Final Reflection

TPTE taught me about programs I never knew existed, but even better,  it taught me how to use the programs I was familiar with more efficiently.  It is amazing to me how technology changes so rapidly, and how things I couldn't even fathom a year ago can be easily done by an inexperienced computer user in seconds.  I definitely see the usefulness of the course.  I wish I had taken it in full session because so many things were crammed into a short time frame.  Luckily we were taught the basics, and from there, I know that I can experiment with these various programs until i learn what works for me.  I think the most shocking thing I learned was about how one can upload their documents to google docs and anyone with permission can access them from any computer. I tend to be forget full and either not email my work to myself or loose my jump drive, but with google docs, all my work is there. I was totally surprised how imovie automatically saves your work...I have gotten use to pushing *control 's'* for years, and now I don't have to! I also love how a group can work on one page from different computers.  The fat that so many of these programs are out there and I didn't know helps reinforce to me the fact that continued professional development is highly necessary for me as an educator.  I must stay familiar with the latest things so that my students can have the opportunity o take advantage of the wonderful usages of technology!

About the Digital Story

I am glad to have learned how to make my own digital story! I see many great uses for slideshows in the classroom.  I have always wondered how people get music to accompany their digital stories and how they do the transitions, and now I know!  I'd always thought I would have to pay someone to put my photos into a digital story but because of TPTE, I know how to do it myself.  iMovie makes it extremely easy to create your own digital story, and since my iTunes music uploaded directly to the application, I was able to easily draw music for the particular parts.  I will definitely use imovie myself and I plan to teach my students how to use it as well!

Digital Story: About ME

Google Forms/Spreadsheet

One of the most useful tools we have learned in TPTE this year has to be Google Forms. Google forms is a great way to give a text or survey!! Not only can you make your own test, but you can choose between whether or not the desired answer is going to be multiple choice or short answer.

The spreadsheet was pretty interesting. I liked the fact that one could lock portions of it so that students could neither type over it nor see the answers. I would use google forms before the spreadsheet simply because of all the steps required in spreadsheets. One has to be very knowledgeable about Excel to create a spreadsheet quiz in a timely fashion. I think it took me entirely too long to complete the project.

Inspiration Project

I feel indifferent towards Inspiration. I could see its usefulness but I felt like any other program could have done what inspiration did. I do favor Inspiration over brainstorming with pencil and pen. I also favor inspiration over trying to make a web chart on word. Still, I didn't think Inspiration was that great. I may or may not use this as a teacher. I definitely wont use it for personal use.

Scavenger Hunt

Digital Collection Activity

I used a digital camera, a scanner, 2 Web sources, and the computer, to obtain a collection of digital images and share in Picasa!! My theme: Tennessee Football! :-) Enjoy!

Wiki Post

So far, I really like the wiki.  I don't like the fact that only one person can access something at a time because it locks the page. That can potentially be frustrating. I did, however like the fact that we can all be working on our own pages and ultimately link them to one page.   I really enjoyed making the Picnik wiki with my partner in class. Here is the link to the resource wikis for our class:
 http://486sum11web20.pbworks.com/w/page/41418050/Web
Make sure you click on Picnik to see the wiki I made!

Evaluating Websites Part 2.

kidsclick.org
I evaluated Kids Click, a web search sight for kids that was designed by librarians.  Its purpose is to guide young users to valuable and age appropriate web sites. It is located at kidsclick.org.  
I would deflinitely recommend this for use in a K-12 classroom. It is a web search sight that produces kid-friendly results. It is much more exclusive with the sources it connects you to than a search engine sight such as Google is.  KidsClick provides resources that are organized by reading level.  It does a good job of filtering out information that would not be kid appropriate.  It is easy to navigate, and is maintained by librarians and professionals at Kent State University in their informational sciences department.

Website Evaluation Tool

http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/eval.html
I found this website under the Google Directory of website evaluation sites.  I believe it is a good source to use when evaluating a website's quality for any research purpose.  It presents the criteria for a good website in a way that is easy to navigate and understand and for that reason, I think it is a good resource for young students. 

Course Expectations

Course Expectations I expect to become more comfortable with the Mac computer because I am a PC person.  I also expect to become more comfortable with the various programs we learn to use in the course.  I can easily become complacent and I am fine with just using the few programs I am familiar with, however I expect to branch out in this course.

Introduction to the Class

Informal Introduction To Class

I grew up in Memphis, TN, where I attended Central High School.  I discovered that I wanted to teach after I was asked to teach both Sunday School and VBS at my home church, Greer Chapel AME.  I later began volunteering with the Children's Museum of Memphis and I enjoyed that so much that I knew I had a passion for working with children.  I hope to teach 1st or 2nd grade. For fun, I enjoying playing the piano and singing. In my free time, I like to make covers for songs that are currently popular. I am also a server, and I really like being waitress . I am hoping to start bar-tending soon.  My background with computers and technology started in elementary school. I attend a technology school that had a news station and I worked with the cameras as well as the teleprompters.  I was also a member of the techy-team at that school. We learned about new programs that, at the time, were things like power point, and I went around to teachers showing them how to use those various programs.