Wordcloud of every single COETAIL post.
In less than a month, I’ll be presenting my final COETAIL project. Eventually I’ll have something in the mail from SUNY Buffalo saying I have earned a Certificate of Educational Technology and Informational Literacy. So as this is my penultimate COETAIL post, I thought I’d share a little of the lot I learned this past 15 months.
- I’m a better teacher because of COETAIL.
- The more you know, the more you want to do. I’m a classic overachiever and with every new idea I learned in COETAIL, I wanted to try it in my class. This wasn’t always feasible and it didn’t always make sense. But my classes are better because I was willing to experiment. And there is still so much that I need to improve or try.
- On Twitter don’t just follow people who teach what you do. Don’t just read blogs of people who are the same as you. My teaching philosophy has shifted because I have read Clair Weston’s and Zoe Page’s blogs and sat in COETAIL with them. These incredible early years teachers, and dozens of other elementary teachers, have helped me understand what true inquiry looks like, both from the perspective of teachers and students. Thanks to COETAIL, I’ve widened my network and I’m a better person because of it.
- When, one day in the future, I decide to move on from my wonderful school, I will be hired because of what I have written on this blog. My CV will be secondary. And the person who hires me will know me and how I teach because they have read this blog. That will be a wonderful way to start a new job.
- I am a better teacher because I reflect about my learning. And I love that when I made a wordcloud of my entire blog, students were at the center of my reflections.
- Speaking of the wordcloud, the fact that ”learning”, “teaching”, “think” and “people” was discussed more than “technology” shows you what COETAIL is really about.
- I love showing my students my blog, because they know that I am practicing what I preach.
- I am worse than my students when it comes to procrastination. I apologize to the internet for flurry of posts you get when COETAIL is ending and I still have four posts to write. I really hope I can keep it up when there is no deadline hanging over my head.
- I appreciated having other YIS teachers in COETAIL with me. It was great having colleagues to talk about the big ideas and collaborate with. I also liked having teachers from other schools in the Tokyo area, because it meant I wasn’t working in a vacuum When you throw in the worldwide COETAIL community, it is an amazing community to learn with.
- I loved having the space and time to talk about pedagogy. I don’t know if I ever said the word pedagogy as much as I have since I started thinking about technology in the classroom. Being able to debate and talk and share ideas with other educators in an incredible opportunity. And everyone in the room was amazing. For the most techy to the least techy, everyone in COETAIL at YIS cared about kids. So thanks to Kim, and the instructors and everyone who read my blog. And major thanks to every participant. I learned something from everyone in there.
- If I was stopped on the street, I could actually tell you what COETAIL stands for. I’m quite proud of that.
- I’m not quite sure where I’m going to find better PD than COETAIL.
- Did I mention I’m a better teacher? What more can you ask for?
