Reflection+Journals


 * January 14, 2009**

Internet research can be a difficult and confusing task. What makes a website credible? How do we, as internet users, know what we can or can not believe on the internet? Most importantly, how can I, as a future teacher, correctly teach my students how to safely use the internet? Teaching at the Elementary age, I will probably have students in my class who have seldom used computers. In today's world, the internet is used everyday by millions of people in every country. It would be safe to say that I use the internet for the majority of my research (school and entertainment). Depending on what I am researching, the process I go through to determine the legibility of a website is different.

For school research I am a bit more careful when using the internet. I want to make sure the website is credible before I were to site it in a project, paper or assignment. First, I start off by thinking of a website that I am already familiar with from previous experience or that may have been mentioned in class. I would probably look for websites that are .gov, .org and .edu first as those have a reputation of being credible (though not always). Once I have a piece of information, I always cross reference - to see if I find the same piece of information somewhere else on the internet. I am usually cautious if there are a lot of advertisements or if the website does not look professional. I will also try and go to "official" websites early on in my research process. For example, if I am writing a paper on Parkinson's Disease, I will first go to the American Parkinson's Disease Association webpage. After exploring that website a little bit, I will also click on links they provide for other information and useful links. Lastly, if my research allows me to use pre approved Journal articles through the library, that would be one of my first stops as well.


 * January 21, 2009**

Until I started this class, I never really analyzed the criteria and the processes I go through when doing internet research, either for school or for entertainment. For school, I was much more cautious of what websites I explored and took information from, but for entertainment, much less. I google something, look at the first page or results and typically go from there. Maybe I'll cross reference a little bit, but not too much. For school, I mainly focus on the content of the website. It would be nice if the page was user friendly and layed out in an organized manner. However, I must say that many of the best websites I have found (that is, the websites that have contained the most pertinent information for what I am researching) have been the less attractive. I think people are quick to judge something as "true" and "credible" just because the website looks official and fancy. When looking at lesson plans online, for example, I will use my prior knowledge and personal experience to decide if the information I find is something I will use in my class.

In the classroom, I will be much more careful on how I teach internet surfing to my students. The students in my class (I am assuming) are new internet users and probably have never used it for serious homework assignments. I must say though, I will try and discourage internet research for school as much as I can. I think that in today's world people rely too much on internet and forget to use resources like a library and books. Many times, students don't even know how to use "card catalogues" in libraries to find a book that could be of use. However, in this day and age, students are undoubtedly going to use the internet, whether I it's appropriate or not. In the case where I will be using the internet for my students, the process I go through will be much more thorough. I know what I provide them for websites, they will trust as "true" and I wouldn't want to provide them with wrong information. It is difficult to provide students with "credible" websites, therefore, it is difficult to teach. A lot of internet research is trial and error and experiencing it on your own. What I would probably do is guide them along in the process and help them understand that not everything we can find on the internet is true and reliable and hope that as the become more proficient internet users, they'd be able to make intelligent decisions.


 * January 28, 2009**

I learned how to use Microsoft word growing up in school and through self exploration. I was very fortunate that we had Microsoft Office on our family computer throughout my childhood. Until today, I thought I knew all that there was to know about Word - I had written hundreds of papers, used the fancy fonts, wrote newspaper articles, used ClipArt/Word Art, had inserted text boxes etc...I had heard of the terms 'Mail Merge' but had no idea what it meant - or whether it was a function in Word, Excel or Powerpoint! After today's class, I understand that there is a lot more to these programs than I could have imagined. I am also realizing that people other than students use these programs as well. I did not realize how useful Word will be to me when I become a teacher until today. Technology today has developed for people, such as myself, to create documents and files in an easy, user friendly way. I think that my knowledge on Mail Merger will not only save me a lot of time in the future but it has also motivated me to further explore Word (and Microsoft Office as a whole) to find out what else it has to offer that may be helpful in my future endeavors.


 * February 4, 2009**

Similarly to my experience with Microsoft Word, I had had experience on Excel, but never realized all that it had to offer. I knew of the Excel 'basics' - such as creating spreadsheets and I was aware of some of its terminology (like what a 'cell' is), but I didn't know how beneficial it could be to me, as a teacher. I learned a exorbitant amount of information in class today that I will be able to take with my throughout my career as a teacher. It would be very beneficial if every teacher knew some of these programs - can you imagine how organized and easy their life would be? It could also save a lot of paper and ink by keeping everything on a computer. What would be really useful is if a workshop was given at schools - helping teachers discover what Microsoft Office has to offer. I think a lot of people in general are intimidated by technology - but in a world where technology is such a crucial aspect of everyday life, I think it would really help teachers in the end. I think that it would be much more successful in schools though if teachers were taught how to use these programs, as oppose to them trying to figure it out on their own.

