Wednesday Night First Night Fever

On the very first of night of my very first master's class in the very first hour, I was faced with my biggest nemesis.............Names. I re-learned that I can't remember names right away and it is just my personal flaw.

Besides that stress, I was able to take in quite a bit from the introduction to the coursework that is going to be involved over the next 5 semesters. I quickly learned that this course is going to help me a lot within the classroom. We began by explaining the need for connecting the use of the tool of technology with the lesson that we have planned. Not just to enhance the lesson, but to have the students connect to the lesson with a sort of emotion rather than being told the facts. The term 'affordance' popped out a number of times and it wasn't a term I was familiar with. It basically was saying that I didn't have to use the latest and greatest technology. My goal should be to have my objective and goal for that lesson like usual. However, to approach the subject using the tool that was going to produce quality work with the time constraints of the day.
Another good re-learn for me that we had touched on during this session was the approaches we were currently using in our practice in the classroom. I personally used some of these tools, but had forgotten that they were actual tools. They included, chunking, pneumonics, rhythm, visualization, and repetition. It really helped to hear these words again for the fact of getting so lost into taking the content to new levels with each new generation of children that I tend to never take time to reflect on the roots of where these teaching tools came from.
All of these ideas, strategies, and tools are going to be perfect for enhancing my teaching. To know that we are not just working on technology, but that we are working on quality teaching practice makes me feel even better about the course work that lies ahead. I can't wait to take these things into the classroom and make them part of my teachings and passing some of my personal best practices on to other teachers.