Another Course Has Come to an End....EDUC 584 Course Reflection

End of Class Reflection by krista.a.beyer on GoAnimate


To be honest, this course has been one of the most enjoyable ones thus far. I have always loved technology and this course has energized me to incorporate technology in my classroom in ways I never thought would be possible.

One of the most beneficial parts of this course has been the blogging project. Allowing myself to become more familiar with blogging, and viewing and commenting on others’ blogs has opened my eyes to the power of online communication. As a result of this course, I plan to teach my students about blogging and have them create their own blogs by the end of the year (with school permission).

I also thoroughly enjoyed learning about the power of twitter, and how it can be used in an educational setting. While I have not fully immersed myself into the “Twitter World” I have started by creating an account and have begun to follow many educational leaders. As I have more time to explore the site and become more familiar with everything, it is my goal to use my account for classroom updates and daily happenings, allowing parents and families to stay updated with our classroom.

While I had been familiar with tools such as digital stories, Skype, and Animoto, this course strengthened my knowledge on how these things could be incorporated into the everyday routines of school. While I once thought these tools were good for big projects and rare occasions, I have come to learn that technology should just be part of a regular day. It shouldn’t be something that is an additional component of the day.

Overall, I feel that I could go on and on about all of the tools I have learned about (Wikis, weebly, google drive, google hangouts, GoAnimate, etc…). When I find spare time, I want to continue exploring these programs more in depth. I would like to strengthen my teaching by incorporating more up and coming technology into my classroom to meet the needs of my technology loving students!

"I Am" Character Poems

For my literacy project my students created digital stories. Since we were in our first unit for reading, we were working on character development. For guided reading, some students were working on creating “I Am” poems, allowing the students to put themselves in the shoes of their main character.

Students used a character web to chart different character traits, and to think about how the characters think, feel, acts, etc. After completing the character web, students were given an “I Am” template and completed it based on the main characters for their books. Students drew an illustration to represent the main character based on descriptions in the book.

Once all illustrations and poems were completed, students spent a lot of time practicing reading their poems out loud, allowing them to strengthen their fluency skills. When students were ready, we recorded them reading the poems aloud, and we worked using Microsoft MovieMaker to create a simple digital story.

Overall, students really enjoyed completing this project. They were very excited to see their final products and were proud of their hard work. As a result of this project, students became more aware of the importance of fluency and expression while reading, and also learned how to analyze character traits.

 

 

  

Teaching Typing: A Lost Art?

Lately I have found myself spending a lot of time thinking about typing skills. When I was younger we had classes in school that taught us the “proper” way to type, with our hands on the home row. I also vividly remember practicing my typing skills at home with the program Mavis Beacon, striving to become proficient at typing. 
 
Today, the majority of my students come to school with little to no typing skills, and resort to “hunting and pecking.” While I understand that times have changed, and students are used to having access to the world at the touch of their finger tips, I often find myself wondering if students should still be taught the “proper” way to type.

Now, more than ever, students are expected to work on computers accessing information online, publishing papers, and completing projects. There are certainly some students that manage to get by with “hunting and pecking” and have it down to a science, but there are students who truly struggle to type one word in a timely manner. How are students supposed to utilize technology when they can’t use the keyboard effectively?
 
I guess that leaves me with a couple of questions. What expectations should we have of our students? Do you think students should be taught to type the “proper” way, and if so at what age should this instruction take place?

I wish I could answer these questions for myself, but I go back and forth on the topic. After watching some of my students sit and type three lines during a half an hour on the computer, I find myself getting frustrated; however, I seem to be ok with the hunters and peckers who know what they are doing! As part of my centers I have implemented a typing center in which students use BBC typing, allowing students to pass through different levels of guided typing instruction, but at the end of the day I always find myself wondering if this center is really worth the time or should I scratch it and add another literacy center.

What are your thoughts?