Final Post

Looking back at my expectations of this course, I think that they were all fulfilled. I learned many different ways to integrate technology into a classroom. I also learned how to use each tool in an effective and fun manner. Technology is growing everywhere, especially in schools and I now feel more prepared to use classroom technology instead of going in "blind." My favorite project was the ActivInspire because it was a way for us to learn how to incorporate students into a lesson in a "fun" way. I know that these white boards are used in just about every classroom now and now that I know how to create these interactive presentations, I will be using them more. This course as a whole was very informative and I am so glad that the University of Tennessee requires it before our internship!

Website

Coming into this class I heard about creating our own classroom website. I was ecstatic to make my own, but I felt like we did not spend much time on it. I feel like we hurried to finish it on our own at the end and it was not focused on in class. I know we had many other things to do, I just thought we would have more class time do work on it. On the other hand, I loved that we learned different ways to use Google Sites. I know so many teachers that use this website and I know that I will use it for my own future classroom as well! I love the decorating and integrating different projects to our website. I definitely feel that I learned a lot from this project that I will use in my future.

Inspiration Project

This was not one of my favorite projects that we did all semester, but I did find it helpful. I like that we have learned many different ways to use technology to present information. This digram project was interesting to make because we could present the diagram in multiple different ways with whatever topic we chose to do. I think I would use this tool with my students if I had upper elementary grades. I would have them make their own digital diagram for a book report or many other activities. I think this will be most helpful to tie in the main ideas of a topic into a organized way. 

ActivInspire

When we first started this project I was very confused because of all of the different tools. There were so many that I did not know how to use, but the papers describing what each one of the buttons were for really helped me. Almost all of the classrooms that I have volunteered in have used the interactive white board for multiple lessons. I know that this will be something that I will use in my future classroom as well. ActivInspire will really help me to create future lessons using the interactive white board and I definitely find it very helpful to students. This gives students an opportunity to learn as a classroom as well as individually at the board. I really liked making this project, I think it was a great software for us to learn about now instead of being extremely confused when we are set in a classroom.

Mid-point Check

I feel like this class is very informational. I think that it would have been helpful to have reviewed some before the test because I was unsure of how much and what to study. I really like all of the activities that we are doing, but I wish that we could complete one at a time. That aspect is nothing against your teacher, I just get worried when something is not completed or graded. My favorite part of this class so far is the Google website. I love decorating and adding to the website as the semester progresses. One other part that I do like a lot is the fact that we were all put into groups to do our web 2.0 projects. It is nice to hear from other students about web-based tools. I know that I learned a lot about the tool that I presented on and it was nice to learn in-depth about many of these tools.

Scavenger Hunt

I really liked this activity for many reasons. The fact that this was a collaborative and an individual project in one was perfect for me. I liked being able to find the pictures outside or around the building in order to create real world examples. The fact that we were to create two presentations using Google presentation and Picasa was really beneficial for me. It gave me experience to figure out those websites and different aspects they had available. I will definitely be using these tools in my classroom one day on my website or even to show my students for a lesson. 

Resource Wiki

I really like this assignment for many reasons. This is going to be very helpful for me and others in my group to be able to reference back to in the future. Sometimes as a teacher they can start to overuse a website, but having those other ideas of websites will be very helpful. These websites will range from games, to activities for students, to teacher resources. I really like the collaborative part of this assignment, but as the same time everyone has to do their own part for their own credit. I know that I will remember this URL to  be able to look at for the future if I need ideas and good websites to go to. Another benefit is that there will already be a description of the website underneath the URL so I will know a summary of what the website contains.