Final ImagineIT Report - December 14, 2015
From the dilemmas book that we had to read, I learned that there will always be obstacles when you are trying to improve yourself, improve your practice, or just be the best that you can be. As educators in today's society, we must think outside the bx and use the technologies that are available to reach our students despite the challenges that we face. Problematizing a situation helps you to think through the possible obstacles and develop possible workarounds that still maintain your high levels of expectations and performance. It also helped me to realize that I, just like many others, prefer to stay within my comfort zone of what I already know or am comfortable with. Ideally my students would conform to the way I want to teach and not the other way around. Also, sometimes problems that we think are peculiar to the inner city are oftentimes shared by other communities as well and working together and receiving feedback help us to adapt and improve our practice.
My focus group and teaching demonstration showed me how much students today are different from those I used to teach and the student that I used to be. It doesn't mean that they are bad or that something is wrong with them. Just the technological society that they grew up in has caused them to develop in different ways and to value different things. I have the opportunity to teach them the way that I wish I had been taught rather than having them blindly follow me. It also taught me that I still have a ways to go to really fully reach my students and develop the rapport that is needed to keep them actively engaged in instruction and learning all of the time. Things that are really interesting to me are not always very interesting to my students.
From my colleagues, I learned that I need to reflect daily on each day and each class. I need to be responsive to their needs but cognizant of the line between doing it for them and providing them with the means to do it themselves. In foreign language, they showed me that there are many steps that go into learning a foreign language and if I skip some, the students will be missing important pieces that keep them from moving forward.
My insights so far on my ImagineIT project are that my topic applies on so many levels that it is huge. The little things matter when developing rapport with your students. This is a lot of work, but now, every now and then I get to let my hair down and play with my students without them or me taking offense. Instead of getting angry at some of their antics I turn them back on them, roll with the punches, or have fun with it and that helps me to connect better with my students. Being reflective is also key. I have to be able to take criticisms from both adults and students without taking it negatively. These are all chances for me to improve my practice and address student needs so that they can be successful in my classroom and beyond.
Looking forward into 2nd semester, I really want to work hard on integrating whatever technology is available to me into my classroom. I want to better integrate student interest so that I can hook them with my lessons. By the end of the year, I would like to see students turn to each other for help before calling me.
From the dilemmas book that we had to read, I learned that there will always be obstacles when you are trying to improve yourself, improve your practice, or just be the best that you can be. As educators in today's society, we must think outside the bx and use the technologies that are available to reach our students despite the challenges that we face. Problematizing a situation helps you to think through the possible obstacles and develop possible workarounds that still maintain your high levels of expectations and performance. It also helped me to realize that I, just like many others, prefer to stay within my comfort zone of what I already know or am comfortable with. Ideally my students would conform to the way I want to teach and not the other way around. Also, sometimes problems that we think are peculiar to the inner city are oftentimes shared by other communities as well and working together and receiving feedback help us to adapt and improve our practice.
My focus group and teaching demonstration showed me how much students today are different from those I used to teach and the student that I used to be. It doesn't mean that they are bad or that something is wrong with them. Just the technological society that they grew up in has caused them to develop in different ways and to value different things. I have the opportunity to teach them the way that I wish I had been taught rather than having them blindly follow me. It also taught me that I still have a ways to go to really fully reach my students and develop the rapport that is needed to keep them actively engaged in instruction and learning all of the time. Things that are really interesting to me are not always very interesting to my students.
From my colleagues, I learned that I need to reflect daily on each day and each class. I need to be responsive to their needs but cognizant of the line between doing it for them and providing them with the means to do it themselves. In foreign language, they showed me that there are many steps that go into learning a foreign language and if I skip some, the students will be missing important pieces that keep them from moving forward.
My insights so far on my ImagineIT project are that my topic applies on so many levels that it is huge. The little things matter when developing rapport with your students. This is a lot of work, but now, every now and then I get to let my hair down and play with my students without them or me taking offense. Instead of getting angry at some of their antics I turn them back on them, roll with the punches, or have fun with it and that helps me to connect better with my students. Being reflective is also key. I have to be able to take criticisms from both adults and students without taking it negatively. These are all chances for me to improve my practice and address student needs so that they can be successful in my classroom and beyond.
Looking forward into 2nd semester, I really want to work hard on integrating whatever technology is available to me into my classroom. I want to better integrate student interest so that I can hook them with my lessons. By the end of the year, I would like to see students turn to each other for help before calling me.