As I reflect on our last class together, and more importantly the entire class as a whole, I realize how much I will actually take away. I was slightly frustrated at first when it seemed like all we were doing was project after project, but then I came to the realization that you were teaching in a constructivist style, a style in which I use quite often (even though have not really realized it).
I thoroughly enjoyed working on the physical model project with my students and I think they had quite a bit of fun with it as well. I've struggled this term in finding interesting labs for my CISCO students to work through actually hands-on (most of their labs are done using a simulation program, PacketTracer, on their computers). This project proved to be a perfect opportunity to get these guys out of their seats and think creatively. It was a success- I look forward to doing this with students in future courses I teach.
It was very beneficial to me that you had us develop technology mini units because it really got me thinking about preparing for my courses next semester. I hardly ever repeat courses, so I am continually developing new curriculum and introducing new projects and activities into my teaching. I initially thought I would do my technology mini-unit on podcasting, but didn't have the resources to complete it quite yet. Consequently I decided to develop the newsletter unit that I had initially developed off of a project I did in high school. I look forward to doing the unit and actually distributing the handout to the various business classes next term.
Our community building technology lesson was a repeat of a lesson I have done with my students previously, but I enjoyed sharing the idea with Candy, Tika, and the other teachers in our class. I love teaching Adobe programs - probably because it's impossible to learn everything each program has to offer. It was neat we were able to collaborate together all of the technology tools we could (laptop, camera, voice recorder, etc) into one lesson. The students love it...after all, they're multitasking like crazy. The assignment itself proved to be very valuable- it was neat to see the software and tools the other group presented to us.
I dreaded working on the metaphor paper from the instant you presented the assignment to us, but as I developed my ideas and started to write it down on paper it actually got to be pretty exciting. I asked lots of my friends and coworkers how I could further develop my idea and before I knew it my mind really got creative (so I thought). I think now that I'm actually done I am proud of my metaphor. I joke about it quite a bit with my roommates, who heard me complain about it quite a bit as I was starting off!
Overall, this class has already been a valuable learning opportunity. I constantly think about my classroom and what I can do to establish more of a community within it's doors. I've thought about this many times in the past working as a RA/CA, but it is slightly different working in a classroom and working with an entirely different age group. Thank you for your dedication in helping to further my professional development. Good luck with everything at Ties!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Reflection 12/19/07
Happy New Year!
As I think back to our last class, Web 2.0 sticks in my mind, in addition to the projects we've been assigned. My group has a very good start on the technology enhanced/community building activity, and I'm actually pretty excited to present it to the others. The lesson is taken from an idea I started with one of my courses at the beginning of this year.
Tika and I are working on becoming more familiar with CISCO's NetSpace, a social networking (yet still educational) tool that we integrate in our CISCO classes.
I'm done with my technology "model"...which my students thoroughly enjoyed working on with me. The metaphor paper is still in the works, along with the technology mini-unit.
I've really started to discover new ways of integrating web 2.0 tools in my classrooms- Moodle being one of the most valuable options. I look forward to working with it more...as well as other web 2.0 tools.
As I think back to our last class, Web 2.0 sticks in my mind, in addition to the projects we've been assigned. My group has a very good start on the technology enhanced/community building activity, and I'm actually pretty excited to present it to the others. The lesson is taken from an idea I started with one of my courses at the beginning of this year.
Tika and I are working on becoming more familiar with CISCO's NetSpace, a social networking (yet still educational) tool that we integrate in our CISCO classes.
I'm done with my technology "model"...which my students thoroughly enjoyed working on with me. The metaphor paper is still in the works, along with the technology mini-unit.
I've really started to discover new ways of integrating web 2.0 tools in my classrooms- Moodle being one of the most valuable options. I look forward to working with it more...as well as other web 2.0 tools.
Online Chat
When first hearing about having the opportunity to do an online chat as part of our class, I got excited and looked forward to the session. I've taken many different online classes and never had the chance to actually chat with the entire class. Although I think it could be used effectively, I think it would be very difficult to manage and clearly assure that topics are discussed. Connection has to be taken into account, assuring that all participants are able to establish a definite, dependable/reliable way of logging into the site and participating in the chat. I noticed this caused problems for a few of us.
I found the Moodle chat to be rather slow, comparing it to other chats that I've used before (i.e. AOL). It tooks moments, sometimes minutes, for my messages to appear...and in order for it to be effective, messages need to appear instantaneously, especially when responding directly to other participants.
As I think to myself about the option of using the chat in my classroom, I truly do think it would add value to the students' education. I teach some rather introverted computer "nerds" (not to steroeotype) who would benefit by participating through chat vs. speaking out in class. I'll have to give it a try and see how it goes.
I found the Moodle chat to be rather slow, comparing it to other chats that I've used before (i.e. AOL). It tooks moments, sometimes minutes, for my messages to appear...and in order for it to be effective, messages need to appear instantaneously, especially when responding directly to other participants.
As I think to myself about the option of using the chat in my classroom, I truly do think it would add value to the students' education. I teach some rather introverted computer "nerds" (not to steroeotype) who would benefit by participating through chat vs. speaking out in class. I'll have to give it a try and see how it goes.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Reflection 12/5/07
As I reflect back on the last class session, all I can continue to think about is communities and community building. I never realized how prevalent community building is in my daily life. From work, to school (not only this class, but other classes in which I am enrolled), to daily social encounters with family, friends, and acquaintances, I'm recognizing the many different types of communities that I'm surrounded with and the many different ways they've been built...some stronger than others.
