Blog Post #8 Reflection on the MD 400 Course

I was looking forward to this course, because the use of technology in the classroom always triggered my intellectual curiosity and creativity. I have use the internet before to access information, strategies, and lesson plans to use with special education students and to teach Spanish. I have found some very helpful resources that I had use when I couldn’t find anyone to help me sort out an educational dilemma. The fact that you can write anything in a browser and find a world of possibilities is energizing. However, that world of information can be overwhelming and endless. You can get lost in so much information. My expectations for this course were to receive guidance on which resources in the endless world of technology I can use to further my students educational achievement. Furthermore, I want to learn how to use technology to provide better access to special education students to the general classroom curriculum and close as much as possible their achievement gap. I also wanted to learn as much as possible to be able to use effectively my lesson plan preparation time. Even though I thought it was going to be intellectually excited, I never thought how much energy and time consuming it was going to be. It is a mix feeling, ying and yang. I start every class eager to learn something new. Few minutes after the class has started I am feeling overwhelmed and anxious because I am not sure if I will be able to catch up. I see other students that were born in the age of technology navigating the class so smoothly and how it take me longer than them to get to the same place. Nevertheless, I think what a great role model I can be for my students in my struggle with something new. I can model for them that a human being does not stop learning ever as long as they are in this world. But when I see the final product of all those hours of hard work I experience a great sense of accomplishment. I know I will struggle at the beginning of every new task, but at the end, if that gives me the necessary tools to effectively transfer the knowledge to my future students it is all worth it. Once I heard someone say “Practice makes Permanent”. The more I try the new skill I learn in this course the better I will get at it and the more my student will reap the benefits. My hopes for the remainder of the course are the same I had before starting it: I want to get the most of this experience so I can be able to navigate smoothly the technology world and bring my students with me in that learning journey. As per suggestions, I like the feature the teacher has available in the lab to have all the screens show what she is presenting in the smart board. Sometimes is difficult to see the content, especially if you seat in the back of the room. Also, I think the tool of blocking everyone computers will be very helpful at time that the teacher needs everyone attention. I loved all the resources and the tutorials. I don’t think there is a tutorial to create digital stories but I could be wrong. Tutorials allow the students to catch up later at home with more time whatever was missed during the lecture. It is hard to see, do and take notes at the same time. I also hope I can keep in touch with the course Professor in case I need some guidance once I start my teaching career. As I always I say life is good and is getting better and if not at least interesting.