I am eager to explore Microsoft Excel further to find out what else there is that could help me be a better teacher. The only thing that makes me somewhat wary though is that I can never have 100% confidence in technology - I am very skeptical! Having just lost a ten page paper an hour before class, and having confirmation from a computer technician that it was not my fault, I am very cautious with what I do on computers. It would be awful to have every child's grades on an Excel spreadsheet and then have the computer fail and loose it all.

All in all, i think that Excel is a wonderful tool to know how to use - it keeps things organized and user friendly. If less time is spent figuring out grades, percentages and averages, I will be able to dedicate more time to other things in my classroom. Thank you for showing me all these features!


 * February 11, 2009**

//Reflect on what you had previously known and used in Presentation Software and how that shifted as you challenged yourself throughout this project. //

Before Wednesday's class, I had only used PowerPoint to design slides for a simple presentation. I had used it's basic features - adding and deleting certain slides, changed fonts, added images and Word Art. I knew PowerPoint had a lot to offer, I had just never taken the time to explore any further since I have never needed to. I have been in classes before where teachers have created Jeopardy games on PowerPoint, I was just always fascinated in wondering how they were able to do that! Being able to create things such as the Jeopardy game will be really useful when I am a teacher. I know that PowerPoint has even more to offer than what I learned yesterday so I am eager to continue exploring the software. I look forward to playing around with transitions, music, voice recording, movies and sounds. I have always enjoyed working with PowerPoint because it always allowed me to be creative - such as choosing my own slide layout, themes, fonts and colors. I was able to personalize any presentation I gave. Having a better understanding of what PowerPoint offers will allow me to be even more creative and use the software more than when I am just giving a presentation. I am very excited to take advantage of PowerPoint in the future and share my knowledge with my students.


 * February 18, 2009**

//Reflect on what you had previously known and used in// //Desktop Publishing// //Software and how that shifted as you challenged yourself throughout this project.//

Like I said in my introduction, I had never used Publisher before. When I saw we would be using it, I honestly gasped. I thought Publisher was for professionals and that I would never be able to use it. I quickly found out that I was wrong! I am really excited to have discovered it, because I think it will really help me as a future elementary school teacher. I will be able to make fancy and elaborate posters, newsletters, flyers and other various documents in a quick and efficient manner! I would not consider myself a 'creative' type person, so I think in the future, I will play around more with the templates. They just look 'cooler' than what I could come up with. However, for the purpose of this piece, I used a 'blank' template so I could learn more about the program and really make my piece 'my own' (instead of using someone else's template!). Even though I learned a ton from playing around for a couple hours on Pages, I think there is still more to learn. I really challenged myself on this piece though because there was a lot of trial and error. I found myself getting frustrated when I would 'mess up' or think that a certain button would do something and it didn't. I kept getting frustrated because the color I chose to change my text box too wouldn't change to that color! I was genuinly motivated to perfect my piece though because I really wanted to make something good and something that I could use in the future. I am eager to continue exploring Pages and even teach my students how to use it for their own projects or activities. I enjoyed learning more about Pages than any other software we've explored thus far for several reasons. For starters, it was completely new to me. Secondly, it allowed me to elaborate on my creative side which I was lacking. It was more fun to explore as well than say, Excel. I feel as though Excel required a lot more 'brain power' and it was still confusing and somewhat frustrating, even though I learned a lot from our class. I guess it's because I'm not Math oriented. I got discouraged with Excel faster than with PowerPoint or Pages. Pages and PowerPoint allowed me to be more artistic and they were somewhat easier to use than Excel. These projects have all been really useful though and I am eager to use what I have learned in my future classroom.

 //Are you a gamer? How does this project change your perspective of gaming?//
 * February 25, 2009**

Contrary to probably the majority of my class, I am not a gamer. Other than playing Mario Bros on the old-school Nintendo when I was younger occasionally, I have never had an interest in video games, computer games nor cell phone games. The interest isn't there for me. Prior to Wednesday's class, I have always thought of video games being violent and teaching children skills that are not useful nor educational. I was not a proponent of video games at all, especially for children. I find that children could be doing more beneficial activities with their free time. However, my views have changed slightly. Slightly. Even though I still hold true to my convictions, I can see now that there are educational games on the internet. With the internet becoming more and more popular nowadays, even in the younger ages, I was convinced that there must be at least some games out there that have proven to be educational. After doing a lot of exploring on the internet, I did find many websites for free, educational games. In my classroom, I would never incorporate internet game playing, educational or not any more than I described in the letter to the principal and in the FAQ's to parents. Online games will only be used in supplement to the worksheets, workbooks, activities and lessons that I give. I have found that students have depended too much on the internet and I am much more of a traditional learner and educator. I think a student should learn reading a book then reading wikipedia for example.

