In reflecting on this class and developing my course module, I am extremely proud and excited about what I have accomplished. It’s been a quick and wonderful semester. I’ve learned a lot along the way, and I’m anxious to put my knowledge to use in my classroom in the fall. Teaching a new grade level can be challenging, but having resources like a blended ELA class can be tremendously beneficial. I’m hoping that my module will meet the different demands of my students. As we learned about different topics through lectures, literature, and our peers, this module took hours upon hours of modifying and adding in more elements.

It was an honour to be placed in a breakout room with Miranda, Durston, Kate-lynn, and Navneet to obtain peer feedback on my module prior to submission. This breakout room was a breath of fresh air because we all had various viewpoints and approaches to our course module project. I received a lot of favorable feedback on the arrangement of my layout when I presented my course module to my group. I am grateful for this because I had various doubts along the way. 

My group also provided me with various suggestions for additions to my course module. Miranda and I talked about how disappointing it is that Google Classroom does not have a decent system in place for goal/outcome sharing with students. Miranda came up with the concept of including a “Big Ideas” section under each topic title to offer student-friendly outcomes and questions for deeper understanding with my students. I adore this concept and have incorporated it into my course module. Another simple and enjoyable suggestion Kate had was to incorporate emojis into topic titles. This adds another visual tool for students and may make it easier for them to find specific topics within Google Classroom. Like Kate’s suggestion to include emojis in the topic titles, there are various components of my module that I would never have considered before this class. 

Accessibility, equality, and building a sense of community in an online class are all things I’ve never considered before. Taking EC&I 834 expanded my understanding of online education and allowed me to better meet the requirements of all students. I am excited not just to construct my course module and test it with students, but also to see how my module develops. Moving forward, I intend to expand my module to include a whole school year of grade 5 ELA blended learning. I intend to expand on each of the themes for which I have already given headings in the future. As I expand my blended ELA class, I recognize and accept that there will be adaptations and changes along the road. Many of our teaching approaches, I feel, are trial and error, which only makes us better educators in the end as we grow and change lessons as needed to make them better.

Please let me know your thoughts about my course module!