Thing 22

I think there is an 80% chance that I would take on a self-paced class or two through Michigan LearnPort over the summer. It depends on my plans for the summer. I'm in the process of applying to UT for my Master's, and if I start taking classes there then I'm not sure if I would have the extra time. Also, if I do not receive PD hours for them then I might not be as motivated to take them (just being honest). I didn't catch if I'd earn PD hours for those or not...I would assume so. The grant writing and creative classroom ones looked interesting. It's clear just by looking at the offerings that technology is being emphasized.

The advantages to online PD would be you can pace the class yourself and take it from the convenience of home (much like this class). The fact that they're free is an advantage, and earning PD hours would also be an advantage. Disadvantage- no face-to-face contact for discussion, but if you blog in discussion, you're still exchanging quality information. As with any online class, you might run into technical difficulties along the way which may cause frustration. Overall, there would be more advantages than disadvantages.

I guess I would like to see more curriculum-specific PD opportunities to take what I've learned and be able to use it in my classes right away. We recently had a speaker talk about restructuring the classroom and rethinking assessment procedures. The idea was great, but I would have liked to have been walked through what that process would look like and told the steps I could take to implement those practices in my own classroom.

Overall, I've liked my experience with this class. I've found the content useful in both my personal and professional life and I'm glad we've learned things (no pun intended) that we can apply to the classroom right away. I also liked how the 12 Things focused on continued professional development with other fellow teachers. I had very few technological issues, and thought the information was user-friendly. I really like that I have a whole slew of sources to refer back to and projects that I can continue to improve upon, such as my wikispaces page.