Final Thoughts on TPTE 486

My days in my technology class have regretfully come to an end. Despite this reality, there are many things I will take away from this course. I learned so much about integrating technology into the classroom experience. This truly changed my perception of education. I will certainly use a website and blog to communicate with parents and students. I will also use web 2.0 tools such as Glogster, Wordle, Smilebox, and Wikis to enhance student learning.

There are a few structural issues I had with the course as a whole. I really wish we had dedicated more time to projects during class time. This improved as the semester came to a close, but much time was spent on presentations throughout the semester. As much as I enjoyed them, I wish we had simply had a week of presentations and then moved on to other tasks. This would also eliminate any advantages of having a later presentation date. I was also a little concerned that some students received easier tools to do a project on. Thank goodness I did not get Prezi! This may need to be considered next time around. All in all, however, I enjoyed the course and immensely value the knowledge I gained throughout the semester!

Website Work

Our final project of TPTE 486 was creating a classroom website in Google Sites. Though very tasking and time-consuming, the overall product is a great tool that I intend to integrate into my future classroom. The creation of the site when fairly well. Google Sites is pretty easy to work in when doing simple things like creating pages, adding images, etc. However, linking pages was really frustrating because sometimes the link colors would be different. It seemed like no matter how I tried to correct this issue, I still did not have complete success. When I create my next site, I will be sure to make space in my schedule. I say this because I learned that starting and managing a classroom site is very overwhelming and takes a lot of time and effort. I will definitely use this in my professional practice to showcase my abilities to future employers. I will use it in the classroom to communicate with parents and provide a resource outlet for the students.

Here is a link to my finished classroom site:
https://sites.google.com/site/carolinedenton486/home

Now Your Feature Presentation!

 

Above is one of my final projects in TPTE 486: a digital story. This assignment proved most frustrating, but the finish product was worth the fuss. I had a horrible experience in which I thought I had saved my first draft as a version which could be edited. Unfortunately, this was not the case, so I had to start all over. However, it was super easy to work with the second time around because I had figured out the most efficient ways to do things. Next time I will be sure to save correctly.

I found iMovie fairly easy to work with. However, it is one of those programs with limited instructions,  so you just have to play around in it in order to figure things out. I learned that even a novice tech can produce really effective and pleasing presentations. You just have to be willing to go for it and make mistakes. I am really glad I challenged myself with this course and this assignment. I feel like I will utilize iMovie to make classroom  presentations more lively and entertaining. Through my tech use in the classroom, I hope students will view me as a more effective teacher and a better teacher overall.

Animoto!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Striving for Excel-lence

This past week, we worked in Microsoft Excel to create spreadsheets. My spreadsheet, in accordance with the 3rd Grade English curriculum, is a practice in identifying sentences as declarative, interrogative, or exclamatory. I am proud of my finished product, but the process proved difficult for me. I started my spreadsheet on a Mac then finished it on a PC. The setup in Microsoft Excel varies, so it was hard for me to adjust and find some of the setting options. Next time I will definitely stick to one system for easier completion. However, the result of my hard work is an easy-to-use spreadsheet that I think students will really enjoy as opposed to the old fashioned handouts. I learned that constructing interactive practice exercises (like my spreadsheet) is a great way to get students learning through computer use. I think this is how I will integrate Excel into my classroom. I may also use it to record grades. Below is a screenshot of my finished product!