Reflection+Project

 As I look back on this semester, I feel pleased at the things I’ve done. I have never been comfortable trying new things. I’m amazed and surprised at all the different sites available. Reflecting is something I’ve never enjoyed doing when I’m told to do it. I know our society is really into reflecting over and over. When I attend a workshop or meeting, I must reflect on it. I do think and review things but I don’t dwell on it. This paper has been a challenge for me. I am the type of person that doesn’t like to share my inner thoughts much less share them with the world. I found it helpful in reflecting for this class because I separated the reflecting into four sections; application, awareness, exploration & filtration and learning. Being an organized person, it’s important to have a standard system of recording and storing in place from the start. I don’t enjoy looking through everything to find the thing I need. This system of reflecting made it easy.

Until now I’ve thought of myself as computer literate. But my eyes have been open to the wide world of technology. Some of the things covered in my studies, I already do. My computer itself is organized in files for quickly locating the files I need. But when it comes to getting on the net and finding what I need is another story. I have gotten much better at finding what I want and need. I use to get very upset when on the web. But that has all changed. I have more confidence and feel more at ease.

There is nothing like creating a scrapbook of activities. My 1st graders make a scrapbook of their year, just little samples to show their progress throughout the year. They are very pleased when they see the final product for the first time. I also found it fun creating my own e-portfolio, 2bighearts.wikispaces.com for this class. At first it was a challenge to get thing on it. But the longer I worked on it the easier it got. Many of the things I did followed me into my school and classroom. I created a webpage about my classroom on the Ranch Heights web page [].

Our textbook for the class, “Using Technology In The Classroom” had lots of great information as well as great websites. The best chapter in the book for me was chapter 3, "Getting to Know the World Wide Web". It helped me to understand more about the web and what it could do. One site I used was __ http://quest.arc.nasa.gov __. At this site you become a Nasa researcher and designer for future spacecraft. You can become an astronaut and go on a Mars simulation. Another site from of text is [|www.eyewitnesstohistory.com]. This is a wonderful site. You can witness any moment in history. I checked out the Titanic and the assassination of Gandhi. There are so many sites just like these that kids can use for research. Our text is loaded with sites on any topic, math, science, dictionaries, puzzles, music, and museums. One problem I’ve noticed is that sites will come and go. I found a few sites listed in our book and in our assignments that are no longer available.

Technology has come a long way. Since January, I’ve been using an interactive whiteboard and not very effectively. Our module 10 really helped me learn more about what I could do with it. In fact, some of our other modules helped me integrate my lessons with new technology. The module on search engines was a big help. I found a great lesson on groundhogs. Before studying about search engines and websites, I had a hard time with most sites. I would go to them. There would be so much information at their site; I didn’t know where to begin. And a lot of the time their help button wasn’t helpful.

I’ve done a lot of firsts for this class. I did a PowerPoint, podcast, poster, flip chart and a cartoon. I made so many things. And I’m proud of myself. I would have to say that my favorite project was doing my Kanza prayers on the gabcast. I have shared my wiki with a few friends and family members.