June 26, 2007

Well, it is almost over. On one side I am very excited. The work stops in a way. On the other side, I am going to miss everyone I had class with and will defiantly miss Dr. G. I have learned so much in this class and I am sure that in a couple of days,weeks and even months I will realize actually how much I have learned. From creating a website (which I have loved doing since I started working on it), to all the new websites, blogs, and there is so much more. I really feel that I have learned more from this class than any other class I have take to this date.

Dr. G. if you read this good luck at the University of the Cumberlands and God Bless!

How can I use technology to support my instructional practice?

There are many ways to use technology to support your instructional practice in a classroom. You can create power points to guide you through a lesson, projects etc. You can use word processors to make brochures, outline checklist, newspapers etc. You can post blogs, send emails as reminders for homework.

How I can support the diverse needs of learners

Every student and their needs are an important part of the classroom. There are several ways that you can meet their needs. In our text this week we learned about different ways word processing programs can help all students, by making fonts larger, help them organize, etc. I can help support the needs by making charts or graphs, using spreadsheets, change the look of the information, print worksheets and more.

How to involve my students in the assessment process?

This week I have learned to not only assess your students to see their progress, but to also get them involved in self assessment. It is important for the students to see their progress and want to improve for themselves. There are several ways that you can have your students self assess. One would be to create a checklist and give to the students as a guide. This also goes for rubrics and more. You can encourage collaboration with other students, this would allow the student to see if they are on the correct path. I believe that if you are involved in your own learning and not having someone tell you what you should know that you will be more interested in staying involved.

Technology helping students to effectively demonstrate their learning.

I believe that technology does help the student show their learning in many ways. Students are able to write or blog about how they feel about an assignment, or what went wrong or right in the assignment. Students are able to get creative with power points by putting gifs, video, sounds, or choosing their back ground. All of these things and more can help a student show their knowledge in a new exciting way.

It is getting better

This week has been, for me, more of a learning experience. I thought coming into this class that I was going to learn how the smart board worked, or how to student grades on a spreadsheet. I was WRONG! Which was a good thing. I have really enjoyed trying to think of ways to use a survey poll in the class or how to use an online chat room. These are things I would not thought of with out this class and I feel that I will be a better teacher because of it.

2 Down, several to go!

The experience with Module 2 has been better than the last. I feel like I have taken more with me this time. I feel like I understand the content questions, unit questions, and the big idea more.

I enjoyed making the PowerPoint for this week. I love making power points, I just hope that I am not one of those teachers who uses a power point for every class and make them where they are not fun.

This week has been eventful. My granny Parthena had knee surgery, we finished setting out 20 acres of tobacco, I have pulled my back out doing so, my niece had an MRI (she is 9 months), my first cousin had surgery, her daughter and another cousin graduated, oh the list could go on and on. But, I made it through and looking forward to the next week of work.

Oh my!!!!!

The first experience with the modules was...well, different. I was and still am a little stressed about my work. However, I have learned new ideas in how I would design or think about my lessons or future units.

One of the big things that was brought to my attention was my lack of understanding of what the essential questions were and how they were to be used. It just took the simple phrase of "the big idea" that you wanted you students to get out of the unit. I have probably been told that before but it just didn't sink in until this week.