Blog 11

I can see the many benefits that Excel has to offer in terms of student reports. However, I do not see myself using the application as others may. I have attempted to use Excel on multiple occasions and rarely am I able to use it correctly no matter how much time or effort I put into it. Data collection, on the other hand, I can see myself using when observing my students. Because I hope to teach middle school, observing behaviors will help me develop a more effective teaching style. This is more of a personal collection. Implementing surveys both at the beginning and end of the school year would also be something that I do to understand what worked and what didn't for the students.

The "flipped classroom" is the idea that we opt for core instruction to be taught at home, while homework is worked on in the classroom. This allows for students to work through the lecture at a pace comfortable for them and to work on assignments that they may need assistance with with their educators. Although the cons to this method of teaching are valid, I personally believe that the pros outweigh those. The idea of working with students during class time and allowing them to understand the lecture at their own ability creates an environment that caters to individuality in learning styles. Because this type of practice isn't forced, educators can decide whether or not they want to incorporate the practice into their lesson plan and go based off of trial and error. 

I think that learning how to use different types of videoconferencing platforms could be extremely beneficial in terms of the classroom. I personally am extremely quick to understand how to use these types of technologies. However, other individuals may not be and will face struggles if needing to use this method of teaching. Take for example, Zoom. Some faculty has struggled with the program and has spent precious classroom time on figuring out the logistics instead of teaching. There are also other benefits that come with this skill such as face-to-face connection outside of the classroom and accessibility to multiple platforms. 

What was most interesting to me about our instructor's blog post was the amount of time put into crediting all of our work from blog 6 to blog 10. Often times, educators can look to teach the information and stop there despite whether or not their students truly absorb it. Ray has managed to provide feedback, give positive reinforcement, and keep me engaged in classroom content. It gives me hope for educators both through the computer and in person and their attempts to create a classroom environment that "provides relevant content, clear learning goals and feedback, opportunities to build social skills, and strategies to help students succeed" (Weimer, 2009)

(I commented on Olivia and Morgan's blogs)