Jenny May Stewart’s Weblog
Another excellent Edublogs.org weblog
Jenny May Stewart’s Final Blog
Things That Made Me Think This Semester
This class has been a really big challenge for me but a good one! It has also opened my eyes to the technology out there that I was never even aware of! Many of the things that we learned in this class are so useful and not only for teachers but anyone. It is so hard to narrow it down to just 5 things that were WOW moments for me but here we go.
  1. The first thing this semester that really made me think was podcasting. At first I didn’t really think it would be fun or useful to listen to the 3 podcasts a week but as the semester went on, I realized I couldn’t have been more wrong. Podcasts are so awesome and they offer so much information just at the flick of a button.
  2. The second thing this semester that I thought was really neat was the social networking sites like twitter. I had never even heard of twitter until this class and now I see how many benefits it has. I think it is so cool to be able to connect with people from all over the world and share ideas quickly because of twitter.
  3. The third thing this semester hat I really enjoyed was trying something different like Moodle. Using Moodle was a lot of fun, and it gave us ideas for things to do in the future. I liked the way it was organized and set up. The only thing that I didn’t like about Moodle was that it was a bit hard to see if you had already completed something. I know that sounds silly because we should be able to keep track but this feature would have made it easier.
  4. The fourth thing that was awesome to learn and was completely new to me was the ToonDoo website. I think that being able to make a cartoon would be so cool and appealing to the students. It is amazing that this website had so many different graphics to choose from that would make your cartoon appealing. This was one of the more appealing and entertaining assignments we had this semester.
  5. The fifth thing that was a WOW thing for me this semester was the voice threads. I think that the voice thread assignment was my favorite. This is something that I will continue to use throughout my schooling as well as my teaching career.

 

What Tools Will You Use In Future

There were a lot of tools that I really liked this semester but I plan to continue using my Website, Toondoo, Del.icio.us, Voicethread, Big Universe and possible some of the others. I think that many of these tools were fun and interesting and can be used by teachers and students. I have saved many of these websites on my delicious page so that I can use them in other classes as well as in my own classroom. I hope to get into a school that encourages teachers to teach one another about many things that way I can share some of what I have learned in this class with my colleagues.

Favorite Podcast PresenterI enjoyed a lot of the podcast presenters but if I had to pick one that was my favorite, it would have to be Kevin Honeycutt. I really enjoyed a majority of his podcasts because they kept me very interested and they were all very informative. I thought it was so neat that he did a lot of his podcast while he was on the road in different locations where he could discuss things not only in Kansas but other states. I also liked how some of his podcasts talked about technology and how others focused on different subjects. It also seemed like he would try to get as many guests to join his show as possible which made it more interesting.
Classmates Websites There were a lot of really good websites but I would have to say that my 3 favorite were Carolyn’s, Amy’s, and Hunters. I really liked Carolyn’s because it was different then the rest. It wasn’t super colorful but I enjoyed the classroom theme that she had on it as well as the way she ran her links down the side of the page which made it easier to navigate. Amy’s website was very professional looking yet still displayed her personality well. I really like how she put a small explanation next to her links so that you knew what that project was all about. Last but not least, Hunter’s website appeals to me because of the color as well as the layout. I enjoy the pictures that he added because it gives it a personal touch instead of just a professional one.
Reflect About Your Own Website

I have to say that making my own website was very frustrating but in the end very rewarding. At first I struggled with the design as well as adding things to the page. Once I got some time to spend messing around with it, I was able to link things to it as well as a picture. The one thing that I don’t like about my website is that it didn’t have much of a personal touch like many of the other websites. I plan to do more to my website in the future and hopefully change it’s look so that it reflects me a little better. I also didn’t think that the google pages were very flexible when it came to designing. Here is my website if you are interested in looking at it. http://jenny9may.googlepages.com/home

Think About Education Throughout my semesters in the Elementary Education Program, I have yet to hear a single teacher say that they are in favor of No Child Left Behind Act. I think that right there should say something about it. If professional educators who are preparing us to be teachers don’t agree with it then why would we. I am not all that familiar with NCLB expect for what I have learned in school therefore I am not sure that I know whether what I hear is right or wrong. NCLB states that every child will all be at the same level for each grade by a certain time. However, people do not understand that each and every student learn at a different rate, and they so not always comprehend things the same way. So, in the end, there will always be students that need special education, or will be in honor classes, and there will be students that be where they need to be which is right in the middle.

 

July 20th, 2008 at 4:23 pm | Comments & Trackbacks (0) | Permalink