Reflection 4

As far as my experience with blogging goes, I have not had too much luck. My username and password never work, so I have to reset them eveytime I login to the Team Blog. I like what blogs are capable of, expecially the team blogs where we can post our own comments. It is very similar to our discussions on the M321 homepage with Letter Writing/Field Experiences.

As far as the E-portfolio goes, I am excited to be using this as a professional resource now and in the future as a teacher. I look forward to the completion of it in the future, because then I will see how far I have come in four years, what I have learned and gained from personal experiences, etc.

Reflection #4

My previous experience to blogging before this class was limited. I did have a Xanga website for a while, but I haven't updated it in a long time because I spend more time on Facebook. ;-) But I think having a blog can be very beneficial for my future classroom. I can use it to keep students and their families updated on classroom happenings, as well as post interesting things I find on the Internet. Since the Internet is becoming much more accessible, I think it will be a very good tool for communicating between the classroom and home lives of students.

Thus far, this class has helped me to find a new site to blog and how to use it. I'm interested in learning about how to post other things besides pictures, though. I'd also like to know if there was any way to build in a chat-room or discussion forum for students to talk to each other, instead of just leaving comments on my own posts.

Reflection #3

Throughout my K-12 experience, I encoutered different technologies in my classrooms. These include overhead projectors, computers, TVs, VCRs, calculators, DVDs, the Internet, cell phones, and satellite TV. The best tecnology integration I had in school was in high school. My pre-calculus teacher hooked up her calculator to the overhead projector to show us how to solve problems on our own. The technologies I've had the most experience with inclue the Internet, word processing, e-mail, and power point. The least amount of experience includes podcasts, creating web pages, and games/simulation. I would most like to learn how to create and maintain a website during this course.

The video shown in class two weeks ago included many of my "top five" technological innovations. These include the smart boards, blogs, podcasts, video/audio conferencing, and websites. In my own classroom, I would use blogs and podcasts to keep my students and their families updated on what is going on in my class, as well as giving and receiving feedback. This I think would also be good to post interesting things for student access. The main thing I learned from that class period is that technology is not limited to chalk boards and computers with power point. It is always evolving and there will always be new things to integrate into one's classroom.