This course provided many practical tools and designs that I plan to experiment more with and familiarize myself with. I really appreciated the structure and set up of this course because a lot of our conversations were organic and in the classroom. I always enjoy bouncing ideas off of others and also hearing new ideas from others. In fact, there were a few times that I was taught new things from my peers that I was able to utilize and use in my classroom the next day. I also appreciated the introduction of grants. I have always known what grants were, but I never really gave them much thought. However, this course, because it was an assignment, really opened up my eyes to the potential grants can give to our classrooms. Funding is short in many districts and grants can provide us an option to still give our students the optimal and ideal learning environment.
I am not sure that I had a “favorite” aspect in this class, but I did learn that PBL units are a lot more difficult than I could imagine. I love the idea and I truly believe that students will take a lot out of PBLs, I however definitely need more guidance and understanding before I can successfully launch a PBL in my classroom that I believe would be beneficial for my students. But with most things, all it takes is a bit of practice and exposure to understand how something works.
Our conversations in class were the best part. I really enjoyed hearing how everyone is implementing tech in their classroom. I also got some great take-away ideas that I am going to use.
ReplyDeleteI am really interested in finding out if you can get a grant done for the flexible seating you were talking about in class. I know many of the students would benefit from something like that in our district. You could definitely lead the way into more classrooms having different types of seating. In one district I worked in, a teacher eliminated all chairs and students sat on yoga balls. It increased their productivity immensely.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the way you felt about our discussions in class. I loved hearing about new ways teachers were implementing tech into their classrooms. I, too, was able to gain insight from my peers and utilize new resources with my students.
ReplyDeleteI concur with you about discussions! Bouncing ideas off of one another was really useful in how to proceed with the PBL units. Especially with being able to use what we discussed with students both indirectly with lesson planning and directly with teaching using the tools.
ReplyDeleteSheila,
ReplyDeleteLet me tell you that I am on the same page as you about writing grants. Grant Writing was something that I was had in my mind to learn and through this course, I had the opportunity to learn resources and write a grant that I might apply for. I will be looking to study other grants that will apply to my school needs.