ACTION PLAN
Reflection
My Learning...
What did I learn about myself?
I started this course feeling really anxious because technology is not my comfort zone. After the first day of class, I left feeling quite anxious, wondering how I would possibly complete all the assignments ON LINE by Friday. I went home and started plotting all my ideas down in Word documents (because this is what I knew) until the wee hours of the morning, convinced that I would struggle with formatting my ideas onto new online platforms. But, then day by day I watched and learned from others. I took risks, fiddled, played and tried new things. I deleted those Word documents and used a variety of new Apps and programs to represent my learning--and I DID IT! Not only did I complete my assignments, but I have also gained a huge amount of confidence in working with digital technologies. I took risks in my learning, just like I ask my students to do everyday--and it worked (of course it did!) Once again, I realized that I need to treat myself more like the children I nurture and teach. I am too hard on myself and I need to learn to be more comfortable with productive struggle because that is how we learn.
What have I learned in this course?
This course has solidified what I know about student learning. Students are unique learners who need flexibility, differentiation and a variety of individualized tools to meet with success. Learning about the principles of UDL has reconfirmed what I believe about planning, instruction and assessment. UDL combined with the Tool Belt Theory has opened my eyes to a new variety of digital technology tools that are available to help students meet with success. This has been my biggest area of growth in this course. I now have a base of knowledge around new supports that I can use to help scaffold my lessons, work tasks and to help engage all students meaningfully. I can't wait to get started!