"Simply, you can never get enough"

I have the habit of doing two things since I was little; when I am about to start doing a new thing (a new semester at school, a new job or even going on a trip) I always jump to the moment when this thing will come to an end (in my imagination of course). The second is that when I accomplish an achievement or finish doing anything, such as the examples mentioned above, I always go back to the moment where all started. This makes me realize my success before it really happens. Thus, I have the determination required to thrive and rise to prominence. So, when I look back, I tell myself "See, you can always make it. Just keep on having faith in your powers, enthusiasm, determination and strengths as usual"

Going back to my first blog was actually a funny moment. I was very excited back then that I managed technology to create my blog. Then, there is a sentence that read "I am excited to know about Different models of educators". I actually laughed when I saw this sentence. What is "Models of educators"? I didn’t get the expression right.

Approaching the end, I now know that there are different models of educators' professional development. I have now ample information on teacher education programs, mentoring, assessment, diversity, social justice, reflection and technology in education.

Going through the 1o blogs I wrote over the semester, I noticed that my development showed in my reflection; subconsciously. Every time I started a new blog, I wasn’t thinking that "Now, I will write about my second improvement, or I will now pinpoint my development". No, it just happened smoothly and naturally.

When I was reading articles for my final individual research report (which tackled practicum), I came across many studies that talked about reflection as a self-assessment tool for student teachers. To keep track of their progress during practicum (their practical teaching experience before becoming in-service teachers), student teachers, in many programs, were asked to keep journals of their daily practices. Then, when half of the practicum period is over, they go back to their journals so they can identify the strengths and weaknesses of their teaching practices. Accordingly, they will be able to continue the second half of the practicum duration improving and developing skills to reach a certain level of proficiency. This approach tends to achieve the equation of developing long-life self-learners. So, when student become in-service, full-time teachers, and when they encounter real-life situations and teach a diverse group of students, they will have the ability to develop themselves and don’t rely entirely on their mentors or supervisors (if they had the chance).

 I believe that the blog experience is pretty much a similar experience. I kept writing my entries weekly trying to stimulate my mindset to think critically, creatively and thoughtfully. We live in a busy, fast-paced world where we might forget about things we have done, in the process. I am a keeper. I read my blogs and felt proud of my-self, proud of the amount of information I have acquired and invited into my mind for 4 months. The more knowledge I have, the more doors open in my mind and more empowered woman I become. I feel, yet; more humbled because I realize that the more I swim towards the ocean of knowledge, the more I have to swim harder to reach it. Simply, you can never get enough!