EDSS 531 Reflective Paper

Reflective Paper for EDSS 531

                Looking back at my courses this semester I feel I gained the most learning from my introduction to the teacher collaboration that happens on the web.  We learned about ITUs and how to collaborate our lessons together, and create electronic representations of our hard work.  What excites me the most though is the fact that now someone else could stumble upon it on the web and be able to use it in their own practices, giving me the chance to reach out to students I will never even meet, but because of my website will have an impact on their learning as well.  In the past I knew of a few sites that had resources for physical education, which I used when I needed something, but rarely contributed my own thoughts.  I knew of forums and blogs, but never took the time to explore their potential.  This semester finally made me take that step into the educational digital world I needed.  With course schedule changes, all of a sudden I had free time to explore all the physical education venues I never before had time to browse through.  The best part was that I was provided with different venues that would lead me to find new material outside of Google.  Twitter, a site that was of great annoyance to me before, became a gateway for me to communicate with others about teaching and find resources about teaching.  The same with Diigo, Blogger, Pinterest, and Evernote.  These sites became more than just recreational use to me.  I learned how I could use these sites with a professional perspective.  Not only was all these new resources presented to me so that I can continue to utilize outside of my clinical practice, but I realized I could contribute to it as well.  In the past I used specific sites to better my own planning, but now, even as a new teacher, I find myself posting information that I want others to know.  I am becoming involved in a way that will not only benefit just my students but others as well by spreading ideas with their teachers.  The idea is so exciting!  The best part of all this is that it will not end on June 7^th when I finish my clinical practice.  This is a resource and a tool I can access at any point during my career and it will never be outdated but continually updated.