However, after much thought and exploration, I think that providing online, educational games to students is a way for me to relate more with them. The reality of it is that most young students do spend a lot of time on the internet and I would introduce these educational games to my students in hopes that they would spend perhaps more time playing "Math Baseball" then some warrior, fighting game.

There are an abundance of free, online educational games on the internet as I found out on Wednesday and I was relieved to see that. Hopefully they will become just as popular as say, Halo, to students and more and more will play them!


 * March 11, 2009**

//Reflect on what kind of learner you are in terms of// __[|//Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences//]__ //. How does that effect you as a teacher?//

From Gardner's varying intelligences, I believe that I fall under more than one "intelligence". I fall under the interpersonal, visual-spatial and verbal-linguistic categories. I believe that people can fall under many categories, not just one. I consider myself to use the mentioned intelligences all the time, either together or separately, depending on what I am doing. For example, I understand Math best using my visual-spatial intelligence - I need to see a problem and visualize it to be able to understand it. I think that one of my biggest strengths is interpersonal because I really feel as though I understand people, I can work well in a group and I am very empathetic towards others. I also think that this is a major asset to have as a teacher. I also believe that everyone has different learning strategies and everyone learns in different ways. Even though I do not have strengths in the "naturalistic" category, I am aware that many other people do.

I am a big advocate for Gardner's Theory and I think just being aware of his theory and understanding it will greatly help me as a teacher. I think that having strengths in more than one category will help me relate and connect to more students. It is sometimes difficult to create a lesson plan when you think of all the students in your class and all the varying learning styles. However, as a teacher, I will try and design my lesson plans in ways that incorporate as many of the learning styles that I can. It is important to expose each student to all the learning styles as possible, especially at the elementary age so that they can figure out, on their own, how they learn best. This will greatly aid them in their future. For example, in my math class, when explaining how to count, I will attack it from multiple perspectives. I will verbally tell them how to count, I will draw pictures and put visuals on the board or hang posters around the room and I will also get counting beads (or some other manipulative) so that they can touch and feel what the number "3" is. The most styles I hit in any given lesson, the more students I will get through to and the more will learn. I need to make sure I remain open minded when it comes to assessment. All students need to know and learn how to do certain things such as reading and writing, so it is up to me to be able to teach these tasks in ways that all my students can learn.


 * March 20, 2009**

//Reflect on what you had previously known and used in Audio Software and how that shifted as you challenged yourself throughout this project.//

I found this project particularly challenging as I had never used Audio Software or anything like it before. I had no idea how anything worked, so this was a major learning opportunity for me. I knew software such as GarageBand and Audacity existed, but I had never had to use it for anything, nor did I know what it had to offer (which is porbably also why I had no interest in learning how to use it before this class!). I spent quite some time just playing around on GarageBand to see what all it had to offer! I know I didn't discover everything, but I sure learned a lot. I learned how to find demo music, how to find sound effects on the internet, convert them to MP3 and drag them onto my work. I also learned how to record my voice, erase parts of a recording and copy and paste chunks of recording from one place to another. It took Annie and I a lot of trial and error to get our final project done.

I think the thing I was most excited about what the idea of being able to introduce my future students (probably more likely with upper elementary aged) how to use the program so that they can become creative with it. Similarly to what I said in the Gaming project, students this age love discovering programs like this on computers and I think they would be really interested playing around with it. I think that the program has a lot to offer. Students can enhance their creative school work and assignments using GarageBand and it would be interesting to see how creative they can be with an audio piece.

