Final Blog Reflection

During this semester in IT365, I have learned so many new ways to incorporate technology into my life, as well as ways to incorporate technology into my future classroom. I feel that I am leaving this course with more confidence in being able to assist any and all types of students that I will have in the future.

My strongest point in this course was of course, the blog. Because I was very familiar with blogging technology (I created and continue to maintain my own cooking blog), I was confident that I was doing well on that part of the class. However, I didn’t expect to be so successful with creating my own website, but I surprised myself and It ended up being another one of my strong points in this course. I had never considered using a classroom website before, but after having a positive experience with it, I am certain that I will create and maintain a classroom website for my future students and their parents.

My weakest point in this course, surprisingly, was using the “Ease Of Access” features on Windows. Perhaps because it was not familiar to me, I struggled trying to understand how to turn them on and off, and when they were on I couldn’t use them successfully. I do plan to use those features (when I can figure out how to get them on) more often in the future so that if and when I have a student that needs those tools in the future, I will be available to assist them should they need help.

In order to help myself improve when using technology, I plan to return to school after achieving my bachelor’s degree and take more technology courses. I feel that having a strong background in technology is a great idea for teachers, especially because technology is being incorporated into the curriculums more and more.

I plan on incorporating technology frequently in my future classroom. I plan to use Blogging as a type of portfolio in my future classroom. Having the students post journal entries on a blog versus in a notebook can be more beneficial in my opinion. Also, It would give them the chance to keep it forever as a way to see their growth! I also plan to use Ipads and tablets in my classroom for struggling students that need extra help in areas.

All in all, I feel that this course has been extremely beneficial to me as a future educator. I now have all of the tools and resources I need in order to run a successful classroom that integrates technology into it!

Reflection: Assistive Technology Assignment

This week our assignment was to pretend that we had students that needed assistive technology and we were told to adapt to those students' needs. When the assignment was first given, I was very nervous about using assistive technology and thought it was something that I would have to download. Imagine my surprise to see that it was built into Windows and was available all along!

For example, on one section of the assignment we were required to adapt to a child who was a low vision computer user. This meant we needed to change the settings to a high contrast setting.

We also used the magnifier, toggle keys, on-screen keyboard, and several other accessibility options.

I found this assignment very interesting and I feel that this will be the most beneficial lesson in my future as an elementary teacher. I feel this because this lesson has taught me how to accomodate my future students, however the need to be acommodated.

This lesson goes in hand with NETS-T Standard #4, Objective b.

Reflection: Google Sites

This week our assignment in class was to use Google Sites to create a classroom website.

Being the type of person who is "afraid" to explore technology, I had absolutely no idea that Google Sites even existed. I was shocked to learn how easy it was to create a website...I finished mine in less than an hour! I named my website "Mrs. Faye's Classroom Corner" and had a blast decorating it with school themed clip-art.

Here is a screenshot of my homepage:

 I found this technology so simple and so fun! Using Google Sites, or any website creator for that matter, is a GREAT way to stay connected with students, parents, and even other co-workers. I would use my site as a way to display important events in my classroom so that there is never any question as to what is going on. I will be creating a classroom website!

This assignment is an example of NETS-T standard 3, objectives B and C.

Reflection: Windows Movie Maker

For our sixth assignment, we were instructed to make a short movie using Microsoft Movie Maker.
I had never used Movie Maker before; however, I found it to be extremely user friendly.  I think Movie Maker would be an excellent tool to use in the classroom to document the year.

This assignment relates to NETS-T Standard 2.C.

Reflection: Google Groups

For our fifth assignment, our class divided into groups in order to create a story on Google Groups.

Google Groups resembles both a word processing document and a discussion board.  When logged in, anyone in the group can contribute to the project instantly and in real time...NO WAITING! Whatever the person types, everyone in the group sees the words as they are being typed, also.  This allows members to work together no matter where they are.

Our assignment was to create a story using Google Groups, topic of our choice, one paragraph at a time. We chose to make our story about a family party,and it was very neat watching our ideas unfold in front of each others eyes. I included a screen shot of our story below:

I feel that Google Groups would be a great resource for any teacher. It could be used to allow students to build writing skills while working in groups.

This activity relates to NETS-T standard #2, objective A.

Reflection: Web Tools

For our third assignment, our class completed a web tools assignment.  In this assignment, we were prompted to use different web tools to aid us in planning teaching resources for a topic of our choice. ( I chose The Solar System as my topic. ) 

For example, the first part of our web tools assignment required us to use RubiStar to create a grading rubric.  I pretended that my “students” were making a Solar System board game, so my rubric was created for that purpose. 

Here is a screenshot of my rubric:

I loved how easy to use RubiStar was, and I most certainly plan on using it in the future!

Our next step in the web tools assignment was to create an online quiz.  In order to do this, we used a site called Classmarker. This site was very easy to use, and did I mention that it was free? In no time at all, I was able to easily create a ten question quiz with multiple choice, true/false, and even short answer questions on it for my Solar System lesson!

The next step in the web tools assignment was to create an online worksheet using the ABCTeach site.  The site has a multitude of pre-created worksheets in various subjects and topics, ready to use and once again, FREE! This is a must-have resource for all future and current educators.

Our last step in the web tools assignment, but certainly not the least important, was to create an online puzzle for our topic.  As a class, we used the site Puzzlemaker to create a variety of customized word searches, crosswords, and even math puzzles.

 I included a screenshot of what my completed puzzle looked like:

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this lesson on Web Tools. Each and every website that we utilized will be very helpful in the future when we all have our own classrooms.  

This assignment is a great example of Nets Standard #3, also!