Final Reflection

I think I have achieved all the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the semester.  I really am proud of all the work I have accomplished, especially my Digital Story and WebQuest.  I already used my WebQuest in my classes and have shown my Scientific Method movie to the middle school kids before they took their TCAP. 

 

Blogging in the Classroom

I'm not sure how blogging will be received in my classroom. A lot of my students do not have reliable access to computers or internet. I would love to be able to blog and have my students really get involved in it. I think it would be a really helpful tool for them. I'll give it a go and see what happens. I guess that's the best that any teacher can expect from a new teaching technique.

 

Safety Minute

Every class period we started with a Safety Minute, which was usually more than a minute. I enjoyed having these discussions because it allowed us as a class to bond and tell funny stories on ourselves but also be serious about things that have nothing to do with our class. I try to be more aware, especially when driving, now because or our safety minutes.

 

 

Digital Story Telling

 

We had to make a digital story, basically, a movie last week.  It was a lot of fun but really time consuming.  The content was easy to put together but getting the photos was the hardest part.  I think, though, that my video came out really well.  I did it on the Scientific Method.  I have since shared it with my middle school students in preparation for TCAP.  I hope it helps them out by giving them another way to look at the steps of the Scientific Method.

 

Digital Diagram

I really liked the Inspiration software that we used to create the digital diagram.  I thought it was very user-friendly and had great stock images.  My concern is how expensive would it be to get a site license for the school.  I would love to use it with my students and have them create their own diagrams and connections.

 

Interactive Whiteboard

I use ActivInspire in my classes currently.  This week we go to play with the different tools that are available in the interactive whiteboard.  I wish that I had more time in the school day to incorporate more in my lessons.  Unfortunately, I don't have a plan period so can't really put in new stuff for my students.  There's always new stuff to try in class and not enough time to do so.

Midterm

I've passed the halfway point in TPTE 486.  We've used some interesting tools to help us incorporate technology in our classes.  I've enjoyed all the different types of tech we've used.  I really want to try the digital scavenger hunt in my class sometime.  Maybe have the students find examples of different mixtures, like heterogeneous and homogeneous.