TPTE 486 Course Reflection

This technology course has been very beneficial. It has provided me with many resources and tools that I likely never would have encountered otherwise. These programs, tools, and resources will be a great help to me as I start my internship and begin to teach in elementary school.

When I look back to the beginning of the semester when I was extremely excited that I could successfully set up a blog, I can see just how far I've come. And although, I am far from an expert, my comfort level with technology has definitely increased.

At the beginning of the course, I wrote in my very first blog post that I had three expectations for the course. 1. To be able to use what I learn in the course in my future classrooms; 2. To use technology to communicate with my students' parents; and 3. To have a better understanding of the technological resources available to me. I believe that all three of these expectations have been met through this course.

Every single project or assignment we completed in this course is applicable to an elementary school classroom. From wikis to WebQuests to flip charts to digital diagrams, every single project can be used either by students to actively participate in learning or by myself to create better opportunities for learning.

Two programs or tools that we worked with in this course are especially beneficial in communicating with students' parents. These two are Blogger and Google Sites. These can be used to create classroom blogs and classroom websites to provide constant access to important classroom information.

And lastly, I am most definitely walking away from this course with better knowledge of the technological resources and tool available to me. Working with such a wide variety of tools and programs and compiling them all on the classroom website will ensure that I have access to these tools and resources and examples of each of them.

Creating a Classroom Website

Over this semester, we have gradually been creating a classroom website that can be used in our future classrooms. I created my site using Google Sites. Here's a link to the website: https://sites.google.com/site/mskingsclassroom1/.

Google Sites was a very easy program to use to create my website even though some tasks required trial and error. Some of the difficulties I had included formatting text that I copied from assignments and editing major layout items such as the last date revised, but after spending some time working on these issues, I was able to make the site look just how I wanted it to. And some things that I found particularly easy to do were inserting pictures and links.

One aspect of the project that I thought was especially beneficial is that we created and compiled our websites over the whole course of the semester. And we connected each project or assignment to our website in some way.

Google sites could be used in my future classroom as a way to communicate with parents and students. Having a classroom website gives parents access to important classroom information at any time. It also provides resources and extra academic practice for students. For these reasons, I think classroom websites are a necessary part of a classroom.

Digital Story

This assignment was to create a digital story with some educational value. I created my digital story using iMovie. This was my first experience with iMovie and my second experience creating/editing a movie in any movie making program, so this was definitely a new experience for me. 

The directions in the course packet were the most helpful tool for me in completing this digital story. Without them, the process would have taken much longer and been much more frustrating.

One thing that was beneficial about the instruction of this task was that we were given plenty of time during class to create the digital story, and when we had a question, the appropriate instruction was given individually. This was nice because some of my classmates were more knowledgeable about creating movies, so they may not have needed to hear the instruction that I did. So they did not have to stop and be slowed down to listen to something they already knew. 

I really enjoyed this project, and I can definitely see myself using it in my classroom. The course packet contained a list of educational topics for digital stories. Many of these ideas could be given to upper elementary students to create their own movies. One topic that I would like to use in a classroom is to create a movie trailer for a book. I think this would help students be able to summarize a story or novel they read in class.

Here is the digital story I created. The topic is a poem about nature written by Emily Dickinson.

Inspiration 9

The current assignment in TPTE 486 is to create a diagram using Inspiration 9. This program has worked very well for me, and I can easily see myself using it in my future classroom.

My diagram's topic for this project is the writing process. The five steps of the writing process branch out from this main topic. Then I provide what is included in each of the five steps in a third level of the diagram. This diagram helps meet the third grade standard, GLE 0301.3.3 "Know and apply the steps of the writing process: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, evaluating, and publishing." It also meets the NETS-T standards 2 and 3, which are "Designing and develop digital age learning experiences and assessment," and "model digital age work and learning."

I really enjoyed creating this diagram. Inspiration 9 made the process go smoothly. Being able to easily add, delete, and connect pieces of information made this assignment easy and fun, and being able to customize the design was a great feature of the program. I also liked being able to add notes to certain boxes. This allowed me to add the information that I felt was necessary but was too long.

I could see myself creating many diagrams for my future classroom through this program. I think having visual aids is very important and helps students grasp the topic. I might also use this program in my class by having my students create their own diagrams to show relationships between various items.

Here's a picture of my diagram.