Reflection #8

This is the best reflection to write, the last blog post graded.  I have enjoyed just about everything from this class.  Some of the assignments were extremely challenging and I try to be a perfectionist, so using technology for the first time and not instantly being a pro is very stressful to me.  I don't necessarily qualify as a digital native because I did have 110 and 35 mm film for my camera as a child.  I grew up in a home that always had a computer, I cannot ever remember being without a computer.  I remember the tv commercials showing the business man ordering flowers for his wife on the "internet" and it seemed like it took many years for people to actually believe you can buy something on a computer.  I also remember setting up my very first email account, AOL, my sophomore year in high school ('97) and from 2000 on I have been submersed in digital everything.  Today, my own home has 4 computers, an Ipad, Ipod, Iphone, digital camera and so on.  All that to say, these items have really advanced the users.

I believe the favorite item for me has been the podcasts.  It took me while to figure it out, but when I did...I feel in love with that technology!  It is brilliant to share assignments, notes, step-by-step in structions without repeating yourself 100 times in a day.  I will definately continue to use podcasts as both educational tools for lectures and reinforcement and organizational tools for students.  I also like this blog and the kidblog for students.  I did also like the google sites and I plan on incorporating a class website to share with students and parents, however it will take additional navigation to master that.  The instructions are not user friendly and many items seem to have you working in circles.  I can see how wonderful this would be as a tool for communication though.  My biggeset change will be to continue to challenge myself to grow and learn new things in technology.

I do believe I will continue to use my blog.  I have had another personal blog for a while before the class blog and I enjoyed sharing information with my followers, however it was difficult to think of topics to write about.  I will keep it education centered and while I somewhat want to share my personal beliefs about teaching in Texas, I am not sure to what extent I will share my opinions. 

I have very much enjoyed ETEC 524!




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Reflection #7

Reflection #7 – igoogle – do you?

Book Report –

1)      Tradition 4 page report

2)      Watch teacher created podcasts

3)      Post to class blog with comments and/or posts

4)      Create a cinch podcast summarizing book report

I could have used blogger from google, however I set up a class blog on the kidblog.org site that we learned about last week.  I also utilized jing to create my podcasts and the students will use cinch to create their audio podcasts.

I believe that my teaching lesson touches several factors; however I will focus specifically on the Organization set from Bloom’s Taxonomy of the Affective Domain.  Since I am student teaching, I have to build most of lessons in addition to or from my mentor teachers lesson plans.  I was very motivated from our Week 6 technology project and began to put it to use instantly.  My mentor teacher gave me an outline for a book report project in our Business Law class and I took the idea of the kidblog and cinch podcast in addition to ideas of my own to build the lesson and activities around the book report.  Along with the traditional requirements, read a book, write a paper; I have incorporated podcasts to help students work through a lesson (I don’t have to repeat myself to each student), required and graded blog comments and posts, required and graded cinch podcasts for book report summary.  Here is the link to the class blog I have created.  http://kidblog.org/MrsHulseys-BookReportSummary/ 

The Business Law class is part of the Career and Technology Education Department, including technology is required in most lessons and many businesses today utilize blogs to share information and create a personable relationship with customers and clients.  The first part of the lesson required each student to sign on to the class blog and read my first blog about the book report.   Here is the link to my first blog post.  http://kidblog.org/MrsHulseys-BookReportSummary/TiffCh324/business-law-second-semester-project/  Next, they had to select a book from an approved list and create their first comment on my initial blog post stating their name and the book chosen for their book report.  The selection was first come first serve and if their comments were approved they would know if their selection was approved.  We then had class time to visit the library to check out their chosen books or have the librarian order their book from the public library for the project.  We have just started this project and it will be ongoing amongst other assignments for the next eight weeks.  My class will have 1class day each week to blog notes about what they have read so far in their book.  This is designed to help them with reading time and remember important events and characters in their book for their final summary and 4 page report.  I will also be communicating to my students through the blog after each assignment, particularly by leaving comments to their weekly posts.  One of the final parts of the project will be to create a cinch podcast summarizing their 4 page book report.  I will play each of the students podcasts in class and have the students take notes of each of their classmates summary and the final part of the project will be to post a comment to each students cinch podcast from the notes they took while listening to the cinch podcasts in class.

Upon completion of the Book Report Project , the learner will be able to recognize the need for balance between freedom and responsible behavior and to prioritize time effectively to meet the needs of the organization, family, and self at a beginner level.  While the students are not dependent of the other students for part of their individual grade, they are required to make a contribution to other students to receive full credit for certain grades throughout the project.

Video comments –

I think the future of education needs to focus on creating a better balanced lesson organization between traditional forms and technology forms.  So many teachers are afraid of technology and school districts are doing their students an injustice by not requiring those teachers to be educated on technology and actually being required and monitored for the use of that technology in the classroom. 

Igoogle –

I have set my homepage to igoogle.  I had never heard of this tool before this week and I am excited about the convenience it offers.  I love that you can access all of your important information from one screen!  igoogle eliminates the need for several windows and I imagine will help to speed up your computer while you are working on certain things.  In combination of igoogle and delicious, my computer navigation is quick and easy.