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.

Google Documents

I really like the idea of Google documents. I did not know about this tool until this class, and I am so glad that I was introduced to it. I think it is just like having Word, but free! Also, it is extremely beneficial and easy to share with others. I would definitely use this in my classroom as well as with my friends or co-workers. It has every aspect of Word, but even more. I really like the fact that my work is saved online, not just on one computer. The downside of this tool is that, you have to have internet, and sometimes everyone will not have it or the internet will be down. But overall, this is a very helpful tool that can be used in multiple different ways in and out of the classroom.

Wordle-Web 2.0

This activity was very helpful to me and I know it was helpful to others in the class. It really helped to learn the specific parts of wordle myself and understand different ways to use wordle in my future. classroom. I did not know all of the aspects of wordle, but now I do and I cannot wait to use it more. My favorite aspect of wordle was to be able to create a classroom list in a unique way, even alphabetically. Other ways to use wordle are to see which word you may have used multiple times in an essay or book report. This aspect was extremely helpful to me because I overuse some words in papers, so I know I will be using this online tool not only in my future classroom, but in college as well! I am a very creative person so that fact that wordle gives the opportunity to change multiple aspects of the position, color, language, and font of the words is perfect for me!

Inquiry Based Activity

I really liked this activity that we were assigned. I have never made a worksheet from hand for elementary school students and I think that it was very beneficial. This activity will be perfect for a day that I am able to get a day in the library for my students. I made my inquiry based activity about fire safety; there were two games and two reading activities. I made sure to tie in health and reading in the worksheet together. It was a good activity for us as future teachers to be able to acknowledge what standards apply to what we are teaching. I have not had much experience applying the standards, so this was very helpful for me. It definitely applies to all grade levels to be able to do this activity, so I really think it was a good activity for the class as a whole as well.

Wikis

Wikis are very beneficial with the capability of everyone being able to edit a certain page if given permission. I do like that part of the online tool, but I do not think I will use it in my classroom. I think that wikis seem very similar to what you could do in Google documents. I like to try to stay on one main tool and do as many things as I can on that instead of going to multiple different websites. I will be teaching elementary school and I think it would be too confusing having to do something like a wiki. I also do not like that you have to have an account; adding another website to have an account to would just be too much.

Favorite Webquests

Web quests are extremely beneficial to have for students to perform a project or large assignment. I really like the web quest that I found that deals with money, language arts, and math. I want to be able to use web quests for future projects that I have for my students. I really like the organization of how everything is separated: introduction, task, process, evaluation, conclusion, credits, and teacher page. It is so helpful for the students as well as the teachers to have the organization and the large amount of information. http://questgarden.com/52/48/8/070616111455/index.htm

Thoughts on the Website Evaluation

I really felt as though evaluating the website was very effective. I do not usually think that in-depth about a website, but I definitely will be now. It is extremely crucial to make sure that your students and the teacher are viewing a reliable source with stated references and factual information. The evaluation was long, but it was necessary information for not only a teacher, but also for everyone to know. I am glad that I found contact information in case I do need to ask questions about the website or even the privacy policy. I found it very interesting that there was one author that designed the entire site. I discovered that she started her career as an elementary school teachers, which leads me to know that these games and activities will be very effective for my future classroom. The website that I evaluated was abcya.com and I absolutely loved it! I thought it was very helpful to look further into this website because as I discovered more information, I found that it is an extremely reliable and helpful site for not only myself, but also my future students. There were multiple games and activities that I will be able to use in my classroom. They are all computer games, but I know that I will be able to make many of those games useful as a hands-on activity in my classroom. 

Course Expectations

Throughout this course I really want to learn how to integrate technology into a classroom, but also how to use it myself. Technology is definitely growing and helping people everywhere. I hope to attain the knowledge in order to easily use blogs, wikis, classroom website, and much more in my future classroom. I think the classroom website will be extremely helpful to be able to communicate with parents and even students.

About Me

       Welcome to my technology blog! My name is Elizabeth LeFevere. I am originally from Michigan, but have been in Knoxville since I was fifteen. I graduated from Halls High School in 2009, which led straight to my college career at the University of Tennessee. I am a senior majoring in Psychology with a minor in Elementary Education. I will be graduating in Spring 2013 with my Bachelors in Arts and then go straight into attending graduate school to obtain my K-6 license. I will then be furthering my knowledge with interning in the Knox County school system. I will then be graduating with my masters in Spring 2014. Once I start teaching I would love to teach second or third grade. I love this age because most of them are still very excited to learn and I would love to help the students learn how to continue to love the value of education. I will then be graduating with my masters in Spring 2014.

        I have always wanted to be a teacher, so i knew this was definitely the path that I wanted to take once I was accepted to the University of Tennessee. The drive to teach others has always been something I have thrived to do. I truly knew teaching Elementary School was what I wanted to do when I started getting experience in Elementary Schools when I was in high school. Growing up I had so many teachers that helped me through difficult times, which led to them being a role model to me and I cannot wait to help children learn, help them through life, and pursue their dreams. Once I start teaching I would love to teach second or third grade. I love this age because most of them are still very excited to learn and I would love to help the students learn how to continue to love the value of education.

          In my free time I absolutely love shopping, going to the lake, and spending time with my boyfriend and family. I am a waitress at the restaurant Aubreys where I work two days a week. On rainy days I love scrapping booking and watching movies all day. My favorite movie is definitely "The Notebook." While most of my time right now is spent on going to class and working on homework, I cannot wait to be living my dream and having the career and environment I have always wanted.