My Course Reflection

June 23, 2014

Wow! What a quick 7 weeks it's been! It feels like just yesterday I was walking into class, nervous as could be because I didn't know what to expect! You see, my anxiety was not unwarranted.  My sophomore year of college, I signed up for one of the mandatory computer classes the university offered and was completely lost within the first five minutes of class.  No one checked in with me to see if I needed help or redirection and being someone who grew up in a home with no internet and a computer that was more ancient than the dinosaurs, I panicked just a bit.  When I finally got the instructor's attention and asked him to re-explain the first 10 steps, he smiled politely and said, "Ask a neighbor for help."  Looking back, I must have seemed almost unreal to him because of my lack of computer skills and know-how. I don't even think I knew how to copy and paste using the keyboard (among many other things).  But, I've come a long way since then and can now confidently say that I've created several Animoto online video slideshows, my own Storybird online story based on borrowed illustrations, contributions to threads on VoiceThread, a Padlet entry, a Blogger account with embedded material, and I am definitely comfortable with KidBlog (among other things)! The Voki below is just another snippet of what I've learned from this course about how to integrate technology into my classroom.  I had so much fun choosing my "person" and my voice (which accent, which accent?!) until I realized I could just record my own voice.  I see myself using many Vokis a week next school year and recording myself using silly voices to keep the kids engaged. 

There are so many possibilities for using this technology and enhancing my students' learning each and every day.  I wish I had had even more time to explore these different online tools during these past weeks, but because of some personal/family situations and having to work offline a lot I was unable to reach my hand into the cookie jar as far as I'd have liked.  I should have more time this summer, though, and plan to master the use of some of these tools, in particular. After my wedding I'll be living in my own house full-time with uninterrupted internet access!  My goal for next year is to get my second graders involved in KidBlog.  I will take the advice of our Google Hangout guest last week and start small so I'm comfortable, but I think the possibilities are endless.  Thank you, Judy for being so patient with me and not telling me to "ask a neighbor"! Also, thank you classmates for sharing such amazing resources through your blog posts.  You are all technology superstars now!