Week 6 Class Overview

We completed our last class yesterday. I found this class to be very interesting in several ways I did not expect. First, I am begining to understand how I can become very involved in my school technology. As I mentioned in my last blog I am giving serious consideration to join the Cedarburg Technology Committee. Even though I have taken only two classes I feel that I am becoming more confident in my knowledge on technology specifically software. Prior to the last month I would never have considered taking part in a software discussion let alone have the confidence to evaluate potential software. This was an area that I simply stayed away from because of lack of confidence. Prior to taking the last two classes my computer skills were low average at best. I am beginning to have more confidence with basic skills such as blogging, google docs, and Excel. Besides the software rubrics I felt that the recipe assignment on Excel was probably the most useful for me. I have used Excel in the past but not until this class did I realize some of the cool things that it was capable of doing. I plan to continue using Excel but now in a more productive way. This class has given me the confidence to play around with programs such as excel, google docs, and even my own person e-mail account on yahoo. I have been on my own yahoo e-mail for nine years and never created an address book. Also, prior to writing by blog I went into ITunes and created a play list for when I am working on future assignments. Much of the information we discussed and learned about in class is very practical and an unexpected outcome for me has been how quickly I have gained confidance in some of these skills.

Week 5 Blog

This past week we have spent a great deal of time looking at software rubric sheets and writing and talking about staff development in relation to technology.  I have had the privilege of speaking to several of my colleges about this issue during the course of the week.  Everyone seems to agree that more technological staff development time would be great for both the staff, and for the advancement of student achievement.  What I like about this class is that not only have we identified the need for more technological staff development, but we have also come up with some solutions as to how to go about getting more time.  When I spoke with my colleges about the solution aspect they were very impressed that I actually had ideas about how to get more time for us.  From a personal standpoint I am going to take a serious look at joining the district technology committee.  Of the solutions discussed, joining the technology committee seems to be the most practical, and the solution that could have the greatest potential impact.  One of my colleges is currently on the technology committee and would welcome more input form our department.  So my personal goal is to take advantage of the technological committee and to become more involved with this process.  

Week 4 Blog

I looked at a video on student learning.  The video I stumbled on was a video that took place at the 2006 TED conference.  The TED conference consists of groups of experts who are the leaders in the fields of their respective professions.  The person I watched was Ken Robinson who is an expert in the field of educational philosophy.  The video that I watched was not only entertaining and funny but also very powerful.  It seems as though we need to re-think our educational ideas.  According to Mr. Ken Robinson we are educating our students with classes, ideas, and standards that are antiquated.   Our technology is moving so quickly that we don't even know what opportunities will exist two to three years from now.  Where I draw this discussion into our class is when it comes to creativity.  In order to excel in our future economy students will not only have to have the basic skills, but they will need to be creative.  Through technology we can enhance this creativity in our students.  By empowering our students with the confidence to try new ideas and to take risks with their work we will enhance the creativity process.  It is through risk taking and creativity that our students will  gain the confidence to try new ideas and to think independent  original quality thoughts.  

Week 3 Response

How I plan to use Excel in my classroom. There are several way that I plan to use excel in my classroom. First, I currently use Excel in my classroom to sort my students and teachers. As a special education teacher I am constantly tracking my students. At the start of each year I input all of my students into a spread sheet. For the remainder of the year I can sort my students according to teacher, hour, and by groups. Having used the Excel in the recipe assignment I have come up with new uses for excel. I am always having to modify labs being a special education teacher. Most labs are set up for a classroom full of 20+ students. Well, now with the new information that I learned from the excel assignment I can take the labs for 20+ students and bring them down to a lab for 4-6 students keeping all of the material the same and simply adjusting them for the smaller numbers. I feel that the new skills I learned on Excel will help me in my collaboration efforts as well. When I send lesson to teachers that require materials I will be able to send them in excel and the teachers can adjust the necessary materials to fit the lesson that they are trying to teach to thier particular class (handouts, labs, etc..). This will save time and seeing as how I am currently teaching an inclusion Biology class I feel I can put this to work right away.

Week II Reflection

This evening we discussed some different aspects of technology.  We watched a video in class where we saw just how linked the majority of our students are to technology.  I have stated earlier in some of writings some of my personal apprehensions about technology.  However, as I have continued taking classes and reflecting on my feelings I am becoming more comfortable.  I am aware of many of the concerns and pitfalls of technology.  However, I feel that I am doing my students a dis-service if I continue to avoid using technology and expanding my technological knowledge base .  

I enjoyed our lesson on different search engines.  In fact I was able to use "LIVE SEACRCH" to help me find a photograph that I was unable to find using google.  The photo I was looking for was a picture of Duke Kahnakamoku (Hawaiian surfing legend) and Babe Ruth.  I had searched for this picture before with no luck, but I was able to find the picture and use it in class as a result of using "LIVE SEARCH". 

Introduction to the Internet

This is a test to see if I am actually "blogging"