1. What are your favorite tools you now have in your personal technology toolbox? Briefly describe a particular activity that you will plan for your students using at least one of these new tools.
My favorites were the videos and Wordle. Videos are very engaging and many are succinct and present information clearly and with visual interest. I will use them to introduce new concepts and to reteach. Wordle can be used in so many ways to develop vocabulary. I will use it for sorting, outlining and introducing vocabulary related to a concept.
2. How have you transfomed your thinking about the learning that will take place in your classroom?
Since I am switching grade levels and content area this fall, my thinking has already been transformed, regardless of technology.
3. Were there any unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I was surprised by how time-consuming this was. I should have kept a log, but I know I spent well over 20 hours on this. I was also surprised by how much of my personal information I had to include in order to be allowed on certain sites. Also, I was not pleased with all the commercials I had to watch before I was able to view what I wanted - I must have watched the commercial from Mutual of Omaha about the woman who used to weigh 400 pounds about a dozen times! I mean, good for her for losing weight, but what does that have to do with an inservice? I did enjoy being able to communicate with coworkers and teachers from other schools to solve problems we were having.
Test is finished, too. On my first try, I was kicked off the site after question #26 because of a server problem - had to start over. Things like that were quite annoying.
I agree that visual presenations when done well are engaging. I like your widget where i'm looking for geometry in the images.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the commercials. Do you know what sites required you to watch it? Maybe we should consider removing those sites and using different ones.
The commercials were mainly when I was working on Tool #8. Before watching any video, I think on Teacher Tube (but I don't remember for certain), I had to watch a 30 second commercial for Mutual of Omaha. Since I must have watched a dozen or so videos to find something I liked, I had to watch that commercial each time.
ReplyDeleteYeah! You finished! I was frustrated too, about how much time the tools took, even though I was having fun exploring. Then I would look at the time and wonder where on earth the last hour or two (or more!) had gone. Hopefully you found some things to use in your new classroom though.
ReplyDelete