EDU695: MAED Capstone Class Introduction

 Hello. My name is Vaughn Platt and I taught Special Education (middle school World Culture and America's Past) in Baltimore, MD. I worked within the Adapted Learning Supports area in SPED. I currently teach ABE at the Baltimore County Detention Center.

 I have been teaching for 15 years. I have taught in NC, NJ and now MD. My hometown is Paterson, NJ. I went to school at a Historically Black College in NC where I earned my BA in Elementary Education.

 I'm a big sports fan. Go Knicks and Packers. I have two sons. One is 24 and the other is 7 years old. My hobbies include reading murder mystery, sports and fishing with my boys.

 The MAED program has allowed me grow as an educator. The program has taught me the value of developing your PLC and accessing a network of colleagues that share your values, vision and educational beliefs.

 The program also has provided me with the framework for potentially developing an online course based on the latest research and pedagogy methodology. I have learned the best practices in facilitating on online class.

 In a previous class we explored the value of just in time training. The concept was entirely new to me. I had never heard of it before. I just assumed it was simply training via workshops and conferences held in meeting rooms. That was a totally incorrect assumption.

 I guess you can call it a challenge because I was in new territory. Everything up to this point was classroom based and I could relate because of my prior experience.

 This was first foray into actual instructional design. It was quite challenging but a great professor that provided sound guidance, class mates with my same passion and my own personal desire, I was able to persevere.

 I was force to shifted my PLN toward instructional design instead of just instruction and use their insights and knowledge to further my knowledge based.

 I followed certain blogs, twitter accounts and instructional design web sites. By taking the course, I developed a deeper understanding of the theory behind the learning environment in which I plan on teach in.

 In the 21th century, educators at all levels must give students the proper tools that will allow them to discover the joy of learning and the ability to find meaning in a world that has unlimited sources of information.