Final Project
1.) Discuss the TWO tools that were your personal favorites from the semester and why.
My first favorite tool is the iMovie tool which I used in my iMovie trailer project. This tool allows students to create a movie or a trailer and can be used by an entire group to edit clips and create a really unique and interesting piece of work. I used this on two seperate occasions, the first time was to create an iMovie trailer all about shapes, and the second was in my Celebrating Kansas Voices project. For the trailer, I was able to pick a theme and play music in the trailer and use not only video, but photographs as well. In my Celebrating Kansas Voices project, I used it not only as a multimedia outlet to create my video on, but I was able to edit some of the video and add transitions. This is useful in a classroom setting because it minimizes the amount of work that a teacher has to sit down and grade and allows students to put only their best work in their movies instead of any other fluff that sometimes gets added.
My second favorite tool that I used this semester was BookCreator, another iPad app, which I used to create a QR code book in my QR Code project. With BookCreator, students are able to make their own e-book which can compose of anything that they want it to. I found that when I created this e-book, I was able to add background photos, text, and even sound if it calls for it. I enjoyed the simplicity of the app as every editing tool is found in one place and the app has a user friendly layout. Students in my class can use this to showcase some of their journal enteries or other pieces of work that I may assign to them. This is especially up my alley as a prospective English teacher. I had a great deal of fun playing with this as well, as everything is able to be made uniquely and however crazy the student wants it to be, making it a tool that I will attempt to implement in my own classroom.
2.) Reflect on what you have accomplished & learned this semester.
My view of technology in the classroom has definitely changed. Prior to my enrollment in this course, I had been an advocate for technology in the classroom but never really knew how to implement it in a practical manner. Knowing what I know now will be immensely helpful as I now know a few tools that will allow active student engagement in my classroom. It did suprise me that I had struggled with formating on the Weebly site for a long time but I think that I have come leaps and bounds since the beginning of the semester and the first use of the website building tool. After taking this course, I feel more willing and able to integrate technology in my classroom as I have the knowledge and tools to create engaging lessons. However, I do want to make sure that technology is not our only form of learning. As I have found out, technology, in all of its modern greatness, does fail at times and I want to give students a break from that at times and challenge them to really rely on themselves as learners and to maintain a positive face to face work environment. Overall, I feel as though this course, as much as some hate to admit, is completely necessary and maybe one of the most benificial, in terms of actual teaching practice, to becoming an effective teacher. It wasn't always easy, but using the tools that were presented to me has helped me grow as a teacher and as a digital citizen which is exactly my goal for students when I get into a classroom.
My first favorite tool is the iMovie tool which I used in my iMovie trailer project. This tool allows students to create a movie or a trailer and can be used by an entire group to edit clips and create a really unique and interesting piece of work. I used this on two seperate occasions, the first time was to create an iMovie trailer all about shapes, and the second was in my Celebrating Kansas Voices project. For the trailer, I was able to pick a theme and play music in the trailer and use not only video, but photographs as well. In my Celebrating Kansas Voices project, I used it not only as a multimedia outlet to create my video on, but I was able to edit some of the video and add transitions. This is useful in a classroom setting because it minimizes the amount of work that a teacher has to sit down and grade and allows students to put only their best work in their movies instead of any other fluff that sometimes gets added.
My second favorite tool that I used this semester was BookCreator, another iPad app, which I used to create a QR code book in my QR Code project. With BookCreator, students are able to make their own e-book which can compose of anything that they want it to. I found that when I created this e-book, I was able to add background photos, text, and even sound if it calls for it. I enjoyed the simplicity of the app as every editing tool is found in one place and the app has a user friendly layout. Students in my class can use this to showcase some of their journal enteries or other pieces of work that I may assign to them. This is especially up my alley as a prospective English teacher. I had a great deal of fun playing with this as well, as everything is able to be made uniquely and however crazy the student wants it to be, making it a tool that I will attempt to implement in my own classroom.
2.) Reflect on what you have accomplished & learned this semester.
My view of technology in the classroom has definitely changed. Prior to my enrollment in this course, I had been an advocate for technology in the classroom but never really knew how to implement it in a practical manner. Knowing what I know now will be immensely helpful as I now know a few tools that will allow active student engagement in my classroom. It did suprise me that I had struggled with formating on the Weebly site for a long time but I think that I have come leaps and bounds since the beginning of the semester and the first use of the website building tool. After taking this course, I feel more willing and able to integrate technology in my classroom as I have the knowledge and tools to create engaging lessons. However, I do want to make sure that technology is not our only form of learning. As I have found out, technology, in all of its modern greatness, does fail at times and I want to give students a break from that at times and challenge them to really rely on themselves as learners and to maintain a positive face to face work environment. Overall, I feel as though this course, as much as some hate to admit, is completely necessary and maybe one of the most benificial, in terms of actual teaching practice, to becoming an effective teacher. It wasn't always easy, but using the tools that were presented to me has helped me grow as a teacher and as a digital citizen which is exactly my goal for students when I get into a classroom.
To end the semester on a light note, here is a picture of me before I took Ed Tech.