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.