Final+Reflection


 * Page Outline**--Click a link below to go to a specific section.
 * Project Learning
 * Google SketchUp
 * LOGO
 * LiveScribe
 * Course Expectations
 * Most Valuable Learning
 * "Learning to Learn"
 * I'd Like to Know More About
 * Technology in My Future Classroom

1. For **each** of your own major project areas, briefly explain your most significant learning. (Describe with some specific details, especially your favorite hint or shortcut.)
 * ** Google SketchUp** was quite intimidating when I first began playing around with it. Amongst the most confusing of the tools was the "Follow Me" tool. The tutorials that we watched in class were helpful for learning the basics but once I began to work on my Emerald City, I found that I wanted to do more intricate things than the initial tutorials taught me. So, I enlisted the help of YouTube. I watched countless tutorials for all sorts of "how-to's" from spheres to shoe designs to the Eiffel Tower. It was really quite amazing what can be done with this program. In this sense, one of the best things I learned in completing this project is how to teach myself. I learned the value of tapping into available resources, like YouTube. As far as the greatest learning in the actual program? Mastering the "Follow Me" tool. Initially, I would just blindly experiment with the tool and it would inevitable result in something far from what I wanted. However, through some tutorials and some exploring, I realized that the tool forms red guilde lines that allow you to choose where to "follow." It was a great discovery! I used this tool for so many of the components of my Emerald City, including any spheres, domes, beveling, and detailing.
 * **LOGO** and I have a love-hate relationship. When things go well, they go very well and when they go bad, I so easily get frustrated. Initially, I thought LOGO was so fun. There was such a sense of accomplishment with each small program that I wrote. Then as I started to dream bigger, I found that that little turtle just didn't want to listen. Ok, I realize that I ultimately control the little guy but that didn't stop me from getting any more frustrated. Knowing this about myself helped me to realize that I could only work on this LOGO project for short increments at a time. However, my final education department logo is exactly what I imagined it to be in my mind! I would have to say that the most exciting thing that I did with this software was to comprise programs that were made of other programs. So, ultimately, my final logo program was made up of the 7 or so other programs that I had created. I also found that the more I worked with LOGO, the more I found my ability to visualize geometry increase. There were instances where I could start a new program and type in the first string of commands and have the turtle do just what I had in mind. I was able to picture what the turtle would do as I typed in the commands so I didn't have to do trial and error beforehand to determine which commands to use.
 * ** LiveScibe ** pens seem almost too good to be true. Thankfully they are very real and very awesome! I get so excited when I think about this technology and my future classroom. How cool would it be to have a class webpage where I could upload pencasts from daily lessons and where students could have enriching experiences by creating their own pencasts? Wow. Needless to say, I really enjoyed working with the pens. I found that the most helpful thing for me to do my first time was to write up a script with my exact words and actions written on it. This way the tutorial moved smoothly and I did not stumble over my words. It was hard at first, though, because I had to get my mind around the idea that the pen would not record anything that did not end up on the paper. So, indicating something on the page by just pointing the pen at it would not be visibile in the finished tutorial. It took me several tries to get this down. However, I am very happy with my final product and I know that my field placement students will really benefit from it. So, I would say that the greatest learning that I gleaned from this and that I could pass on to other first-time users is to create a script and then act it out a few times prior to recording your pencast.

 2. How was this course the same or different from what you expected it to be? This class was extremely different than what I expected. Based on the other math education courses I have taken, this one was highly less structured. At first, the absence of a menu and a relatively concrete schedule for the course really made me uneasy. I really like having a plan and knowing what I'm in for. However, not long into the "exploration" phase, I began to appreciate this newly given freedom. I loved that I was able to incorporate some of my creativity into this course in both my LOGO and SketchUp projects. Not only was I appreciative of the use of creativity, I really enjoyed the variety of programs that we had access to. Everyone has different technological backgrounds, comfort zones, and preferences so being able to explore so many different programs helped me to discover the ones that I liked and those that were not my favorites. For example, I'm not a huge GSP fan but I have a newly discovered love of Google SketchUp. I feel that I have greatly expanded and polished my technological repertoire. Another thing that really surprised me was the ease with which I can see myself applying these technologies in my classroom. In my current field placement, I made a pencast for two digit addition with regrouping, an area that my mentor teacher said is a struggle for students to learn and maintain. The pattern-making activity with Excel also inspired me to use the program to create digital Unifix cubes for a kindergarten-level lesson that I taught. All of this is a result of just a half of a semester's worth of work so I'm very excited to see how many new applications for technology that I will learn in the future.

 3. What was the single most valuable aspect of the course for you? There is nothing more rewarding than learning things that I will actually be able to use as a teacher. This course has already given me amazing resources that I can envision easily incorporating into my own classroom and before then, even my student teaching. I have already had the opportunity to implement some of what I have learned in this course in my field placement this semester. I was able to create a pencast for my mentor teacher to use when teaching two digit addition with regrouping. I also used Excel to create virtual Unifix cubes for kindergarteners and the graphing feature to show a graph of the lengths of objects for a second grade lesson. It was great for me to have these experiences and to see how one piece of technology, such as Excel, can be used for two totally different purposes, at two different grade levels. This experience also opened me up to the fact that children can't be taught using technology until they have been taught to use the technology. For example, a student can't use Excel until they know how to use a computer, a keyboard, and a mouse.

 4. Technology changes very quickly, so this course was partially about “learning to learn technology” independently via online help and tutorials. In what ways do you feel that you worked on this particular goal? I found that the set up of this course really required me to go beyond just the information covered in class in order to be successful with my personal projects. For example, we watched several SketchUp tutorials in class but they merely oriented us with the basic tools of the program. In order to really bring my vision to fruition, I had to seek out further instruction. In my quest for more information, I have found that using YouTube to view tutorials and reading forums, blogs, and group sites designated to a particular program to be the most helpful ways of learning technology. Of course, just playing around with the different technologies was fun, I found it to only be helpful to a point. During the exploration phase for each of the technologies we learned in class, there always came a point when I got the feeling that I simply wasn't tapping into the full potential of the program by "playing around." It was at this point that I would seek out additional resources.

 5 . For which technology would you have liked more exposure and experience? (These can be things we actively did or things you have heard about.) Excel is one of those programs that frustrates me simply because I feel that it has the potential to do amazing things but I feel that I've only ever achieved a basic understanding of the program. It's amazing that it is a program that can understand equations, manipulate numbers, continue patterns, and other things that I'm not even aware that it does. I would love to learn how to use Excel as a teacher. How can I use it as a grade book? How can I use it to create structured tutorials for students to complete? How can it be used to provide visuals for mathematical concepts? 

6. What are the most likely ways that you envision using technology in your own classroom someday? I've had the opportunity to use Turning Point polling software during my time at Hope and I found it to be a fun, quick, and accurate way to assess students. I could easily see myself using this during the "Checking for Understanding" portion of a direct lesson or even as the final evaluation for a lesson. I have also become a big fan of Excel and have found that it can be used with students of all grades, from kindergarten to college. There is much more to know about Excel but with the knowledge that I already have about the program, I know there will be an endless supply of applications for it in my classroom. I can easily see myself setting up a class webpage where students can post their work, contribute to conversations, and find information on assignments. I think that having an online community like this will not only help to establish a sense of unity within my classroom, but it will also teach the students about responsible technology usage. Plus, a website is easy enough to create that I could contribute to it multiple times a week so that it would become part of the classroom routine.