Day 10

The best part about today's class is that I realized that almost everyone else in the class is in the same boat as me. I thought I was one of the few who haven't done this before. I just assumed that my much younger classmates would have had this already. It is always nice to see that you're not the only one who is having some trouble I have really enjoyed this class even though I ended up spending way more time on the projects than I was supposed to. It took me a long time to get the hang of the PowerPoint, website development, and the digital story projects. I'm still not happy with anything I did for this class, but I learned a lot.

DAY 9

I really enjoy doing the CultureQuest project. It is fun trying to design a webpage. I can see why so many people want to do this for a living. You get to be creative and everyone sees your work--usually anonymously. It has taken me a long time to do though, Luckily, I had Aimee and the others to help show me some tricks with the index page. Group work has its benefits.

Day 8, Part II

I loved learning about the drawing function of Word, and I am already trying to think of ways to use it. I can't wait to show my sister-in-law this so she can have my nephew start using it. I'm also a little anxious about the digital story and how that is going to turn out. I guess I'll find out later when I work on it at home. I usually need the time to fiddle about in order to figure something out.

Day 8

Ways technology can be used with the State standards for English:

One way is by helping students make predictions: A WebQuest or other project can be set up to make the students stop their reading until they predict what they think will happen next.

The web can also help the students make text-self connections. A culturequest or other websites can be used to bring the student closer to an unfamiliar text.

Students can use blogs to express their ideas and debate with others.

Students can use epals or video conferencing in order to communicate with someone they would not ordinarily become acquainted with.

Day 7

I missed class today because I was out of town. Actually, I spent most of the afternoon and night at airports or on airplanes. There were enough delays that I am typing this at almost three in the morning the night before a class. I did, however, learn the importance of Filamentality over the weekend. I intended to finish my WebQuest on my girlfriends computer. She is getting her PHD in Louisiana, and I thought I would work on her computer. The problem was that she is a physicists and doesn't have Windows, and my laptop (Windows) wouldn't work out of her modem. Also, I couldn't figure out how to use my jump drive on her computer. Anyway, with filimentality I was able to work on my project from her computer and save all the work on the net. Although, I wasn't able to do much work on the airplane like I had hoped.

Day 7

Day 6

Okay, I forgot to post on the Thursday before we had the week off. I swear I was going to, but when I got home I forgot. It is just so much easier at home because my computer is much faster than those at school. As for that class, I enjoyed learning a little about making imovies. I also enjoy watching my classmates Powerpoint presentations, which, I'm sorry to say, are much better and more creative than mine. I wish I had a mulligan on mine so I could use what I have learned since then.

Day 5

Although I have usually been someone who prefers to work alone, I enjoy working in a group for this project. The reason is that I am unsure about what I am doing and like the idea that there are other people who can act as a safety net in case I need it. It not only gives me confidence to attempt something I might normally not, but it opens me up to ideas I might not have thought of or even known about. This is why having the students work in groups can be a good idea: some students will advance quicker than they might normally do working alone.

Day 4

I'm starting to learn things-such as power point- that I never thought I would ever use. That always seemed too complicated for me -not to mention that I never thought I would have a reason to use it. In fact, I think I removed it from my computer when I had a virus and took off all the programs I would never use. I'm excited (and beginning to get to the point of overwhelmed) at all the new things I've been learning. This class would've been better for me to take during the regular school year because the time between classes could have been used to experiment with new material. As it is now, I feel like I haven't completely learned something before it is time to move on.

Day 3

I liked the reading for today because it gave me some practical information that I otherwise would not have thought about. For instance, I didn't know that it was illegal to have a student under 13 use the internet without parental permission. Also, as someone looking for a job, I hope to use some of the suggested questions that is recommended for a prospective teacher to ask.

Day 2

I thought the exercise we did evaluating the WebQuests was very helpful. The one thing I learned is the WebQuest that seems fun and interesting at first may not be the one that is best for the students. I noticed this when we broke them up in categories and looked at them more closely. The one I found more boring would actually be better for the class: it had simpler instructions and forced the children to work together and come to a consensus.

Introduction

Hi,
My name is John, and I am currently finishing up my Master's degree in English/Education at Lehman College. I am not teaching now, nor am I certified. However, I have recently been hitting the pavement in search of a school looking to hire an intern to teach in the fall.

I consider myself a computer novice even though I have been using computers for some time. That is because I usually only use the computer for emailing, as a word processor, or as a way of getting newspapers. Basically, I am not sure how these things work and hope to learn a bit about them in this class. Already, just two hours into the class, I have learned new and more efficient ways to use search engines that will save me hours of time in the future.