Blog Post #16

Part 1:

My Future Classroom

My future classroom setting will be at a University because my goal is to become a History professor. I would like to focus on American History because this has always been the topic I am most passionate about. However, I want to teach History differently because many students find the subject to be rather dull and I want to change their perspective. My teaching method will incorporate technology into my lesson plans. Most History classes in college are based solely on lecture and I want to stray away from that path. My goal is to actually captivate my students' interest so that they enjoy learning about this subject.

In my future classroom, I would like to decorate the room I will be teaching in. I would love to have posters hanging on the walls picturing important people in History and interesting facts they may not know. I would also like to have posters advocating technology and it's importance. To me, this makes the room a little bit more interesting. I use to love walking into my classrooms in high school because their were so many posters with neat information about that subject. Being in college I have noticed that every room looks exactly the same and has no identity to it. I know that this may seem like a tiny change, but it makes a difference.

My methods will mainly be technology based and I will also use project based learning. My students will do projects together instead of writing papers. When students are required to write papers for History they do not remember that information once that class is over. However, students are much more likely to retain information if they are doing a PBL assignment with their fellow classmates. PBL really requires time and effort out of students if they want to submit their best work. I will definitely be an advocate of technology because I will be teaching college students who need to be technologically literate.

Since my classroom environment will be for college students the majority of them will have laptops and those who do not can still have access because of the school library. This will make my lesson plans flow easier and student's can not use excuses about not having access to computers. I will be using Google Drive in my future classroom because this tool is amazing! I can use google presentation to make interesting slide shows for my students and the best part is that it is absolutely free. I can also check on group work by using google drive because I want to make sure everybody is doing their work. I think this tool is very beneficial because it will allow me to fairly grade each student when they do projects together. Another tool I will use is Blogger and I have EDM310 to thank for that. I did not know anything about blogging until taking EDM310! This tool has turned out to be my favorite and one that I will be carry onto my future classroom because it is so useful. Not only does blogging improve writing skills which is necessary for any subject you teach, but it allows your students' creativity to flow. Blogging will allow me to evaluate my students and their understanding. If my students are required to write about a topic pertaining to History than I can check their blog to see how well they grasped the concept. If my student is having difficulty, I can comment on their blog and make a suggestion to meet with me. There were so many new tools I was introduced to during EDM310, but these were the methods that just really stood out to me.

The Difference Between Then and Now

After I re-read my Blog Post #1 it was easy to see how drastic my views changed about my future classroom. I will not teach in a school that is based around a Historic museum and that is okay. Instead, I have came up with a better plan for my future classroom and the reason being is EDM310. After enrolling in this course, I really learned about so many amazing technological tools you can use in your classroom to help keep your students engaged. I do not have to have artifacts from a museum because I can simply use technology, which allows a more visual experience. I can also use Google Hangouts or Skype to allow history experts to enter my room via video. I have learned so much about technology and about some of the tools I can use in my future classroom. My plans are to continue to educate myself about new technology tools so my students will be prepared for the real world that awaits them after college.

Part 2:

My Final Reflection