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.