This is the End, The Light at the End of the Tunnel!

It has been a very long semester. Taking five classes can be very overwhelming and almost seem like it takes over your life. I have realized that I am capable of getting good grades and maintaining life outside of school. This class has made me stand on my toes for quite sometime. I have done things that I never thought I possibly could do or even remotely want to do. I made a twitter account and used it once before this class. I have really never even thought about blogging anything let alone take on an independent learning project. It is funny when you are forced to do something for a grade you become the assignment and run with it. I know that sounds crazy but it is true. You have to learn to embrace the assignment to get through the assignment.

I think the biggest challenge for me this semester has been the blogging. I love to write but I never have written anything for someone to read. I always write things and keep them locked away somewhere to really never look at them again. This has forced me to open up me feelings and opinions and have people comment and let me know exactly what they thought. That is also a scary part, the comments that people may say. Will they like it or will they hate it? Is it something that will strike their interest or is it something that they are just reading because they have too? These are questions that I may never know for sure but the comments I have received have all been very positive which has given me more of a confidence boost with my writing. I actually want to start writing about my grandma I just recently lost for my family to read. It will be a huge step for me. For this calls I have realized that my writing was really in no particular theme except for my independent learning project which was all recipes I baked. I have realized that my posts have changed from the first blog I ever wrote till now. I have become more open and letting people embrace the knowledge and opinion that I have. I feel that they have gotten stronger in the long run as well. I mean someone else may beg to differ about my writing but I know what is right and I feel I have gotten to be a stronger writer and actually started respecting my work.

I know they say a writers work is never really done, which I can see to be true. You will always want to make changes or add things or even take out things that you really shouldn’t have put into the blog into he first place. As I was going over my blogs and rereading my work I realize that there are so many things I would have changed or added or even taken out of some of my blogs. I think looking back now that I have more time I realize I might have been rushed or in a hurry and just got the blog done. If I were to do this again I would take my time and make sure everything I wanted in my blog was in there and things I didn’t want in there weren’t there. So I guess the saying really is true a writers work is never really done. there will always be changes I want to make but sometimes I just need to go with the flow and let it be.

There are definitely things in my blog that I will revisit in my future years in becoming a teacher and once I make it. They are great tools that I could use in my classroom and better my classroom not for just me but my future students as well. Some of the things I plan on taking with me is the digital tools and even comics. I think this generation of students would love things like this in their classroom. I also like the use of the TED talks. There are so man of them and I can find many of them to use in lesson plans or even just for fun. I also like the digital ‘ we had to do but still trying to figure out to use those in the classroom. They would probably have to be for middle school students because I am not sure how well they would work in the elementary school children. I do want to make it a goal to use more technology in my future classroom. I think that technology appeals to the students now days and it is a way to keep their interest when learning. Other things that I noticed this semester is that each class I take some how ties into the next class. I used things I learned in this class to complete assignments. I have also learned and used things from other classes into this class. It’s funny how the academic world works like that.

I am not sure that the value I learned from blogs shows up in my writing but I have come to value the blog posts every week. Just like I said in earlier paragraphs everything we have done has been very beneficial to me and will be something that I carry on as I finish this last year of school. I also think that the daily creates have been helpful in letting my inner artist come out. At first all I could do was find myself frustrated that I would  have to do something daily and sometimes find it not worth my time but there were things that I loved doing and loved being able to test my skills. I have always though of my self somewhat creative but doing this daily create has reassured me that I can be very artistic and it is worth showing people. I have also found a new-found love for independent learning projects. They do not have to be based on educational things but they can be used to learn such things as patience, understanding and even skills that we will need in life. This is something that I would want to try in my future classroom. I learned so much about myself. I learned that I am a good cook and a good baker. I also learned that I can do anything I set my mind too. I think it would be a great idea if the student could pick their independent learning project within reason and actually do it for a month or even longer. I also think they would learn things about themselves that they didn’t know before.

There is always a light at the end of the tunnel and that is how I feel about this semester. Taking five classes, being a wife and a full-time mom is exhausting. I have learned so much from this semester but so glad that I have reached my light. I will take away so many things from this semester and this class in particular. So here is to the next year and graduation. Also I plan to take everything I have learned and use it as much as I can.