Week 7

This week really touched on some good topics. I think it is really important to discuss negatives of technology. It is really easy for me to get so caught up in all the positive that I forget that there can be negative impacts. I think the start to fixing these negative impacts is teachers being educated and knowledgeable about technology. I think that teachers as well as parents need to try to be as knowledgeable about technology as kids. Adults need to be able to help kids navigate appropriate uses of technology. We need to be teaching students from a young age about internet safety and trying to prevent cyber bullying. I believe if you are going to let students use technology in your classroom then you are responsible for those students behavior and monitoring them. I think there are still a lot of issues out there with technology and before this class I thought it was more simple and that technology was all positive. Through this class my eyes have been opened to potential problems with using more and more technology in schools.

Week 6

This week was pretty much all about my webquest. It turned out to be a little more involved to put it together than what I thought and I had trouble getting to come together like I wanted it to. I know I still have things to touch up on it, but I am definitely proud of it so far. I never thought about creating something like that for students to use. I love that I can share links with them and give them the instructions of what to do with each one all in one website. I kept thinking about how long it would take to go through all of that verbally and how students most likely would only remember a portion of what I said. This way, I can introduce the webquest and then they can navigate through it on their own and see me when they have questions. It is also good so that students can work at their own pace. If they need to view a video a second time or need more time to read through a website, they can. I also like how all the expectations are on there. I was able to enter exactly what I would be looking for a grading. By far the biggest benefit I see is that through creating my own webquest I can use my district standards and age group. Since I will be teaching younger students, not all webquests out there are going to be appropriate to use with my students. I definitely see webquests being something I would utilize in the future.

Week 5

I am honestly surprised at how much I am learning from this online class. I was nervous about taking classes 100% online since I had never taken one before. I have had classes with a large online component with Blackboard discussion posts and submitting assignments through Blackboard, but I had never taken a totally online class. I was worried about motivating myself to get everything done and I wasn't sure how much I would actually get out of the class. So far I am really happy with my experience. I have learned about a wide variety of resources I can't wait to try out when I have my own classroom. I have also learned what works for me as far as scheduling when to get schoolwork done. If anything I feel like I have gotten more out of this class than I have out of some other classes I have taken where I could just show up and get through it pretty easily. This class actually pushes me to really be involved and learn.

Week 4

I think it is amazing how many options there are to connect with other teachers online. This is something I never really thought about during my undergrad. I always thought about working with the teachers in my school and grade level and those being the people I would go to for help or with questions. Now I can see that through something as simple as Twitter which I already use for my personal life, I can connect with teachers all over the country and the world. I love to get ideas from other teachers, especially when it is something they have used in their classroom and find successful. I did not realize how easy it is to get these ideas. I just can't wait now to have a classroom of my own so I have more to share about things I am doing with others.

Week 3

I thought this weeks' discussion was awesome. I loved see all of the resources that everyone found. I also enjoyed researching myself to find ones I liked. I am just amazed by what all is out there and I feel like I don't even know where to start when it comes to using these tools in the classroom. There is just so much! I guess it will depend on what grade level I end up teaching. I will want to choose sites that are most appropriate for that age group. I feel like everything I have done so far for this class is going to help me when I have my own classroom and I will be able to put to use the things I'm doing. That is such a refreshing feeling because I have taken a lot of classes where I feel like I don't get very much out of the assignments. It definitely means something to me knowing that I am enjoying the work for this class and that I am interested in what I am doing. I had never heard of it before but I love my Delicious account because before I had all of my education/teaching bookmarks cluttering up my personal bookmarks, but now they are all in one place where I can find them by categories. Especially with all of the sites I want to make mental notes of during this class I am so thankful for that site. 

Week 2

My biggest takeaway from the second week of this course was the article we read, "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants" by Marc Prensky. This article basically covered all of my reasons for choosing to do the MET program. I consider myself somewhere in between someone who learned technology later in life and someone who grew up with it. I remember life without a computer or cell phones, but my family got our first computer in elementary school so I've still had computers the majority of my life.

I just loved the discussion of students today having a different way of thinking and the suggestion that students do not really have short attention spans, they are just not being engaged. It is my goal as a teacher to engage my students as much as possible. I believe that is the only way learning is going to occur. I want to provide my students with ownership of their learning and meaningful experiences. They need to participate in hands on activities.

This is why systems such as Moodle are appealing to me. I do not believe effective teaching is standing in front of the room lecturing. Students should be exploring and actively participating in their learning, especially at a young age. Utilizing a management system such as this makes it easier on me as a teacher to do that in my classroom.

Week 1

     I have never had a blog before so this is going to take a little getting used to. So far I am enjoying this class. I was definitely overwhelmed at first with this being my first semester of my Masters and my first completely online class. 
     I can tell that I am going to learn so much in this class. I have always thought I was good with technology, but I can already tell there is a lot I am not familiar with. I am looking forward to exploring new things. 
     The video series was extremely informative and a good way to start the class. I have already worked in a classroom similar to what the video described and I already saw myself having my own classroom like that. My desire to know how to run an "inspired classroom" is exactly why I wanted to do the MET program. I believe in it in theory, but I know that I need to learn more to be able to practice it in real life. 
     I am very anxious and excited to use all the different tools within this class. I think it is so important for teachers to always be learning themselves and trying new things. I know this class will introduce me to great resources and make it easier for me to stay current on new strategies and technology throughout my career.