to use what I have learned in the classroom and, as scary as it sounds, that will be very soon. If you want to read any of the books I have talked about in my blogs take a look at my Shelfari on the left side. It has all the books we read for this class, as well as a few others that are extremely helpful.
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