As I finish this part of my learning journey, I think about the topics discussed throughout the program and can highlight some that have definitely impacted my personal and professional experience. I was afraid and uncertain about starting the masters program, but from throughout this program I was able to become more comfortable with feeling uncomfortable and not knowing all the answers. I realize that by trying out new and sometimes difficult tasks I was able to learn more than simply taking the safe route. Using technology in the classroom and teaching with a different approach can be scary, it can be intimidating, but knowing that I will learn something new has motivated me to take more risks. After questioning my teaching strategies and going through my research experience in the classroom, this program has helped me have a more clear idea of what I want to do as a teacher so that my students also understand the value of making mistakes as they learn. I have learned that there is a better use of technology when it come to working on building confident and independent learners. I am looking forward to my continuous growth as I implement what I have learned and continue to question what is best for my students. I have finished this program but in a way I have just begun to understand how important it is to never stop learning in a world that continues to change. I want to be able to keep making an impact on my students and their future so I intend to continue taking risks, learning new skills, and showing my students that learning happens in many ways.
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My journey has definitely been a meaningful process that I continue to experience as we reach the end of this program. Throughout this process I have learned many things, some of these include changing my mindset about different aspects of teaching, considering how the things I do in class affect my students, and thinking about the personal factors that affect my teaching. My thoughts about how I should teach my students have steered even more to focusing on my students instead of what makes me comfortable, to consider technology and how it can benefit my students, even when I am not comfortable with a new tool. I now think about what tools I apply in my lessons will have a greater effect in my students instead of just helping me make a lesson fun. Overall, this program has made the process of thinking about my teaching more clear and purposeful. I know I still have much to learn, but I can definitely notice a difference from the time I started the program to now that I am at the end of this step in my own learning. Thinking back to different sessions and discussions, I’m reminded of the importance of taking care of my needs as a teacher. Learning, questioning and not being afraid of making mistakes are important for growth, but so is understanding what we need as teachers. I understand that I need to further my education in order to better serve my students, I need to take risks, and at the same time feel comfortable with being uncomfortable. I am at a place now where I feel motivated to continue exploring and in no way do I feel that I know all that there is to know, but I certainly want to continue to learn what I don’t yet know. After changing my plan for my Capstone video twice and still feeling like I needed to change more things, I have finally come to a more clear idea of what I need to do. Stepping away from my video for a while has helped me be able to think of better ways to move clips and what I say in the video. Between my Capstone site and the video, my brain has been constantly thinking for a while now. Initially I was envisioning something in my head but when I started to put it together I quickly found it was a bit more difficult than expected. I’ve reorganized my plan and decided to use a few video clips I had previously created in the classroom with students. There are some song videos and other classroom clips that I can use to fill in the extra talking space I need. I wanted to make my video with only video clips but I might have to add some text slides or images in order to fill the gaps when talking. At this point I am still editing the video and trying not to overthink it. Since the last time I blogged things have been quite crazy at school. Between assessments, lunch meetings, parent meetings, and school responsibilities, time to record my video has been very limited. This has been my biggest challenge, finding the right time to record the clips with my students that I want for my Capstone Project video. I like to have all my video clips ready before I start editing the final video. I find it much more easy to edit a video when the video clips and music are added as a group, moving clips can be cut and moved around to fit the time limits, and it is just much easier to have it all in one place. I have also started to look into the music to find a royalty free song that is 60-90 seconds. I think that having a song that last the time I need will help keep me to the timing. At this point my next step is to get all my videos ready on iMovie to make sure I have enough clips for my voiceover before I have to complete my video. I’ve been interested in video editing for a while now, so these assignments give me the opportunity to explore a little more and try to create something using video tools. When it comes to scripts, I feel like my organization lacks a little bit. I’d like to think I am creative, but sometimes getting my ideas across can be a bit difficult. I started with a general idea of what I wanted my video to look like and then moved on to create a visual script with the storyboard we were provided. I’ve decided to use iMovie for my video because I have had experience using it on my cell phone and I find it easier to use after practicing making some videos with my students. Like any other program, it took me a few times to get a hold of some of the features but I overall I feel like it becomes very intuitive after a while. I go over some of my favorite features on my video outline. One thing that might be a problem is turning my script into an actual video. I’m sure there will be some difficulties when it come to transferring ideas from paper into video. I am expecting to run into some problems when I start editing since I don’t have a final draft yet, but I hope that my script will work on video the way I have envision and that what I intend to say in the video flows the way I think it will. I am still stuck on my ending for the script but I am sure as I start making the video the ideas will flow. It’s amazing how simple it is to design a logo online for free, with so many options to choose from and many sites to explore. I started using freelogodesign.org to play and try to create my logo and I was happy with the variety of logo templates already available for use. I then tried logomakr.com and decided to change to this site because of how simple it was to modify within the interface. I felt like logomakr was a bit easier to use and allowed me to be more creative with my ideas. Although both sites provide a great deal of options, logomakr felt more user friendly. I liked how easy it was to resize, move objects, change color, and overall let me create a more unique logo instead of using a premade one. I spent most of my time on logomakr and decided to use this site for creating my logo. I still don’t have my final product but I like that I am able to easily recreate logos using this site. When I was exploring I simply saved the logos I created so I am not sure if I am able to save within the site and come back to them later, but I will continue to explore as I modify my current rough draft. I’d like to think that I deliver content to my student in many different ways in order to help with their learning, but as I think of transliteracy I ask myself if I am actually transliterate in some of the forms that my students might need content delivered. I know that not all my students are transliterate in all the ways that I deliver content. When using images, videos, or text, some students will respond better to one form or another. This makes me think that as I am including more technology tools in the classroom, I need to keep in mind that not all students have the same access to learning or are able to understand and engage with content using the type of media I may be utilizing.
If I understand transliteracy correctly, incorporating transliteracy teaching methods in the classroom would allow students to connect with content in a way that fits their learning style. This might come in the form of video, audio, or images I use to teach something. It would give students a chance to communicate their learning with others in a way they understand and relate to. If one student is able to communicate what he is learning through visuals and another through oral communication but we limit them to showing their thinking to writing only, then we would not be able to use the potential that being transliterate brings to the classroom. I don’t feel like an expert in transliteracy methods, but I have been working on identifying the ways that my students interact with my methods of teaching, either positive or negative. My goal is to help my students understand content through different forms and for them to feel comfortable sharing that content and transferring what they learn with others. Hopefully they are able to transfer what they learn from a video and share it through text, verbally, or with a graphic illustration. |
AuthorWelcome to my blog! I'm Jose Cerda and in this blog I have kept a record of my experiences and new things I haver learned throughout this program. Archives
December 2018
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