Assignment 7

            Putting together this final project has been a gratifying experience. If I was asked to put this together at the beginning of the semester I would have dropped out of the class automatically. It is great to see all the hard work I have put in this semester has paid off. This portfolio is the start of my future as incorporating technology into my classroom.

            I would say the hardest part about this project was remembering how to do everything. Doing it the first couple of weeks and then waiting till now was a bad choice but it came back to me super fast. All the skills are learned are extremely basic and will most likely stay with me forever.

Assignment 6 Reflection

Assignment six was without a doubt a challenge. Making the rubric was fine after having an example in class. It was also easier because we worked in a group. This shows me that as a teacher I do not have to do everything alone. It is always better to ask advice from fellow teachers than to just struggle on your own.

            The website annotated bibliography was interesting to do. My biggest challenge was finding sites that were not good. As a college student I’m so programmed to make sure that all the sites I use are credible and good sources that it took me twice as long to find bad ones. It was also challenging because a lot of the websites I found had useful information that to me seemed relevant but because they weren’t sited or didn’t have author they weren’t considered to be good sources. This assignment definitely showed me just a glimpse of what it takes to come up with a lesson plan and making sure that the resource I use are not only age appropriate but have factual and good information.

Reflection on Assignment 5

Creating these concept maps has by far been the most difficult assignment this semester. It was a whole new concept to grasp and something I have never done on a computer before. The great thing about it was that it forced me to be a teacher. Although it was a challenge at first and I really did not like it, having to choose the topic of the concept map truly made me realized how teachers feel.

Concept maps are a great way to explain information that are linked together. It shows relationships between thoughts and ideas without using too many words. I can see how this would help students who have a visual learning style or are just better at seeing a concrete thing versus words in a paragraph on a piece of paper. For this reason I would definitely try to incorporate concept maps into my classroom. Both as a way for me to give students information, also as an option for my students to organize their information.

Assignment 4 Reflection

The skills I learned completing this assignment I can see myself using when I become a teacher and have my own classroom. Out of all the other assignment this one seems to be the most basic yet the most useful. I learned a lot about programs that I use on a daily basis that I never knew before.

For Excel I will definitely keep in mind using a spreadsheet versus a normal grade book, especially if I have access to a computer at all time. It saves a lot of my time in doing the calculations on its own. As well as being able to keep all the students names in order.

I learned the most in PowerPoint I have been taught how to giver presentations in a million different ways from using mainly pictures to have words on the slides. What I like best about this assignment is that it taught me multiple skills that I can decide to use during my presentation. My favorite feature is the hidden slide feature. It is something new that I learned and something I feel is extremely beneficial. It allows you to be flexible with both the information and timing of your presentation.

Overall I would say that this assignment was a success in teaching me new skills in technology and how they could be used in the classroom on a day to day basis. Enhancing both my students learning and making my job as a teacher a bit easier.

Assignment 3

            Creating my own homepage has definitely been interesting! It was a lot of hard work and time put into it. I had to learn a lot of new skills that if it was not for this assignment I probably would have never learned. If I ever had to make a homepage for my classroom or something related to my school I would most likely use Kompozer. These skills were easy enough that even if it’s a couple of years from now I will probably still be able to figure everything out.
             A skill that I will without a doubt use as a teacher is the "filling system" connected with make this homepage work. Many times students and probably teachers just save things on their computer without any type of organization. I now know better. It makes it a lot easier to find things if everything has its own file and folder.

Assignment #2 Reflection

This assignment was by far one of the hardest assignments I've had for a class. It entailed a lot of thinking on my part. It actually made me feel like a teacher. It was like making a mini lesson plan. My biggest challenge was figuring out what my topic was going to be. The assignment was left very open-ended and for someone who is a perfectionist that was very hard. I had to make sure I picked the perfect topic so I decided on one of my favorite curriculum in elementary school, the solar system.

I am also not computer savy, so figuring out how to use a brand new site was also a challenge. It was as difficult as I thought. I could definitely see how this could be used in a classroom. It is a very easy way to inform both your students and their parents.

Assignment #1 Reflection

This assignment was a bit challenging for me only because I wasn’t thinking outside the box. When it came to think about the goals/objectives for this class I felt like it was pretty obvious; learn how to use computers in the classroom as it states in the title of the class. Then I looked up the NCATE requirements and it made me realize that there was a lot more to it. I for one don’t believe in bringing technology into to the classroom is important, so just seeing the different ways that it can be used will be enough learning for me.

            Like any other assignment that I am given there has to be a lesson behind it. My lesson for this assignment was that all though I may not find the point or reasoning behind the assignment I still have to give it my all. This is will have to be something I teach my students. Many times my students will get frustrated just because they don’t see the reasoning behind the lessons I give them. It is up to me to teach them that all though we don’t like everything we have to do in life, in the long run it will help us out.

            Learning how to come up with objectives and assignments will also benefit me when it comes to making up lessons plans. At times I may not always agree with the curriculum or topics I have to teach but I will have to get it together and make the best out of the situation. I have noticed a lot lately from both my school experience and the experiences I have had in my field work that schools are all about displaying and making sure that classrooms/lessons have objectives. It now makes sense to me because it allows you to have an outline, order, and expectations for the day.