Final Blog for MEIT

This past year and a half has been an interesting time for me. I have learned an incredible amount throughout all the courses.

After going back to the beginning of the blog, I found it very interesting, and humorous, what I said at the beginning of the program! Below is from my very first blog:

     "As a business teacher, I am hoping to get many things from this program. I use technology in my classes everyday, but would like to improve assignments and increase opportunities for students to learn. I have wanted to incorporate tools like Moodle or edmodo and have not had the chance to learn about the programs and their capabilities. If there is a way that I can minimize paper use in my classroom, I would like to do it.
I teach in a small school district and we continually have problems with technology and server space. I am excited to learn more about google docs and tools that can be used to eliminate space used on our server at school. I would also like to become a resource for other teachers in my district who are wishing to improve their technology skills or wishing to incorporate more technology into their classrooms and lessons."

I was able to achieve some of my goals. I have been able to incorporate a lot of new technologies into my classroom since beginning this program. One of the first things I did was incorporate Google docs. It has been very successful. The students have adapted well to it and have embraced the advantages to using them. Incoporating Google docs has allowed me to cut down on the amount of paper being used in my classroom, as well as saving room on our district servers. Rather than printing their homework, students have been able to share their document with me. I have not incorporated Moodle or edmodo, but have been able to incorporate My Big Campus, which is very similar. It has also assisted me in being able to minimize the amount of paper used in my classroom. Another of my goals for the program was to become a resource for other teachers in my district. I have been able to achieve that goal as well. When other teachers began incorporating Google docs into their classes, I was able to answer many questions they had.

This program has introduced me to so many more tools than I thought could ever be available to me for free! I have been able to greatly improve my classroom with these tools. I also have been introduced to the concept of flipping a classroom, which has peaked my interest greatly. So much so, that I have worked on flipping one of my classes. Since I will be taking some leave this coming school year, this will be very beneficial to me and to my substitute teacher. My goal is to have another course flipped by the time I am taking my leave. Without this program, I never would have been given the opportunity to flip even one of my classes.

Overall, I am very happy with everything I have learned in the program. It has had a huge impact on my and my classroom. When I was thinking about getting my Master's degree, I didn't want to get it in something that I couldn't apply to my classroom. I am so happy that I chose this program. It has been so relevant to me and helped me become a better teacher.