Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Reflective Journal Post

Reflections


Introduction to Technology for Educators





Here we are the end of the semester, and after reflecting on this class, after all of the hard work, stress and frustration at times, I am so happy that I took this class. What I have learned, experienced and been able to share from this class has been well worth it all. I see now how all that we have learned through out the semester was sort of a blueprint for the final project. Which by the way was my favorite project! It wasn't easy but I have to say I am so please with how it turned out!
http://clmichaels.weebly.com







I really enjoyed this class. Not just the information and assignments, but I a great opportunity to meet some great people and work together with them to create a couple of projects. I even made a great friend from this class as well! I want to discuss some of my favorite parts of this class. 


In this class, I learned about many different types of technology that can be used in the classroom. How technology will help us teach and help students learn. In chapter one I learned about using technology, how to develop lesson plans, and obstacles faced. As you read through my blog I felt that knowing the six key issues a teacher should consider when looking to intergrate technology. The entire chapter is important and everyone should read it and use that information. This chapter also discussed teaching philosophy which if you were not aware, I believe in a student centered teaching. As teachers we all create our own style of teaching, and decide on the type of style of teaching that we will used. Either teacher centered or student centered. The tech tools were interesting as well. Great chapter!
In Chapter 2 I learned that I am a visual learner. As many are, we learn by see and doing. Lecture doesn't do that much for us. With the use of technology and implementing technology into the classroom we are able engage the students more and give them great hands on learning. One of my favorite examples in this chapter was a constructivist teaching and learning example. 


The teacher takes the students outside early in the morning, and asks the to draw the shadows of different sized shapes using sidewalk chalk. An hour later they return, and trace the shadows of those same shapes with a different colored chalk. They do this several times throughout the day. Three or four days of this going on, they learn that they are making an outdoor clock. This used along with learning resources like online simulations, newspaper weather pages, to spinning tops to simulate planets rotating in their orbits around the sun. Great example of active learning and metacognition.
I hope that at some point in my teaching I have the opportunity to use this lesson. 
This chapter discusses how to  engage students in lessons. 
The first tech tool in this chapter had a variety of websites and tools to use. I think one of my favorite was the e-skeleton. It's such a fun website! I encourage you to check it out!


I think that every chapter had a important role in my learning this semester. The group projects were interesting. Working with the teams was a great experience.  The collaberation lesson plan was a great project that helped me personally learn how to build a lesson plan and how to use technology to create one and use technology in the lesson plan. The Wiki project was also very interesting. I had never done one before, used wiki at all, so it was very new to me and a great experience overall. The clickers was an interesting bit of information that was never aware of. But it's pretty cool. Smart boards is a great tool to have inside the classroom. It creates such a great learning environment for the students.


The WebQuest was also something that I have not heard of before. It was interesting to see how one is build, designed and implemented. I enjoyed creating one and then sharing it with others. I also was unaware of Rubric builders and not really sure how to build those. I fund it challenging to create a rubric for the website evaluation. It's a learning process that I think with time I will improve with. 






Still my favorite again was the final project. It was so much fun! And I really loved how it turned out. So much learned in this class about introducing technology into the classroom! I really did enjoy it!
So there you have it, my semester of learning in a great and fun filled class that I am so happy I took and really really enjoyed! The information that I learned I will take with me as I continue this journey and as I become a teacher. Until next time! 


Chau!














Textbook - Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN:10 0-13-159611-X, ISBN:13 978-0-13-159611-5    

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1 comment:

  1. Very comprehensive and reflective post that really does demonstrate some of your learning. :) I do like how conversational you have made these posts and hope you continue blogging, both as a 'brain dump' and a place to examine your learning that day (since learning does not begin nor end with formal classes!). Your enthusiasm for learning shows and though I know there have been frustrations as well, the efforts you have made are important to reflect upon and recognize for the total experience. Learning will continue as it is lifelong, but I do hope you see this foundation as merely a springboard for incorporating technology as a transformational tool for teaching. Best of wishes as you pursue your classes and become all that you can be!

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