Timeline

I just wanted to comment on the last Sunday of class. Some of the things from people's scavenger hunts were really funny and interesting. I thought the guy dunking the cell phone in the glass of water was the best. I started thinking about all of the sites that we've been introduced to in this class. The volume has been huge, and at least for me, it's been hectic, but I do think that later on I'll want to go back and re-visit much of this stuff in a more relaxed time frame.

Tech class

First, I must admit this was probably one of the most challenging classes I've taken. I thought I was fairly up-to-date on technology, but I guess "you don't know what you don't know"... Despite the challenges, I most enjoyed the variety of tasks and assignments. I feel I learned technology uses as an aspiring administrator, current classroom teacher, and also for my own personal use. After each class session, I excitedly shared some of my new technology experiences with colleagues I knew would be interested and would try some things out. I commit to continued professional development in technology so that I can support my future staff (if I end up an administrator before I retire!)

Using some of the new tools

Even down to the last minute of class, we were seeing new tools which we can use. I was able to put several of the tools to use, and also provide some of the tools to others in my buildings. I am planning to use a few of them in the future, and hopefully the teachers will see that if I can use the tech, then just about anybody should be able to. :) I think that as a future instructional leader, if I expect staff to use technology, I should have a working relationship with it myself. I do not like being at the complete mercy of the technology department, when with a little practice, I can navigate most of the tools. Most sites have support, and Youtube has tutorials for everything.

Thank you everyone for a good class.

Course Reflection

As this course is ending I have a huge amount of resource to use that I never had before.  I am excited to share this with the staff at my middle school this Wednesday.  Not only have the resources allowed me to gain access for education in a much easier way, but also challenged me to challenge my students with technology.  Great course and looking forward to using the tools!!

Last Class!!

Overall, I felt this class was very beneficial.  I have learned so much more about using technology in the classroom that I didn't know before.  It was fun to be able to navigate the internet during class and generate new ideas for how I can implement some of these sites into my classroom instruction.  I also feel my Excel abilities have improved, but I wish we would have had a few more of those assignments for extra practice.  I look forward to becoming an administrator someday and encouraging my staff to implement as much technology as possible into their everyday instruction.

Scanners and such

I too was fastinated with much of the things that we were introduced to in the past few weeks. The problem for me continues to be the fact that I had absolutely no prior experience with ANY of these new toys. I thought the scanners were absolutely amazing, but aside from being able to check the price of something at Walmart rather than asking someone in a blue vest, I'm not sure what else I'd use that for. I must confess that today at school I tore up my room looking for items to scan. The kids thought I was a little too excited about that but whatever. The thing is, in my lifetime, when new inventions came around, there was usually an adjustment period of some kind. Unless I'm making way more out of all these inventions and corresponding assignments than they really are, I'm simply overwhelmed with it all.