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.