Final Course Reflection

This has been a very eventful year for me. This was my first semester in the Elementary Education program. I have really enjoyed it. This class has been a great benefit to me. I have learned lots of new things that will help me throughout the rest of my college years as well as my future career as a educator. When I first begun this class I was not interested in taking another computer course. I could not figure out why they would make us take another course on computers since we took one in order to get in the program as well as had to take a proficiency test. I was not happy about it at all. As the semester went on I have come to realize why we had to take this course. I have learned so much that I find helpful. Some of the things we did this semester I had already done before such as the movie story and the TurnItIn assignment. The other assignments were new to me though. I had no idea that there was so much out there to use just by having a Google account. Using Google to create presentations, work in groups to create stories and create other work that the group could use to communicate with each other. I really enjoyed it.

I also was unfamiliar with assistive technology that is available to use right on the computer with only a click of a few buttons. I like learning the technologies that are available to those who may have hearing or vision problems. Knowing this will help me be better equipped in the future. Another assignment I enjoyed doing was the creating a website. It was fun and interesting to do. I was given the opportunity to create my own teacher webpage that student could access. I had to come up with a name for the school, a syllabus for the class, a calendar and a few other things. I found it a bit tough when I had to figure out exactly what to say and how to say it. I also liked this assignment because in doing it I was able to find new sites that offered free clipart and also allowed me to create banners. I know that this will be helpful for me in the very near future. Another assignment I liked was the one where I had to create a mock rubric. Again, I had no idea there were sites available out there where I could create such things for free.

After taking this class I know that I will definitely integrate technology into my classroom. I will used these sites we have been using to create various assignments and resources my students can use. I will use the teacher webpage so that my students will be able to access the calendar, syllabus and other material needed for the class at a click of a button. I will also use Google groups to allow my student to work on assignments together. I will use the Trackstar in order to provide resources for my student to use to supplement the lessons we will have.

My strong points in this class were being open to new assignments and working hard to get all work done on time. I am not sure if I had any weak points in the class unless it was the attitude coming into the class. From now on I will remain positive about all classes and trust that I can learn something from every experience.

Assistive Technology

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B71anbUDncG9MFdpQjYyQmZtM0U/edit?usp=drive_web
Assistive Technology PowerPoint

The assistive technology assignment was a good one to do. I enjoyed learning options that were already on the computer that I could use when teaching students with disabilities. I did not know about all the features that were available on the computer. At first it was a bit hard to do the project because I did not fully understand the directions but once I asked my teacher everything became quite clear. For this assignment we had to explore the computer features that are available for individuals with hearing and vision problems. Once we found each one we were to take a screen shot of it and post it on a PowerPoint.
Doing this lesson not only taught me about assistive technology available on the computer but also how to use screen shot. I was excited to learn this because I feel that is will definitely be useful throughout the rest of my college career as well as when I being my career as an educator. It will allow me to save time when trying to show students how to get to a site. I can not only tell them but include pictures of what the screen should look like.
After completing this assignment I fell better equipped to help my students who have trouble seeing information on the computer or hear what is being said on the computer. As stated before the only challenge I faced was getting an understanding as to what exactly the assignment called for me to do. This assignment met the NETS-T standard three.

TurnItIn- Social, Ethical and Legal Issues

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B71anbUDncG9NERUS2wzb3lRdWM/edit?usp=sharing
TurnItIn

The TurnItIn assignment was a fairly easy one. We were given a list of questions to answer as well as some articles we were to use to answer the questions. The challenging part was that the questions were not directly answered in the articles. We had to search through each article in order to find an answer that was acceptable for each question. This assignment was a two part one. We first had to copy the answers directly from the articles we read, and place them on a word document. We had to turn this copy in to TurnItIn.com. Next, we had to go back and put the responses into our own words. Both documents were to be saved and turned in. The object of this assignment was to show us how this site worked and how easy it is to catch students who are plagiarizing.

In doing this assignment, I learned that it is easy for sites such as TurnItIn.com to catch students who may plagiarize and also that I can use them to make checking students paper easier. I think this site will be useful when I become a teacher because I can easily make sure that the information provided by the students is their own work and not something they have retrieved from a site or from another student. I think sites like these should be used throughout schools nationwide so that teacher can cut down on plagiarism at an early point in a student’s career.  NETS-T standard three and four were met. I believe they were met because I used digital age work to enhance learning. This also can be used to promote and model digital citizenship and responsibly by teaching student to respect other’s property.  

WebSite

 Here is the link to my website:
https://sites.google.com/site/msstewartclass2010/

This assignment was great. I liked the opportunity to create my own teacher page. It made me feel as though I was officially a teacher. I go the chance to come up with the banners, designs and information posted on there. I was in full control as to what information I wanted posted. Even though we had a rubric of required information, I still had the creative ability to choose. At first I was a bit skeptical about creating my own cite. Coming up with a schedule, calendar and other information found on the page were scary at first. As I got started, I found it to be quite easy. One thing that I really enjoyed about this assignment is that I got a chance to go to many cool sites that allowed me to create banners and get clipart for free. I know that this will be helpful in the future for me. Not only in my career can I use this information but in my everyday life as well.

