Final Reflection

I have learned an incredible amount of information in this class, and I am looking forward to taking that information into a classroom. I was extremely apprehensive at the beginning of the course, and I would go as far as to say I was even dreading it because I thought I would fall so far behind. The pace of the class allowed me to keep up and actually learn how to use technology. I now not only feel that I can use technology without it being a struggle, but I am confident that I can use it to effectively enhance the learning of my students. I expected to learn a lot because I knew so little to begin with, but I learned far more than I ever imagined within these few months. I am still in shock that I know how to use blogs and wikis and how to create websites and use other web tools. My favorite part of the class was learning about the different web 2.0 tools. The course design was brilliant to allow us to learn about a variety of tools. Of course there are some tools that I will forget about, but there are others that I will use without a doubt in the future. I am extremely excited because I believe that having this knowledge will be beneficial in both my professional and personal life. I plan on incorporating technology into the classroom any way that I can. I hope I will be able to engage my students and relate to them better with this knowledge. I have thoroughly enjoyed this course, and I cannot wait to put what I have learned into practice!

My iMovie

iMovie

When we were first introduced to iMovie, I was extremely intimidated. The project seemed daunting, and it took me awhile to get started. I carefully tiptoed around the project for some time before diving in. I have a PC so I was unfamiliar with iMovie. Once I jumped in and started really learning how to use the tool, I loved it. My movie took awhile to create because I was discovering all of the different effects. Now that I have used iMovie, I think that I will be able to use it with ease in the future. I also think that digital stories are incredibly useful in the classroom. Kids need to be engaged, and a movie to introduce a lesson is a perfect way to do that! A majority of students use technology for a significant amount of time every day, and I want to be able to speak to my students in their own language. I am thrilled to have learned about digital stories, and I will use them often in the classroom as well as outside of the classroom.

Spreadsheets

Before working on this spreadsheet project, I was not too familiar with Microsoft Excel. I just associated it with math and science, charts and tables. I had no idea that it could be used in a classroom as an interactive spreadsheet for any subject matter. It took me a little while to pick up on, but I will definitely use what I have learned through this in my future classroom. Interactive spreadsheets can be used in so many ways, from practice for students to measures of assessment. Here is a screen shot of the spreadsheet I created for students to identify verbs, nouns, and adjectives.

Animoto

Stephen and I presented on Animoto last Thursday. I feel lucky to have had Animoto as the tool that I presented on and learned about more thoroughly because it is unique and different from the other tools. I think back to how excited I was when I first discovered it. I made a variety of videos that I sent to my family. I thought it was so cool that what I was learning in class could be beneficial outside of class and outside of a teaching setting. I sometimes became frustrated in trying to narrow my pictures down in order to fit them into a 30 second video, but it is still a great tool!

Animoto can also be useful in the classroom. We made a video on the special olympics, so Animoto could be used to document and share field trips or special class events. It could also be used for instruction. A video could be made and used as a snapshot at the beginning of class to engage students and prepare them for what the lesson is going to be about. Animoto could be used in a number of other ways in the classroom as well!

Google Forms

Out of all the tools we have learned about so far, I have favorites. And Google Forms is one of them! Google Forms has obvious uses for the classroom. Teachers can quickly and easily create quizzes or surveys. Not only is it easy to create these quizzes or surveys because of the guiding structure and many options of Google Forms, but it is easy to assess them as well. I love the way that Google Forms organizes and provides the data for easy-to-read results. This tool can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used for parent surveys, for classroom quizzes, and students can even use Google Forms to create their own surveys or quizzes. I am very excited about Google Forms, and I will use it frequently in my classroom!

Inspiration

Inspiration is a tool that I think would be extremely useful for the classroom. The benefits for both teachers and students are numerous. I found Inspiration easy to use once I got the hang of it. I love that it is so easy to create graphic organizers that are clean and colorful and that text and notes can be added. My favorite aspect is that an outline can also be printed from the organizer for students who learn in different ways. For my project, I created an organizer on safety signs based on a standard from the Tennessee alternative standards. This will definitely not be the last time I use Inspiration!

Wordle and Tagxedo

I enjoyed learning about Wordle and Tagxedo in class last week. Again, these are two tools that I had never heard of and had no idea that they existed. At first, I was hesitant with the tools and did not really see the purpose. As I experimented with them more, I grew to like them. I now see how extremely useful they could both be in the classroom. Not only could Wordle and Tagxedo be used to spice up the classroom when used throughout the room for various postings such as classroom rules, but they could also be used for a number of instructional purposes relating to a specific person, subject, or term. I also like the idea of having students make clouds that describe themselves for a beginning of the year activity. Although the two tools are very similar, they do have differences. I like the aspects of Tagxedo that allows the user to create shapes and search terms in the news.

Twitter and Delicious

I was completely against using Twitter until about a year ago. It sounded simple and pointless to me. Why would I want to know in 140 characters or less what a friend was doing, and why would anyone want to know what I was doing? I thought I could use a phone to find those things out, or even facebook. But I gave in and opened an account. I was quickly proven wrong. I discovered that I could keep up not only with friends but with sports and other topics. My relationships grew because I knew what my friends and family were doing when a phone call would have been too much. I now love Twitter, and I believe that it could be especially useful in the classroom. I will encourage my students to use it and follow one another. Twitter would be perfect for students to request last minute information from each other regarding tests or projects. Another tool I learned about for the first time last week was Delicious. It seems complicated to me now, but if I explore a little more I think I will find it very useful. Delicious will be great for projects in which the students are required to begin the project at school and finish at home.