Course Reflection - Multimedia Tools

Wow! I can’t believe we’re at the end of this course already. I am relatively close to being done with my endorsement, and a lot has happened over these last 8 weeks that I don’t think any of us could have predicted.

Personal life reflection

Throughout this course, a lot of really crazy stuff has happened! The ‘Rona came through, and now school is cancelled for the rest of the year, and Pritzker is even talking about the possibility of having to teach online for some of the Fall next school year. This is a very strange time, and I wanted to document some of it on this blog post so I could remember it later on.

I found myself thriving in this extrovert’s nightmare for the first several weeks. I’m still doing relatively well as compared to some of my friends. I have been reading, learning, and playing a whole lot of video games.

I’ve been able to focus a lot of my attention off of stressful things and onto more productive things and on the well-being of my students. I’ve really loved being able to let some of the teaching and learning take a backseat, and being able to focus on how my kids are as human beings. My district has been pushing more towards that kind of checking in with our students as opposed to actually teaching anything new.

I am really grateful for the structure and consistency of this course throughout this corona experience. It’s been awesome to know that something has remained unchanged throughout the virus breaking out while the rest of our lives are in a cloud of uncertainty.

How this course has impacted my teaching for the better

How perfectly timed was this course, honestly?

I went into the virus school closings with a little bit of extra confidence knowing that I had a background of e-learning tools under my belt, along with knowing I would be learning new strategies and skills as the shutdown continued. I’m really grateful for the things I have learned in this course because they have become more relevant than ever!

Before, I was teaching 33 classes, K-5, and most of my students would never touch a Chromebook or electronic device throughout all of my teaching. Some used them only a few times. Now, I’m hosting Google Hangout calls every week with my kiddos, and I am able to have confidence and the assurance that I will know what I am doing when it comes to E-Learning. If for some reason, E-Learning gets extended out into the fall, I think the whole of education is going to be changing (particularly in my district) for the better, and will be realizing just how much actually can be done online and through technology. I’m really glad to know that myself and the other educators in this track and in this course will be leaders on our respective teams for these changes, introducing and helping to troubleshoot new tools and developing new ways to use them with our kids.

I am so excited to see what our futures as educators hold, and to see what impact this course will have on our teaching careers!