Technology Tools has come to an end.......

I was not paying attention to the number of times we met for this class, and then I realized we were on our last week. This class has taught me what it is like to be a student again. I have been teaching for five years, and I think that I forgot what it is like to not be in charge of the assignments and assessments. Due to the nature of this course, it was hard for me at the beginning to know if I was having trouble with an assignment because I did not know how to do it, or because what I was trying to do was actually impossible. Did you know that it is impossible to embed a Google Docs presentation into the Ning? I did not know that, until I had already wasted an hour of time trying to figure it out!

I really liked the early classes of this course. The web browser and search engine assignments took me out of my comfort zone, and it was good to see what else was out there. I currently use delicious with my seventh graders, but I am considering switching social bookmarking sites, to better meet their needs. I also realized that I could still use a spreadsheet, even though I have not used one in many years. The database was new to me, but it also seemed quite easy to figure out. I think that the graphics programs have potential uses in my classroom, but I am still working on trying to figure out how to integrate them.

I also enjoyed getting ideas from the textbook about how to encourage creativity and explain collaboration. As an adult, I forgot that I would need to teach twelve year olds how to collaborate and communicate with each other!!

This class has definitely opened my eyes to ideas that I have heard about before, and now I feel that I am at a point in my teaching career where I can implement more of these ideas!