From+My+Heart



I can honestly say that this course will be one of if not the most useful in my teaching career. I want to make my lessons fun, interactive, and engaging so considering that almost all students are plugged into a computer, video game or other form of media these days it makes sense to teach via technology. The tools I have learned in your course I feel will allow my students to personalize their assignments which I feel is one of the best ways for a lesson to stick is for that lesson to be relevant to the students life. I started out writing my wiki for a middle school science class but switched to environmental science because that is ultimately what I would like to teach so all of my lessons under the units of instruction are focused on environmental science. When I started this project I thought I was biting off too much by setting up my unit for instruction to cover an entire semester but I ended up getting most of the way through it. I am very proud and amazed that I already have a huge jump start on my lesson plans for environmental science if in fact that is what I end up teaching. Things that I would do differently or I should say will continue to do because my wiki is still a work in progress would be to add much more information to the cool science websites page and the teaching with technology page. I stopped adding information to these pages due to not knowing what my subject matter will be once I get hired. This semester I am being mentored at MLK Jr. College with a 6th grade science teacher and I am very concerned that every child I have asked if they have a home computer have all said no. Meaning that the technological lessons I create may have to be done in class. This was a good reminder that I have to be sensitive to my audience. Obstacles such as this will simply mean that online projects will need to be completed in the library on campus or during class as a group. When I embarked on becoming a teacher I never dreamed there were so many free web tools and great online helpers to make teaching different and modern. One exciting 21st century teacher discovery was learning about the "iearn" website. I plan to use this site hopefully as a student teacher to work side by side with another science class in another part of the world. What an excellent collaboration tool for cultural diversity! I will most certainly incorporate 21st century teaching as often as I can. My classroom will be one of creative lessons that require critical thought and group work to promote social diversity. I only hope I will always have access to your website as a reference tool. You have created a wealth of knowledge all in one place and I plan on revisiting it frequently. Thank you Candice!