Reflections

I never would have thought that I was going to become so involved in technology when I entered the teaching profession. I seem to be drawn to it, and this course in new literacies opened up so many doors to me. It enabled me to do things that I ordinarily would never attempt. In conjunction with taking this course, my school district entered into a new realm and offered a moodle workshop to its teachers. I went to the demo and signed up for the course offered by one of our new administrators who is well versed in computer technology. I now have a moodle site for my students. Parents are emailed news items and kept up-to-date on 4th grade assignments and anything that pertains to my class. The students use this site to help with their assignments, to play learning games in various subjects, for homework, and as a reference with internet links that pertain to our studies. I decided not to use the discusion board because some of my students are not allowed on the computer during the week and can only use it on the weekend. My site is a work in progress, and I'm still in the experimental stage.

Since I planned on doing my project and paper on podcasts, I researched various podcasts on the internet and read different journal articles on the topic. This course enabled me to venture into unknown territory, and I decided I wanted to have podcasts on my moodle site that would be a new way of communicating with parents and the community. With a lot of prodding, I was able to finally talk our technology coordinator into helping me do actual podcasts with my social studies class. After we studied New Jersey explorers: Christopher Columbus, Henry Hudson, Giovanni da Verrazano, and John Cabot, the students worked in groups with a host and reporters, and we recorded their "radio show." Since it was such a positive experience for my class and well received, I want to continue podcasting and I may do it in other subjects also.

Basically, this course opened up a whole new world to me. I have a much better understanding about what children are doing on the internet than I did before. I enjoy blogging because it's kind of like a journal that's open for others to read. I also liked creating my facebook and enjoyed the reaction from my daughter and her friends. I now comprehend what web 2.0 is all about. We now are having discussions and collaborating on the internet. We are the web now. I feel more connected to my family because I now email them more and even send them photographs. I still have a lot to learn, but I am open to this new experience.

I was sometimes overwhelmed by all of the new jargon and the reading assignments, but that happens with anything new. I have a new vocabulary that I can only share with a select few. Most of my colleagues are not open to this new way of communicating and teaching as much as I am, but I think that they will be forced to accept change and have to learn eventually. I'm glad that I have had this experience, and it couldn't have come at a better time in my life. My daughter is away at school and my son is a teenager who is quite busy with school, activities, and a job. My husband is always at work or working on our house. I have a new outlet and a way to communicate in the world of technology. Reflection journaling is something that I do with my students after projects or units. It helps to take time out of our busy days to think and reflect. All in all, I had a good experience, and I am looking forward to keeping up-to-date with the every changing world of technology.

Saturday at MSU

Here I sit in a beautiful computer lab on Saturday April 14th. I have so many things going around in my head. My daughter will be coming home from college in a month. We need to get a second car to share between my daughter and my son who is turning 17 in July. She will be going to BCC and taking a summer course and working at the pool as a life guard. My son is going to be a camp counselor and continue his part-time job at Kings. I signed up for two graduate courses this summer and one for the fall. I called financial aid and they said that I need to complete a FAFSA form--yuck! I will have to do that this weekend. Lots of things to do. Tomorrow they are predicting bad weather so I'll get to stay home and write my paper for my reading class. Hopefully, we won't have snow.

Buddy Needed

As per Dr. Dana's email, I'm looking for a buddy. Would anyone like to become my buddy? I'm doing my paper on podcasting in an elementary school setting.