Final Post

When I chose this class for my summer course and elective, I hoped that it would be one of the best courses I'd ever taken.  There was a nagging thought in the back of my mind though, worried that there wouldn't be any new information on engaging learners offered.  I am so glad that my hopes were fulfilled and there has been a great deal of information, ideas, and resources offered.  I love that the course was set up in a way that required each student to explore and share so that each of us benefitted from the work of others.  I have really enjoyed all of the ideas, resources, and connections that I have gained from this course.

The greatest way that this course will impact my teaching in the future is because of the wealth of resources I have gained through the course.  I am very excited about the Khan Academy and the opportunity to use the lessons as another perspective, or way of teaching, for students who are struggling.  In addition, I think it could be a great enrichment tool for higher level students.  I also have plans to try to implement some flipped classroom activities; this will depend largely on the student demographic I have this year and their access to internet at home.  This could also be a great way to offer differentiation for all types of learners.

The development of the service learning project and unit plan has also been a great experience for me.  Next year will be my first year focusing on social studies, and the development of these two projects has really sparked my interest and excitement about all of the resources available out there.  I used to think that there wouldn't be many fun, interactive activities in the social studies area, but I have found many terrific resources that I look forward to using in my classroom.

Finally, I feel that my text for the course, "40Active Learning Stratgies for the Inclusive Classroom," will be an amazing resource for me throughout the school years to come.  The activities included in this book offer great ways to engage all students in classroom activities.  There are suggestions for implementation of the activities into different content areas and for students with special needs.  I used the book several times in my unit plan and feel that it will be extremely useful in my planning for both math and social studies next year.

Green, L. S., & Casale-Giannola, D. (2011) 40 active learning strategies for the inclusive classroom. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin.