Week+5

=Week 5 - What a Week!! = As this course draws to a close, I would like to say that this has been, by far, my favorite course of the entire program. I am trying to keep all the information that I’ve learned in this course organized in order to use it for sharing with the teachers at my campus. However, there is so much that I want to include, it may be hard to narrow it down enough to keep it from becoming overwhelming to others. I am very passionate about the subject of integrating technology, mainly because once you are able to see the benefits for those “hard to reach, hard to teach” students, it just doesn’t make sense NOT to be excited about the possibilities that technology provides.

I was once again inspired by the videos this week, as well as the readings. It seemed like every week, I would watch the videos and get excited about what others are doing in the classroom with technology and I would simply be amazed by their creativity. I’m making sure that I’m saving those links of those videos that truly inspired me so that I can go back and watch them again. This week’s reading from our book, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, focused on reinforcing students’ understanding that effort is //usually// in direct correlation with achievement. My students that believe they won’t be successful, that they CAN’T be successful, are more difficult to teach because they already believe they are going to fail and they lack the motivation to change that self-fulfilling prophecy. My heart belongs to those students! I was one of those students at one time. Not many know or could guess my difficult history, simply because of where I am today. I was the first person in my family to ever attempt, much less complete, college. Now, I’m continuing my education with this Lamar program. I’m not sure when, but at some point, I decided to CHANGE. With God’s direction, I changed my future because I wanted to do something else and be someone that could help those around me. I want to help students’ to be able to do the same.