In a world where audio is all around us (for example the radio and television to mention just a couple) and is constantly evolving everyday, I believe that having knowledge on such programs is a great asset to have. Who knows, maybe in 15 or 20 years, students will be required to record their research papers on an audio software instead of writing it!
 * March 27, 2009**

//Reflect on what you like about some of your favorite movies and what you dislike in educational movie. What is the disconnect between the two? How can you enhance your project, given your preferences?//

I don't have any experience (yet!) with what actually goes into making a movie - that is, the editing, character choice, script etc...so it is hard for me to talk about what I like about my favorite movies in those terms. I think the thing that makes me really enjoy a film (non educational or educational) is the way I can connect and relate to the characters and to the story line. I am also more drawn to movies that take place in locations that I can connect to (if I've been there, where they are in relation to where I live or have lived, if it is a place that i want to visit etc...). Some of the movies I enjoy merely on the fact that they had gorgeous scenery and it made me want to visit that place! How much money that is put into movies doesn't interest me either - that is, I think we spend too much money making movies. Some of the best movies I have seen have been low budget, independent films. For example, I loved the movie Once and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. You can absolutely make an excellent film with a low budget. In terms of educational movies specifically, I enjoy the ones that have meaning, that relate to what we are discussing and again, the connection I feel with the characters, plot etc...An educational film must have a purpose. I never liked it when the only time we'd watch a "movie" in school was either to kill time or only when a teacher was absent. They had nothing to do with anything we were studying or had studied. Educational movies, I feel, have a tendency to be redundant, out dated, boring, slow...in fact, most of the films we watched in elementary, middle and high school I can hardly remember because I was staring off into space or thinking about other things. I think it is important for teachers to explain why they're watching the film, what they hope to gain from it, the purpose of it for students to be truly engaged in it.

I will keep all of this in mind when I create my video - I will connect with my students - video something that they are interested in, will find meaning and purpose with and engage them in. We are going to make a virtual field trip to the Science Center and I think it is a great idea - especially for a school that can't afford to send their students there. Also, especially for my video which is directed towards upper elementary students, I will make it fun. I will make the music entertaining that will go with my project and script. We are going to try and make it interactive, easy to follow and understand and up to date, using the latest software. The script will be important and we will ensure that it is directed towards upper elementary students (using language and syntax they will understand). I am eager to get started on this project.


 * April 3, 2009**

//Reflect on how creating an educational-related video helps you understand your strengths and weaknesses as “the expert.” //

I wouldn't really consider myself "an expert" in terms of video making or editing. However, I have learned a tremendous amount of information by creating an educational -related video with my team members. We are creating a virtual field trip at the Science Center. We are doing this in case we have a class who isn't able to get there. Some schools we may teach in may not have the funds to send classes on field trips. Even though I wouldn't consider myself an expert, I feel as if I am capable of producing a decent video! It is absolutely amazing what iMovies can allow people to do with video footage who arn't professional movie producers.

What I have to remember in order to create a good and effective (one that will really reach my elementary aged students) is to put myself in their place. I feel as though I sometimes forget that. Creating a video for a child is much different then it is when creating one for an adult audience. I really have to put myself in their shoes - if I was their age, what would I want to watch? What interests me? How can I connect their interests and academics to make an inspiring video? The music, speech and video all have to be geared towards an elementary student. Another thing I have found difficult is to transmit the excitement that I experienced at the science center through my video. I think this will be difficult to do. Because I wouldn't want my student to feel bad about not being there, but I want them to be intrigued to visit the science center with their parents. So far, in our editing process, I have found that it involves a lot of patience to create a masterpiece. We took over an hour of footage at the science center, and being a perfectionist, I want all the transitions, sounds, music, footage, speech etc...to be perfect. The Science Center is a very hands on museum, so I think that will also be a challenge - to transmit the excitement and fun of doing 'hands on' things through a video. How can I transmit the same message to my students? Is it possible for them to learn as much from watching me play with the materials as it would be for them to just watch me do that? I don't think it's the same affect (and of course they'd learn more doing it themselves), but I think for the purpose of our project, we can do our best to transmit the experience, even if it wouldn't be the same experience.

I have really enjoyed this project as it really has allowed me to be creative - much more so then past projects. It has just been really fun to do and if I stay in Nashville, I really think I would use this video in a future class. Even as a 'preview' to going to the Science Center (if our school allows it) in order to get the kids excited. Thinking back on my elementary years, I would have loved to have seen a video my teacher not only made but starred in! It would have made me laugh and really pay attention to whatever he/she was trying to teach us. This project has allowed me to bring something academic to 'real life' with my students. Watching a video my teacher made and was in would make me feel part of the video.


 * April 8, 2009

//Reflect on what you had previously known and used in Video Software and how that shifted as you challenged yourself throughout this project.// **

As I stated in my introduction, I had no prior knowledge on Video Software so everything we did as a group was completely knew to me. My group members and I worked together to create this project that involved a lot of figuring out. We spent a lot of time playing around with iMovies, and the video camera before we were able to get any results. It took us a lot of trial and error to get our piece completed to perfection. We each contributed to the project by filming, acting in and editing the video. Before this project, I knew iMovies existed but I never thought I would be able to use it - I always thought of it as a program for real movie directors and editors. I also hadn't realized how easy, in a sense, it was to produce what we did. I thought it would be so much more difficult, if not impossible to remove the background noise and audio and replace it with music of 'voice over'. Or even edit our footage and make "still frames". I am glad that we got over an hours worth of footage at the Science Center because that gave us a lot more room to play around and pick and choose what footage we wanted to use.

