|
ELL's & Tech Urena Home Learn More Inspiration About the Author |
About the Author
I believe that I have always wanted to be in a career that involved working with the youth in my community. But honestly, never did I think that I would be teaching, and even less teaching math. As a student, I was once labeled an English Language Learner. Going into kindergarten I didn’t know any English. I struggled but Mr. Morales supported me through kindergarten and first grade. He cared for his students and that is something that I never forgot and what motivated me to become a teacher. That is where my passion for teaching came up as I volunteered as a tutor at high school programs and did private tutoring as well. Now that I am in my third year teaching, I have been lucky to land my dream job of working with youth that are part of the same community that I grew up in. I had great teachers that showed that they cared about their students and that is my philosophy behind my teaching practice. To be a teacher that cares about my students and that I can provide them the best education I can give them. Colleagues around me introduced the Innovative Learning program to me as they were once students of this program. After doing my research on it I knew that this program would allow me to grow as a professional but most importantly it would help me better prepare my students for my math class but notably for life after high school like college or the work field.
Moving Forward
I was encouraged by colleagues to join the Innovative Learning program at Touro University knowing that I would learn new ways of making my classroom a better learning environment for all of my students. I am in my third year teaching, therefore colleagues and I knew that I was excited to explore new instructional design models to provide equitable access in the classroom. So far the program has been able to assist me in considering the educational background of my students and how the technology that I am slowly integrating into my lesson plans can help academic achievement within the classroom. TPACK, ARCS, Dervin's model of sense-making are just some of the instructional design models that I have been using so far as I create lesson plans. Of course, I am just beginning in working around these models. I have a longs way to go, but my students keep motivating me in making sure that I am providing them with the best learning experience that I can possibly give them. I believe that every student that walks into my classroom should have the same opportunity to learn the math content and build 21st century skills as any other student at my campus and in our community. Their educational background should not be a reason to exclude opportunities but instead it should be embraced and be used as an influence to develop instruction.
|
Follow my journey through the blogging I did with my cohort members during the Innovative Learning program at Touro University by clicking the image to the left.
|
Reflections on My Journey |
Lasting Learning from the Innovative Learning program |
|
As I look back at my experience in the Innovative Learning program, I now have a better idea of how to use instructional design models like TPACK, ARCS, SAMR or Dervin's sense making model to create lesson plans or projects that are student driven. I had never explored concepts like the ones mentioned. But as I did small projects and experimented with them in my classroom they were a little easier to use. I was able to better understand my students with assignments like the SITE model. This allowed me to see my students as learners and how I can better support them. There will be new students each school year so getting to know my students and what tools will work for them will be challenging. But thanks to all the models and tools I have been exposed to, this will be a more approachable task.
|
One of the biggest things that I will be taking with me is being able to feel more comfortable in incorporating technology in my classroom. More specifically, incorporating technology that will better prepare students to the ever changing technological world we live in. That means that we, teachers, have to be able and willing to evolve our teaching practices to support our students. The process of conducting an action research study in the program, has given me a good foundation on how I can conduct another study in the future when implementing new teaching practices, tools or content in my classroom. And finally, keeping an open mind to other teacher's ideas is a powerful trait one can have as it allows for doors to open and make your classroom a great learning environment for students.
|