Final Reflection

It's the end of the semester, and I feel very accomplished. I have learned so many things related to technology and I cannot wait to use these new ideas in my future classroom. I am so proud of my classroom website, and I cannot wait to share it with friends, family, and future parents of my students. I do feel that I will continue using many of the various Google tools introduced this semester, especially the presentations and Google docs. Overall, I have enjoyed the semester and feel much more confident in my technology ability.

Reflection over iMovie

The process of creating an iMovie was very labor intensive for me. I had never completed anything like this and there were many components to work through. I especially had trouble adding captions to each slide and the transitions were a little confusing too. Part of the trouble was probably due to the fact that I am not very familiar with using a Mac. Next time, I think I will use the Movie Maker on a PC instead. Upon completion, I feel very accomplished and I definitely feel that I will use my "About Me" video when introducing myself to future classes.

Digital Story

Interactive Spreadsheet Activity

Creating an interactive spreadsheet provided an opportunity for me to see how to effectively use worksheets to produce questions at a higher level. Because so much of what children see in classrooms today is basic skills, this provided an opportunity for me to see how to create a worksheet that is truly beneficial. I do believe that this activity was time consuming and I am not sure if I will actually be able to implement these when I am a classroom teacher. On the other hand, the Google design templates shown to us in class was very interesting and I am sure I will use those in the classroom as a great time saver!!

Reflection over Inspiration Activity

I really enjoyed creating the writing process diagram using Inspiration. The tool was fairly easy to navigate and I can see myself using this tool for the upper grades. However, the application would be a little confusing for 2nd or 3rd grade; therefore, I would probably use this as a teaching tool for introducing a new concept or skill.

Inspiration: The Writing Process

Reflection over Google Presentation

As I reflect over the scavenger hunt and Google presentation activity, I feel very accomplished after completing the presentation. Taking the pictures outside was a fun way of taking digital images and uploading them to Picasa. I also really liked how simple and easy the presentation tool was. There were not many bells and whistles to learn and I believe children in my future class could use this tool with little practice.