Future Learning Goals

I truly believe that being an educator is synonymous with being a lifelong learner. Every new class you have will have its own set of successes,  challenges and opportunities. In order to continue to fill our students’ learning needs, we need to continue to fill our teaching tool belt. Moving forward these are three areas I want to continue to pursue for my own learning are using technology to support students who are coming from other countries and learning English, teaching students how to code and integrating project based learning among all subject areas. These are all three of these areas are directly relevant to my teaching and my students. By improving my understanding in all three of these areas it has a direct effect in positive success for my students.

Using Technology to Support Students Learning English

Most of my students are English Language Learners (ELL’s), I have learned how to use technology to help support their learning. However, last year I had two students join our classroom who didn’t speak any English. I was at a loss of how to support them and where to begin. The likelihood of being in this situation again is very high and I aim to be better equipped. While brainstorming and looking for resources where to begin, I came across Colorin Colorado. This site is full of resources to help support all different levels of English Language Learners and their families. What I like most about this website is the wide variety of information it provides. It has strategies for teachers to use in their classroom, it has resources for particular grade levels, it has resources for families to help their student at home and the list goes on and on. It is has information for teachers who have never taught a student who is an English Language Learner to teachers who feel they are experienced in teaching English Language Learners.

Photo by Ravindar Negi from Pexels

Coding

With technology becoming more a part of our everyday life, it has created the opportunity for new jobs. One of these new jobs is coding. This is an area I don’t feel terribly comfortable with and don’t have a lot of experience with. However, more coding jobs will continue to exist and it is important for students to start getting experience with it. I especially think it is important to equip my students, who are from a lower socioeconomic area, the opportunity to learn about coding now while we have the resources because it is not guaranteed they will have the opportunity to learn about it later as they continue with their schooling. The good news is that there are a lot of different coding resources to help students learn. The bad news is that with all of these resources it’s hard to know where to begin. I found that Apple has released a series of Ebooks titled “Everyone Can Code” which seems like a manageable place to start. I’ll be learning along with the students and this curriculum starts slow and builds their skills. It also has a variety of fun characters and is designed in a video game style of learning.

Project Based Learning

I like to do this whenever I find it appropriate but by no means am I an expert on the topic. I find that it is easier to integrate in reading/writing, but I would like to be able to do this across all subject areas. I found an interesting blog written by a teacher and curriculum writer of 12 years. She goes into detail about the difference between a project and project based learning, which admittedly so I thought were the same thing. She then lays out clearly and concisely the steps a teacher can take in the planning process to incorporate project based learning in their classroom. What I found inspiring about this blog was that this was written from a teacher’s point of view. Often times project based learning is proposed by someone who is not incorporating it into the classroom. The theory and the execution are not always in line which has been a big source of discouragement for me in the past. Seeing it be done through the lens of a teacher gives me a better idea of how to incorporate it successfully in my classroom.