Course+Reflection+5306

Course Reflection 5306 This has been an incredible eye opening journey. Although technology is an awesome area to be part of, sometimes I feel like all of this knowledge is information overload. On the bright side, this course has forced me to try new technologies that I have heard of but have not had a chance or better yet, made the opportunity to try. It has been so exciting to try new things that I have told my students about this program. I told my students that I was taking this course and to please forgive me if I come to class looking like I stayed up until one o'clock in morning. Most likely, I have. The students are excited for me. I am trying to introduce more Web 2.0 in my classroom and use it along with what I am teaching them now.  This course is what I expected it would be. Although I did not realize that there would be so much work involved with it, it is very relevant to what I teach at my school. I had my students create a Wordle with their key terms. Then I had them create a Wordle with 10 words that reflected upon what is important to them. Of course, I told them that they had to type their name three times so it would stand out more. I told them that they would be uploading special projects to their sites throughout the rest of the year. I also told them that I was going to grade some of their assignments on this wiki. It had to be posted to earn the grade. I could tell from their enthusiasm that they are really going to enjoy creating and using wikis. I am going to try to incorporate as much technology that I learn here into my lesson plans. They really think it is cool that I am doing what I am making them do. Technology is amazing.

I really want to show our teachers some of the many Web 2.0 tools that are available to both them and their students. I also want to encourage our IT department to step up and be a little more proactive and forward thinking. We are going to have to “do more with less” in terms of resources needed to help our students achieve 21st learning skills. Through the assignments in this course, I have discovered several excellent free sources, which I am anxious to show to our teachers. Since I am responsible for three whole days of professional development this summer, plus one more day in the fall, and then five days of g/t training in the fall, I have many opportunities to share these resources.  I learned I really do not need eight hours of sleep a night. I can survive on about five and still make it through my day. I also learned that I have this determination to complete this task and not give up. This has been a very hard five weeks for me. I am sure once I complete this course, my leadership skills will be much more refined than they are now. I am willing to do what it takes to earn my master's degree. That should say something about leadership, determination to get something done.