The blog I created at the beginning of this semester has been a true learning experience and has evolved into a skill that I can take with me as a student and as a teacher. I found that although there were many important words to discuss or define during the course readings, I was drawn more to the words that I could connect to my own teaching experiences. I have even included some of the words that my students came across in their classes. Much of my reading has been concentrated on assigned readings for the classes in which I am enrolled. I have pulled vocabulary mostly from those readings because of the number of vocabulary that is important for me to know and use in my everyday teaching. Looking back on my blog, I am impressed at how much I have learned and used in my own classroom. I have even found a way to incorporate some aspects of this blog activity into my classroom. Instead of having each student do an individual blog, our class has a vocabulary blog that we are using to identify words within our reading that pertain to our inequality unit. The blog that I have written this semester has been a great model for word learning that I can now use in my own classroom.
As a word learner, I have gained a tremendous amount of understanding of how much one word can influence learning. There are many words that I chose to include in my blog that are very common, but I never have had a great definition for the word. This blog helped me to focus on the vocabulary and come up with a meaningful definition. The vocabulary that I chose were never difficult words, however they were all pertinent to my teaching, reading, and understanding of key concepts. Keeping the blog as an ongoing process has allowed me to look back on my learning and reflect on the importance of specific readings, especially during the weeks that I pulled four to six words from the reading. I also learned a new skill during and after the reading process. I realized the importance of stopping and examining the vocabulary to enhance my understanding of the reading or the concept during reading. Then after reading, going back and using vocabulary to summarize the material to integrate the concepts into my teaching. Having a place to write these ideas or thoughts down and keep a record of them is an important part of the learning process. By using the blog as a way of writing to learn, I was able to organize my thoughts and provide a professional record of my learning throughout the semester.
While taking the vocabulary tests was not one my favorite activities, I did recognize that it helped me to be accountable for my own learning. Because the vocabulary words were not only my words, it required me to read my peers blogs and be more involved in their learning process as well. Reading the blogs of my peers each week gave me a greater understanding of the text or what was happening in their lives. Since the beginning of the semester, I was anxious during each vocabulary test, however, because it was of words of my choice and my peers’ choice, it was a more meaningful test and therefore caused less anxiety. I now understand the importance of giving students choice for vocabulary tests in order to make them more meaningful.
The most important skill I learned and will take with me is finding meaningful ways to keep track of vocabulary and learning. Although I will not be creating a blog for each of my classes or books that I read, I will be finding other ways to professionally record my learning and understanding.
