As I sit here, at Barnes and Noble, sipping my caramel machiatto at 10:30am on a Sunday morning, I am realizing just how effective and "instruction" changing this course has been for me. Although I have taken technology courses before, I've never seen such success with technology within my classroom before this course. My literacy project blog and my Read180 digital story were possibly two of the top highlights within my classroom throughout the entire year. I also have no doubts that the Web 2.0/ Webquest will be the third. Through this course, I have developed many useful skills and time savers related to technology. I will definitely be using Evernote in the future, along with Google Docs, Google Sites, and Blogger. I think the most important concept I realized in this course was that in order to use technology, you need to be engulfed in it constantly. In the last class I took with Arzt, I had no real application of it due to in being in the summer. My goal for this summer is to keep blogging and researching technological tools for the classroom. Practice makes perfect right?
Jamee - I think it's great that you have incorporated so many of our class assignments into your classroom. I loved that you recorded your students as part of your digital story. It seems like they really enjoyed it and what a great way to get them excited about the technology. You have done a lot with your students and KidBlog too. So many teachers are reluctant to really incoporate new technologies into the classroom. Your students are fortunate to have been exposed to so much in just one year!
ReplyDeleteI, like you Jamee, have increased the use of technology in my classroom exponentially as a result of this class. Whether is was by using Google Docs, digital stories, quizlet as a review tool, or blogging, I now feel somewhat comfortable with the idea of integrating technology into my lesson plans.
ReplyDeleteJamee, it is good for us pre-service teachers to see actual in-class teachers such as you and Paul put the effort into working with Web 2.0 tools in a real setting. I have always been a tech geek, but it is nice to know that I will not be alone.
ReplyDeleteAlso, very gratifying to hear how much your students love these projects.
Brian