I have been working with my students in class at varying different levels of bond in terms of having a community built. My first-block CISCO "nerds" have a very different climate and sense of togetherness than my 32 fourth-block extroverted yearbook kids. ...and then I think back to the community I built within my keyboarding classes last year (again, a TOTALLY different environment). And we have this advisory period, weekly, on Wednesdays. Last year I had a group of 23 seniors...and this year I have 24 freshmen. WOW...what a difference it is. Neat thing though is that I'll have these 24 freshmen from day 1 to graduation. I have missed a lot of school over the course of this semester due to many different professional development opportunities, but I look forward to watching these freshmen grow over the course of their first year.
I have been working with my students in class at varying different levels of bond in terms of having a community built. My first-block CISCO "nerds" have a very different climate and sense of togetherness than my 32 fourth-block extroverted yearbook kids. ...and then I think back to the community I built within my keyboarding classes last year (again, a TOTALLY different environment). And we have this advisory period, weekly, on Wednesdays. Last year I had a group of 23 seniors...and this year I have 24 freshmen. WOW...what a difference it is. Neat thing though is that I'll have these 24 freshmen from day 1 to graduation. I have missed a lot of school over the course of this semester due to many different professional development opportunities, but I look forward to watching these freshmen grow over the course of their first year.
As I do my reflecting on communities, I always spring back to the various online communities that I am a part of. My roommates and I had a Christmas party on Saturday night and I think to myself about how much work the invitation process would have been without Facebook, MySpace, and text messaging. I'm almost overwhelmed at how fast technology is changing these days - and we're sitting in one of the most frustrating positions, struggling to stay on top and continue to deliver the newest, freshest technology available.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Reflection 11/28/07
I walked into class not really knowing what to expect. I've heard about this technology integration course and how it can help me advance my professional career...but that was about it. And finally the class starts. I expected quite a few people to show- but surprisingly there's only about 8 of us. It was neat to hear throughout the class the different perspectives, comparing my high school experiences with the elementary level ones.
Communities ...was the core concept/topic of this week's class. I've been involved with community development for quite a few years now, but never really realized how prevalent it was in my teaching career.
Let me give you a little background. All through high school I was a pretty quiet kid who was interested in technology of all sorts. I worked as the audio/visual techie in the performing arts center and filmed the weekly school board and city hall board meetings. Then I decided to attend Winona State University for business education. One of my high school business teachers actually suggested the idea to me. So I went off to college, and can positively say that I changed quite a bit. I became super involved on campus, made lots of friends, and really started to come out of my shell. I had a horrible RA, who actually got fired during the 2nd week of school, so as the year progressed, I thought I might enjoy such a position. I applied...and was hired. I worked as a RA on a co-ed floor of 50 students my sophomore year, probably was the best year of my life. I built an absolutely amazing community- everyone got along (for the most part!), my residents hung out with one another, doors were always open, it was a pleasant place to live. I decided to advanced myself to a more challenging position as community assistant for the remainder of my college career. As a community assistant I was in charge of developing a community of 100 residents of my co-ed apartment building. It was hard- students were cooped up in their 1/2/or 4 bedroom apartments...doors weren't open anymore...and it was tough. But I managed to do it- lots of pizza parties, social gatherings, service projects, grill outs, midnight breakfasts, and more.
Alright, enough of that. So now you know my background in communities...in the sense of how I've developed them in the past. I've taken the initiative to put a strong emphasis on the community development in my classes over the course of last year to help my students feel a sense of belonging- in hope that they'd enjoy class. I look back at my classes last year and my webpage design class- term 2, block 3, really stands out. The students in this class really built a strong bond with one another...two are actually still dating. Many of them keep in contact with me still...a year later.
We discussed communities...and there were still ideas that had never crossed my mind. Communities in many different areas- from online- to residential (in terms of where we live), from my career- to being a citizen of the US. Communities surround us in many different fashions and at many different levels.
I look forward to learning more about communities and how I can use technology as a medium for creating an established community in my many different classroom environments.
Communities ...was the core concept/topic of this week's class. I've been involved with community development for quite a few years now, but never really realized how prevalent it was in my teaching career.
Let me give you a little background. All through high school I was a pretty quiet kid who was interested in technology of all sorts. I worked as the audio/visual techie in the performing arts center and filmed the weekly school board and city hall board meetings. Then I decided to attend Winona State University for business education. One of my high school business teachers actually suggested the idea to me. So I went off to college, and can positively say that I changed quite a bit. I became super involved on campus, made lots of friends, and really started to come out of my shell. I had a horrible RA, who actually got fired during the 2nd week of school, so as the year progressed, I thought I might enjoy such a position. I applied...and was hired. I worked as a RA on a co-ed floor of 50 students my sophomore year, probably was the best year of my life. I built an absolutely amazing community- everyone got along (for the most part!), my residents hung out with one another, doors were always open, it was a pleasant place to live. I decided to advanced myself to a more challenging position as community assistant for the remainder of my college career. As a community assistant I was in charge of developing a community of 100 residents of my co-ed apartment building. It was hard- students were cooped up in their 1/2/or 4 bedroom apartments...doors weren't open anymore...and it was tough. But I managed to do it- lots of pizza parties, social gatherings, service projects, grill outs, midnight breakfasts, and more.
Alright, enough of that. So now you know my background in communities...in the sense of how I've developed them in the past. I've taken the initiative to put a strong emphasis on the community development in my classes over the course of last year to help my students feel a sense of belonging- in hope that they'd enjoy class. I look back at my classes last year and my webpage design class- term 2, block 3, really stands out. The students in this class really built a strong bond with one another...two are actually still dating. Many of them keep in contact with me still...a year later.
We discussed communities...and there were still ideas that had never crossed my mind. Communities in many different areas- from online- to residential (in terms of where we live), from my career- to being a citizen of the US. Communities surround us in many different fashions and at many different levels.
I look forward to learning more about communities and how I can use technology as a medium for creating an established community in my many different classroom environments.
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