Blog Post #16

Final Reflection

I took the time to reread my first blog post about "If I Built a School" and I don't believe that I would change anything about my previous post. I still want my school to be a hands on learning center and for the students to have numerous types of labs to go to everyday. I want my students to be encouraged to move around and be active. I want them to be able to move about the classroom and talk with other classmates and see how they are solving the task in front of them. Using technology in my future classroom isn't up for a discussion about whether I will use it or not. If I don't use it, I will be doing my students a disservice and hold them back from learning. How I will use technology in my classroom is still up for debate. I have a strong desire to be a Special Education Teacher and therefore, my teaching style and tools will constantly be changing depending on the student. While I have been shown how blogging can be used in 1st grade, if I taught 5th grade, there are many more options as to what I could do.

The main idea for my school that hasn't changed is my desire to teach through interaction. One thing that I would like to incorporate into my classroom is connecting with other classrooms around the world. Similar to pen palling but doing it through technological devices now. Being able to Skype with another classroom and learning about their culture and what they do for fun would be a great asset to a child's life. Building connections with other classrooms could also help me in my teaching as I would be building up my personal learning network too. Most importantly I want my students to be invested in their education and give them every source available to them to succeed.