Final Tech Blog Post - Reflections

In the beginning of this summer session, I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive about and intimidated by technology. I barely knew what a Smartboard is, and I never thought I'd be blogging. As we have learned the benefit of collaboration in the school setting, it has corresponded well to the technology that allows for this (Web 2.0). I feel that the overview we received was comprehensive and easily applicable to the direction in which education is moving. As we move forward as future teachers and think about how education is changing in terms of globalization and collaboration, we can utilize technology to the fullest extent as long as we remain comfortable and knowledgable.
It is hard to predict what we, as special educators, will be utilizing in our work as teachers, but the class has given me a good foundation with which to work. I may not be able to use my Smartboard presentation in student teaching, but I am not going to be intimidated by it if/when I am presented with the opportunity.
I feel more inclined to incorporate technology in my teaching as I feel that it goes hand in hand with the type of education I would like my students to receive. I want my students to have a well-rounded experience, learn to think for themselves and to problem-solve, be able to cooperate and work well with their peers, and take initiative to develop and answer questions.

Blogs of my colleagues: My reflection

I have reviewed many of my colleague's blogs on Google Reader to reflect on our experience throughout this summer session. Google Reader uses an RSS feed to allow my viewing of colleague's blogs in one easy window.

I find that although we all had the same assignments, each blog incorporates their own specific point of view in the assignments and the diversity of thought is quite interesting. Anna finds passion to be an essential ingredient in teaching, which I think most people will agree is important, but not everyone included it in their "good teacher" post. To Ashley, differentiation was key throughout her posts. Kaitlyn's posts really focused on positivity and openness, which are extremely important in special education.


Barb's posts were really centered on teachers supporting their students and believing in them. I appreciate her saying in her blog post:

I intend to try to maintain a connection to the “real world”, showing how the algebra or trig or geometry that we are learning has applications to problems and professions in the world outside the classroom.

I just had a "debate" with a couple family members about how applicable math is and my uncle argued that a football player does pushups in training not because he will do pushups on the field but it "builds muscle," a foundation, for the player. It is important for teachers to give all work a meaning and a purpose so the students feel more connected to the material and more motivated to learn. Barb's quote reminds me that even though some kids feel like they may never use math, we can show them how it is applied in the world outside of the classroom.

I also really enjoyed a comment from TJ in her blog:

I am now aware I am not just educating their mind but also their heart.

That quote speaks to the idea that we as teachers need to find an emotional component of our teaching and really connect it to student's emotions, which is defined as hot cognition. We learn better when our hearts are open and when we feel relatedness to the material.

As I reflect on our different ideas, I know that all of us would agree with passion, differentiating instruction, positivity, real world application, and hot cognition as ingredients in teaching. Though these are all important to teaching, we all have a different top three, and this is what will make us good teachers: because we all bring something to the table (sometimes depending on our certification area) and can enrich our students in different ways just by being ourselves.