Final Reflections

TPTE 486 was a lot more enlightening and educating that I had imagined. Not, that I was anticipating a dull or filler course, but I was not excepting the broad range of activities that we actually ended up doing.

I could easily see myself using these, and other technology based resources in my own classroom moving forward into my internship year.

I hope that you have enjoyed Clicking through TPTE 486 with me! I know I have.

Classroom Website

Before taking this course, a classroom website is the only thing, of the entire list of things we have done, that I would have done anyway. Having a classroom website, complete with syllabi, weekly updates, and test scores is an excellent resource for students to have access to. It is also a great way for students to get to know their teacher. By providing links to a personal biography, as well as work that the teacher has done before is a comforting and personalizing. A classroom website could also be used for students to post their own work for you to display. It may also be a great icebreaker. Students could be required to submit a short biography, that other students could read so that they become better aware of what motivates their fellow classmates, as well as to better understand were they are coming from.

Digitial Story Telling

In this digital age, with its instantaneous updates and on the spot access, our attention spans (especially those of the younger generations) have drastically been reduced. Gone are the days when an evening by the fire reading a book is even remotely within our contemporary mindset. While we should definitely attempt to help students increase their attention spans, it is important to grab this generations attention in a quick and exciting way. Digital Story Telling is an excellent way to do this. Take a history lesson about the Civil War for example. While several students will be interested in the topic intrinsically, it may be useful to grab the entire audiences attention with something big, bold, and interesting. This strategy will make the rest of the lesson flow well.

Digital Diagrams

I really liked making my digital diagram. It was an excellent way to demonstrate understanding across multiple areas within the same overarching theme. I chose to do mine on the Three Branches of Government. Doing a digital diagram allowed me to demonstrate how each branch was unique and yet related to the other to branches in a succinct and visually organized way. As a teacher I can make many more of these to hand out to facilitate learning for those who are visual learners, or have the students make a diagram in order to assess their current understanding of any given topic.

Blogging in the Classroom

I think that Blogging in the Classroom can be an excellent resource for students and teachers to have a way to relate to material learned in class in a more personal way. In a sense, I would use Blogging as an online form of journaling. Something that I could log onto every week and see what the students were thinking about the lessons we are talking about each week.

There is, of course, a potential issue with access and affordability. In some neighborhoods and with certain individuals internet access may be limited and as a result alternatives must be provided for those students.

Interactive White Board

I found the IWB project to be really frustrating to complete. Compared to everything that we have done up to that point was relatively easy. I would have preferred that the interface be more manageable and easily accessed.

All that aside, I thought that the completed project was definitely something that I would present in class. It was highly interactive and it was easy to understand the material.

I am not sure though, that I would take the time to create one of these while I am teaching. It just feels like re-creating the wheel each time you use it. Now as far as students are concerned, I think having them work with and create a similar project would be more valuable. As a project, it would be easy to judge how well they have learned the material by producing something like the IWB.

Resource Wiki

I thought the Resource Wiki was a good way for teachers within the same discipline to share resources that they can use in their classrooms, without having to reinvent the wheel every time. Taking the time to find documents, articles, and materials for every single lesson can be time consuming; consuming time that a teacher simply does not have. If teachers share this information then you can drastically reduce the time it takes to prepare a lesson.

Online Presentation: Mountains

The online presentation allowed me to see how there are many other ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. This activity could be adjusted to fit any curriculum standard and can be surprisingly fun. I enjoyed coming up with my own topic: a PowerPoint presentation about the world's tallest mountains. I thought that finding the pictures and the facts that would accompany them really solidified the information in my mind. I think that the same would be true of any class that I would teach in the Social Studies. I essentially did a Geography lesson with my mountain presentation, but I could have chosen the Emperors of Rome, the artists of the Renaissance, the battles of the American Civil War, or each of the Amendments of the Bill of Rights. The flexibility of the online presentation is really what gives this activity such bravado in the teacher's planning arsenal.

Scavenger Hunt

I thoroughly enjoyed the scanvenger hunt because it gave us an opportunity to get out of the classroom and do something hands on. I think it was an excellent break from business as usual, and yet was still highly relevant to the course as a whole.

I can easily see how an activity such as this can be altered and made into a really effective lesson activity for any classroom, regardless of age or ability. Not to mention, it can be a really fun activity that students can enjoy and look forward to doing again. If students are excited about school activities they are more likely to get something from it.