Class Reflection

Okay so its been 25 years since I've been in a classroom and had no idea what to expect from a grad level class and absolutely no clue about what an on-line class might entail.  I was very nervous to even show up for the first class.  It wasnt at all like i expected.   I loved the pacing and the ability to do things when I could do them.  Doc Luongo was right on top of us all semester with little reminders like, "module 6 is to be complete by tomorrow night at midnight."  It was her way of saying if you havent done your work yet...get your act together and do it.  

I learned an unbelievable amount about what was out there in the world to bring interesting ideas and activities to the classroom rather than just a chalkboard and an overhead projector.  I will definitely have a web page for my classes when i start teaching.  what a fantastic way to communicate with parents and let them know what is going on in the classroom.  This is a great way for kids to keep up on homework if they miss school or forget to write down an assignment--and parents for that matter to know what the kid should be working on.  

Technology in the classroom is a must and i know that now that i have been through this class.  I will always be looking for a way to integrate technology into a lesson plan and look for interesting ways to improve learning.

and Doc--you are very inspiring!  from the notes that you sent after we submitted assignments, to your energy and enthusiasm in the classroom--and your passion for the subject was contagious!  thank you for doing such a great job and I'm looking forward to the reading-hybrid course this summer!

not impressed with the CLRN

i dont see the big deal about the CLRN site.  maybe ten years ago, but i tried using the site to search lesson plans for ideas, and the information that came back was very limited and disorganized.  It was hard to find and sort it.  i had better success when i searched for lesson plans using google.  i get the whole concept of the site as being a one stop shop for all your resource needs, but the internal search engine was slow and ineffective.  

When I found out what a web information link was, i went on the link to check some out.  When I got there, there was a link giving a tutorial on the WIL's.  All right already can you give me some kind of information I can use and enough with the bells and whistles.

I will not be visiting the site again.

lesson plan

okay so i know i'm back in all these grad school classes as the oldest one in the room, but it really hit me when i had to do a technology enhanced lesson plan.  I can't even say I'm old school as a teacher, because I'm not teaching yet.  But this assignment was just what I needed.  It forced me into thinking about all the possibilities and potential for bringing interesting and innovative ideas into the classroom.  

Visiting some of the sites and reading the articles was a great introduction to all the possibilities. The page from the Library of Congress was very interesting to me.  Just laying out all the ideas about using primary sources -- selecting sources, organizing instruction, and activities for the instruction cycle laid out things for me very well.  I'm glad people who know what they're doing have thought all this through so I don't have to think about any of this and use all their expertise to do my lessons!

facebook

These kids have no idea what they are doing. I have kids that have written things, posted pictures, and it is disturbing! They dont realize that all their friends can see the pictures and they can give passwords to other friends so that they can view them too. There have already been other issues about kids posting things that have caused trouble among friends as well. As simple and short as these videos were, they were to the point and very effective. Are they shown in schools?

the book

I loved "the book" video.  When i first saw the title i thought it was a way to introduce a new text book to a classroom!  ( I was way off there!)  it was a great example of how we take things for granted and assume that people can do them and understand them with out instruction.  Simple things like flipping a page, starting from the right side of the book, and not worrying about losing data when the page is flipped are illustrative of things that are common sense to us, but because they were new to the guy in the video he had no idea how to react.  

This was also very poignant as new technology is introduced into the classroom.  Old school teachers don't have the technical training, desire, or savvy in most cases to implement new technology to their classes.  The only people that suffer in these cases are the students.  

With all the different topics we've been introduced to in this class, it is a shame that students aren't all able to enjoy these technological advancements.

aggravation, then success

Okay, so I thought I was almost done with my web page when I left class last week--big misconception there!  I spent a lot of time figuring out the quirkiness of the software involved.  I wound up with a bunch of lost pages, i put a lot of information in the wrong places, and things i put in the right places didn't show up where they were supposed to be.  Then there were several items that I put on the page, saved on the page, went back to and saw on the page, only to find them disappear at a later date!  Extremely aggravating!  So I think I finally finished it and have everything in place and then comes the concept of actually turning in the assignment.  Good luck with that one!  Despite help from the good Dr. Luongo, I'm still not even sure that she has what she needs.  I copied the "parent letter form" and pasted it in an email to her.  I will keep you posted on the outcome and good luck with the Scholastic Site!

Scholastic Web Page

I couldn't believe how easy the Scholastic site made it to create your own class room website.  The way Mrs. Conrad had her schedule set up, there is no way for anybody to say they weren't ready, or didn't know about, or nobody told them about assignments or what was happening in the class.  This is something that parents must really appreciate.  I know that my high school daughters have not always been "forthright" in their reporting of their status and standing in their classes. (you know, cuz they don't want to lose texting or facebook privileges).  I would love to be able to go on the site and see what they got on tests and what they were doing on homework assignments.  This is a way of communicating with parents and students that was never before possible.  Think about even 5 years ago...you had to wait for parent/teacher conferences or you had to call the school, and wait for a return call back, then schedule a meeting, then meet the teacher.  You want to know why your kid got a "C" its all right there in black and white!