So What Now?
DeAndra George
I did it! I have reached the final course of my master’s degree, the Capstone. I have met my goals to grow my toolbox of strategies to help my students with or without special needs succeed in the classroom. I have developed strategies to support students in literacy, honed my classroom management skills, and refined my skills in supporting individual students with their behavior and motivation in the classroom. So now what? First things first, I am excited to have some extra time to relax and spend time doing the creative things that I love. But what about school? While I am continually learning more about working with students and best practices, there are a few areas that I really want to focus on moving forward: supporting students in writing, incorporating project based learning experiences, and utilizing technology to enhance student learning.
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My first focus will be on supporting my students in writing. Because writing is such an individual process, students can be in so many different places at the same time. It has always been a challenge for me as a teacher to properly support all of my students in their writing. With this in mind, I would love to delve into the Units of Study in Writing by Lucy Calkins. Currently, I am using the Units of Study in Reading and have seen a tremendous growth in not only my students, but also my own teaching. My hope is that by utilizing the numerous resources provided by the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, I will be able to
incorporate the Units of Study into my classroom using the copies that we have available at school. I would love to eventually attend a Teacher College professional development, but until that opportunity arises, I want to make sure that I am using all of the available resources that I have to strengthen my writing instruction.
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Another goal, that can also help support writing, is adding technology into my classroom. Because I teach in a primary grade, I have often been worried to include too much technology since my students are not as technically savvy as they will be in a few years. However, I definitely see the benefit to bringing technology into the classroom. To start utilizing technology more in my classroom, and make sure that I am doing it in the most beneficial way for my students, I want to make sure that I am referring to the information and resources that are provided by the Department of Education Office of Educational Technology. Another wonderful resource that I have is the technology resource teacher at my school. She has many ideas and tools that I can bring into my classroom, and she is always happy to come into the classroom to help support the integration of technology. I can also continue to use the different technology tools that I have found during my coursework.
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I would also love to learn more about Project Based Learning. As a primary teacher, there is a huge push to focus on literacy and Math, and this can often lead to not covering Science and Social Studies as much as I should. In order to make sure that I am meeting all standards, I would love to incorporate more project based learning that will bring all of the content areas together rather than focusing on them in isolation. I am excited at the prospect of incorporating this into my classroom, especially since the collaboration amongst students will be highly beneficial for all of my English Language Learners. In order to get started, I plan to utilize the resources from the Buck Institute for Education (BIE), including some of the projects that have already been developed. To further my learning, I would love to bring a workshop to my school from BIE.
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As a teacher, I made a commitment to my students and their parents to give them my best. As part of that commitment, I have become a lifelong learner. Although I have had a wonderful education, I cannot simply stop here. As I continue to teach, I will always continue my own education. By continually learning, I will be able to give the best education I can to my students.
Photo credits in order from top to bottom:
http://www.heinemann.com/unitsofstudy/writing/
http://www.bie.org/blog/gold_standard_pbl_essential_project_design_elements