Having perused the various websites brought to my attention by my colleagues, I can honestly say that the most important thing I have gained in the process is the limitless list of links each of them offers in turn! I find myself spending hours reading, navigating, and saving so many ideas, and as a result, spending even more time contemplating the possibilities in terms of how they will aid my learners. I cannot wait for summer to come, as aside from four weeks of summer school, I will finally be free to let myself roam the Internet without a time limit! In addition, I will be able to practice my own skills with various technologies, for example, United Streaming (www.unitedstreaming.com), and incorporating them into my curriculm. Not generally a social person, I see the value of sharing ideas in a new way and understand that it can spark new ideas and save me a great deal of time in different ways. Knowing how much it has helped me has encouraged me to pass these benefits on to my students in the hopes of prompting them to discuss their schoolwork, among other things. Funny, but I do not think I realized until now that differentiated instruction does not need to come from me; my pupils can teach one another, as we have done in this course, and as happens in classroom discussions, students will put things in their own words, enabling others to better comprehend material. As discussed in this course’s video resources, teachers are not the only experts in the class, and when we allow students to take on more autonomous roles we provide them with the motivation to take charge of their own learning (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008).
In the coming months I plan to revamp my entire curriculum with several goals in mind: embellishing existing elements of both Universal Design for Learning, as noted on the CAST website ( http://www.cast.org/publications/UDLguidelines/version1.html), and Differentiated Instruction, focusing on the use of technology and developing formative assessments based on content area material taught within the context of the texts and other types of print read by my seventh graders (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). The use of Web 2.0 tools will not only engage learners, in that they are fun and motivating, but will enable me to monitor progress more readily, offering immediate feedback and remediation, as noted by Salend (2009).
The survey I created as part of this course is a valuable tool that saves me time because it incorporates all the critical elements that I investigated separately until now. The data gleaned will allow me to tailor my monthly independent book projects, challenging learners. By offering them plenty of choices, varying them each month, I will allow for the fluidity Tomlinson (2009) asserts is inherent in students’ learning preferences. Digital media will play an important role in this regard, as this medium separates content and display, enabling students to customize the texts as needed (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008).
Added to my list of objectives is that of fine tuning the teaching of classroom routines, as the resulting efficiency saves time and confusion, while fostering students’ sense of autonomy (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). I would also like to make it a habit, as presented in the final video resource, of offering my pupils two outcomes, in reference to a particular task, setting high expectations and then letting them decide which way things will go (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). By offering my learners a variety of tools by which to learn, I will inspire them to follow their interests on their own, as I have done with the tools presented to me in this course. It is this grasp of how to learn that I hope they will carry with them throughout their lives, much less their academic careers.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Program number two. Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology [Motion picture]. Assessing Students. Baltimore: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Program number two. Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology [Motion picture]. Differentiating Instructional Elements. Baltimore: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Program number ten. Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology [Motion picture]. High Quality Curriculum. Baltimore: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Program number thirteen. Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology [Motion picture]. Managing the Differentiated Classroom. Baltimore: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Program number one. Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology [Motion picture]. Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology. Baltimore: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Program number three. Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology [Motion picture]. Real-Time Searches. Baltimore: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Program number fifteen. Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology [Motion picture]. Virtual Field Experience. Baltimore: Author.
Tomlinson, C. (2008). Learning to love assessment. Educational Leadership, 65(4), 8–13. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
Salend, S. (2009). Technology-based classroom assessments. Teaching Exceptional Children, 41(6), 48–58. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
