Week 8 Reflection for: Reaching and Engaging All Learners through Technology

Throughout this course we have learned about how important it is to not only differentiate instruction, assignments, and lessons but how technology can play an important role in creating a learning environment that meets the diverse learning needs of your students. UDL and DI are two important factors that I learned in this class that help students to be successfully. I have also learned various resources and tools that I am looking forward to implementing into my class such as MUVE and movie maker. By using technology it allows for you to not only accomplish many standards and curriculum goals at once, but it creates assessments that allow for students to demonstrate their ability using the skills they strongest at. Instead of trying to have each student conform to the same task technology allows for you to set a goal and allow the students to accomplish that goal in the way that best suits them.

Although I am excited about the new school year and all that it has to bring I will need to make an immediate adjustment with not only my individual classes, but the classes I co-teach in as well. For the classes I teach by myself I will need to step out of my comfort zone and start implementing the tools and resources that I have learned not only from this class but throughout the masters program as well. For the classes I co-teach in I will need to learn to demonstrate more of an authoritative leadership role instead of being concerned about stepping on their toes in order to make sure that we are meeting all student’s needs. Technology allows for customized learning to take place and provides students with various ways to demonstrate their understanding of the concepts being taught. I have learned there are so many great resources available all we have to do now is use them!!

Week 8 Reflection for New and Emerging Technologies

Throughout this course I have learned various things not only about myself as a teacher but ways to create a more effective learning environment for all. Over the past two weeks we had to create a proposal of a new technology that we thought would benefit not only our students but our district as well. These assignments really made me take a step back and look at what would have the most immediate impact on my students and why. By having to complete this assignment it made me take a few steps outside of the box and look at it from the outside and how others would react. This assignment also made me think as a leader not as an individual and how I could best instill and encourage others to use this technology along demonstrate how it would allows use as educators to fully meet the diverse learning needs of our students.

One immediate adjustment that I will have to make in order to not only identify but apply the emerging technologies is to not only model the effects myself but I would like to hold curriculum days in order to demonstrate the advantages and various technologies that are readily available to all. So for me I will have to immediately change the type of leadership role and become more of an authoritative leader so I can lead people to learn and implement new technologies instead of a democratic leader like I have been in the past. Hopefully with this new leadership role I will be able to influence others to take the small steps necessary in order to provide our students with resources and lessons using the 21st century technology.

I am looking forward to the beginning of this new journey and all that it has to offer.