This is another project, like my audio project, that I will be able to teach my own students how to use so that they can create and develop their own videos. I am so pleased to know that I can now make and edit a video. I hope that I will be able to use this newly acquired skill in the future (hoping that the schools I work in will be able to provide me with the resources - computer, the iMovies software and video camera). I think it would be a lot of fun and educational to make a class video - everyone in my class contributing to it in some way (with the filming, acting in and/or editing). What a great group project! This project has definitely enhanced my creativity and I am eager to show it to a future class or have other teachers profit from my video as well.

I think in today's world, being able to edit video is a huge asset to have. Technology continues to evolve everyday, and as a teacher, i need to be able to keep up with this so that I can use and teach it in my classroom.


 * April 15, 2009**

//Reflect upon the course, what you learned, what you took away from it, and your place in it.

When I first heard I had to take a Technology class for licensure purposes, I grunted and rolled my eyes. I said to myself "really? I'm paying all this money to Vanderbilt University and they're going to make me take a computer class?". But because I had no choice, I went with it. I was annoyed in the beginning because I had taken computer classes since Kindergarten and I couldn't imagine what I could learn that would be new to me in this class. Well when I first walked into class and realized before I even sat down that I would have to use a Mac, that was the first thing that was new to me. As time went on, I realized that everything we did in this class practically was new to me. Computers and technology was taken to a whole new level for me and I found this class to be really beneficial. I felt as though this class was challenging which was sort of a wake up call because I had never thought of a technology class to be particularly difficult. This one definitely was. It opened my eyes to insight into the technology world that most of, I didn't even know existed. Though it was challenging and I often found myself frustrated, I found it to be a good challenge. I realized throughout the course of this class that I need to keep up with the latest when it comes to technology. In this day and world, people need to be on top of it. If I don't learn it now, I will never learn it. The other thing I found really interesting with this course is that what I learned here, I will definitely be able to use in my future classroom. I can teach fellow colleagues and students how to use the programs so that they, in turn, can use them as well. In other classes, I find myself constantly asking the questions "ok, you're giving me all of this information, but HOW can I use it in the future? How is this going to change me as a teacher? how can I apply what you're teaching me to a real life situation?" So thank you for making this class relevant to my future.

On another note, I felt as though some of the projects were tedious. I feel like I spent WAY too much time working on several of them. I think part of that was the fact that not only were a lot of the projects new to me but Mac's were too. It is hard manipulating a Mac when you don't know much about them. I think at the beginning of the course, you should give a brief overview on Mac's, how to use them etc...I mean, even a 15 min run down would have been beneficial to me. I am thankful for some of my classmates who were able to help me through some of those difficulties. So at the beginning of the semester, my confidence was somewhat low and I felt a bit overwhelmed. I also felt as though the reflection journals were vague and I wasn't quite sure how to attack them (this is especially true in the beginning of the semester). I had a hard time with the first few because I didn't know what your expectations were, what you wanted out of them etc..it wasn't until we talked about it that I finally got it. Some of the wording of the reflection questions were a little bit ambiguous as well. So I think it just took me a while to get use to the class, understand where you were coming from and what your expectations were. I'm glad I finally caught on, but in the meantime, I lost points which will probably prevent me from getting the perfect score I was hoping for in this class.

Now, as for my place in this class...I definitely felt as though I was one of the most lost in the class...again, I think part of that is the fact that Mac's were new to me and everyone else owned one! I really put my best effort in class and tried my best and I hope that came through to you in my project, attitude in class and reflection journals. I learned a lot from my peers and that I am very grateful for as well. I feel as though I contributed a fair amount to class discussions I wish we had gotten into more detail and spent longer time talking about certain topics. I really enjoyed the video project and working with 2 other classmates because it was nice to each contribute to aspects of the projects. I was able to evaluate what they knew, didn't know and also feel better about the fact that video editing was new to more people than just myself!

Overall, I found this class to be very helpful to me and to my career. I feel proud of the work I created in this class and am anxious to use my knowledge in future classes. A lot of what we did I thought was "so cool" that I sent my Mom (who is in France!) some of the links to my projects that she really enjoyed as well (especially our video!). So with that said, thank you for the class Jake. //

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