SSED Final Blog Reflection

     Throughout this semester, I have had the opportunity to grow as a student through the process of blogging.  Honestly, this process has been one of the best reflection methods for me thus far!  I love to talk and I love to write, so why wouldn't I want to talk/write about what I am learning and how I am growing as a teacher candidate each week?!  I understand that everyone has different processes of reflecting (Trust me, I can tell you all about differentiating!), but for me, this was the best way to get my thoughts flowing.  It honestly was a process that just came natural for me.
     My favorite part about Social Studies methods was that we were always given different ways to learn and to show our learning.  While blogging was my favorite form of reflecting on learning and connecting my outside experiences to professional teaching standards, I know that others in the class probably preferred other methods such as recording the Tweet of the Week Videos.  This class gave us the opportunity to try many methods of learning, and I am appreciative that Dr. Parker embraced our diversity and planned the class to where a diverse population of students had the opportunity to thrive in different areas.  This gave us a great example of how educators facilitate learning for a diverse population of students.
     I was also challenged more than ever to reflect on my practice through this class, as an educator should, and blogging was one of the places that I did that the most.  One thing that I have always really struggled with as a student has been taking time to reflect on my practice.  I was always one to briefly read over something (in other words put too much faith in my writing skills) and click submit.  This class as a whole has taught me the importance of reflecting on things I have learned and the products of learning that I am required to submit.  Blogging in particular has been a part of my week where I must force my self to sit down and think, "What have I actually learned this week?" and "How will that knowledge or those skills be beneficial in my future classroom?" It has really been a way to help me get some of my thoughts from the week organized in my brain.
     If I was to blog for a class again, I would give it more time by blogging a bit throughout the week and then adding to the post as the week progressed.  I found that throughout the week I learned many things and had many effective experiences, but by the time I sat down to write about it all at once, I had trouble remembering everything that had happened.  If I blogged again, I would probably jot down a paragraph here and there so that I didn't forget the things like the great advice I got from my CE or the funny story that I learned a lot from in the classroom that day.
   The main lesson that I plan to take with me for years to come, is the idea that it is good to sit down,  discuss with myself (really think about) what I have learned, and organize all those thoughts in some way.  For social studies methods my way of organizing my thoughts was through blogging.  However, my goal as I finish out college and begin teaching is to take this idea of deep reflection and information organization with me.  That may look like recreational blogging in the future, or it may be a simple "take five" to reflect on what has happened the past few days.  I would say that in the future, my goal is to continue to reflect on my practice about every two or three days in order to keep my brain well organized and functioning as it should!