When doing this assignment, I ran into some minor issues. One problem I had was trying to keep everything in order. The site kept changing information that I entered. I had to start over a time or two to try to get everything to look the way I wanted it to. Another problem was working the site. Trying to maneuver through the site was slightly difficult. After sometime I figured it out though. The NETS-T standard I used for this assignment was one and three because I used different technology from the web to be creative in teaching future students.

 

Movie Story

Creating my movie story was by far my favorite assignment in this class. I have done this many times before in my personal time. I enjoyed finding pictures of myself, friends and family.  I got my pictures from various places. The reason I choose this topic is because it is what makes me who I am. The people included in this video all play or have played some type of role in my life.  I like taking pictures and I also enjoy spending time with the people who are included.  They have helped shaped my attitude about life and other things. They are my support system.

I can use this assignment in my class in the future.  I can have my students put a movie story together to introduce them to myself and the rest of the class. The students will have the opportunity to get to know each other on a deeper level. I can also use this as a means of creating a lesson to teach. By creating my own movie I can include the information I want my students to learn and leave out things that are not useful information.  This will be very helpful to my students who are not auditory learners but are more visual people. They will have the chance to learn the information in their own way.

I did not have any problems with this assignment because it was self-explanatory and easy to navigate. I used standard two because this assignment allowed me to design and develop digital pictures and experiences

Google Groups

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17vbAkSthS39Q1n5jm2xfrvMPAeQXz9g3_ZztkfKSmI8/present?ueb=true#slide=id.p
Presentation

For the first assignment we completed we choose to do the first four chapters of the book. I did chapter three (3). Everyone choose their own chapters. This assignment asked us to look through each chapter and formulate a detailed question related to each. Each group had to answer the other member’s questions. Once we finished that each member was to create a presentation on their chapter. We had to create a PowerPoint that consisted of the main points of the chapter.  We had to be creative and work hard to ensure that we got all the important information across. Also, as a part of the assignment we had to create a story as a group. The group leader started off the story and then each member had to write the subsequent parts of the story. This part was interesting because we had to work together as a group. Each member had to keep the story going and interesting.

These assignments were very easy to me. The hardest part was working as a group because some of the work I had to do was depended on my members completing their parts first. Finding the answers to the questions were quite easy and the story was fun and exciting to write. I believe that I will use this in my future classroom. I can have student group up and create a PowerPoint presentation, write a story and present a chapter to the class. I can also have them create questions that supplement their lesson.

In doing this assignment, I really didn't have too many problems. My group members were great. The only problem was finding the answers to each other’s questions which was not too hard. The NETS-T standard that was covered was one because I think I used technology to be creative and design things.

Web Tools

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B71anbUDncG9VDRIVVZ1b3JMUzg/edit?usp=sharing
My rubric

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/6448029/The_Solar_System
Wordle

http://storybird.com/books/the-5-senses-6/
StoryBird

http://trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar/ts/viewTrack.do?number=447990
TrackStar

I really enjoyed completing these assignments. These assignments were very easy to use and user friendly. One reason I liked doing them is because I believe they will be helpful to me in the future. I did not know that there were so many sites available for free that I could use to create things to use in my classroom. The Rubric site is the one I think will be most helpful. This is because I believe that I will use it the most. I can use it to create Rubrics fast that can be used to help me grade.

The Storybird program, allowed me to create stories. I feel like I can use these for my future students. I can use this site to allow my students to create their own stories. The Wordle program allowed me to create a visual. I can use this site to create all types of visuals to help my students put words that relate together. This can be used as reviews for them to each lesson that we cover. The Trackstar assignment can be used in my future classroom because I can give my students homework and study tips online.

I found that all of these sites helped me. I learned that it is a lot of programs that is free and easy on the web that can really help teachers save time and be productive. I didn’t encounter any problems during my time working on these sites. The NETS-T standard I met with this assignment was 1 and 3 because I used different technology from the web to be creative in teaching future students.

Concept Map

This assignment consisted of creating a concept map on a topic of my choice. The topic I choose was The Solar System. The reason I chose this topic was because I like Science and I plan to teach Science when I become a teacher.  I also figured that I could produce a quality concept map that would be helpful to individuals wanting to learn about the Solar System. Science is a subject that I am very interested in. There is lots of information that can be organized in a concept map about the Solar System. In doing this assignment I learned a lot of things. The most importing thing I learned is how to construct a concept map. This will be very helpful to me as a future educator.

 Some of the problems I encountered were not saving my work so I had to start over twice. I did not know everything about the software so I had to get familiar with it. This caused a few minor problems like forgetting to do one step in the process that made me have to delete all of the information before continuing.  The program was pretty simple, I just had to take some time to get used to it. The good part about learning how to do a concept map is that I can use it in my future classroom. It will be easy for me to organize lessons by using a concept. In doing this assignment I meet NETS-T standards one and five because I used technology in order to organize and connect with others.