Final Post, Farewell TPTE

I have learned so much from this class. At the beginning of the this summer, I had not even heard of more than half of the tools that we used in this class. My favorites have been Pixlr, Google sites, and digital storytelling. I have never taken a class before where I felt that everything I was learning was directly applicable. This class has been a great balance of challenging and fun! 

Websites

I am so happy with the way that my website turned out! I'll admit, I was a bit intimidated by the task of designing my own website. However, the task was not quite as difficult as I had originally thought. The rubric along with instructions from class equipped me well for finishing the website. I feel that knowing how to create my own class website will be very beneficial in the future. A classroom website is a great way to introduce yourself to the class and keep parents updated and informed. 

Blogger

Blogging has been a love hate relationship for me. Although writing is not my strongest suit, this blog has been a great way for me to reflect on each project. Blogging has helped me process what I thought about the process of learning all of the tools. 

iMovie

The digital storytelling project has to be one of my favorites from this summer. I chose to do my video about Spanish speaking artists. I had so much fun researching them and their artwork. After I had found all of the artists, I put them in alphabetical order. Then I found a song called Sonata in D by John Williams that had Spanish guitar, which I thought was fitting. I studied Spanish for almost eight years. One of my favorite things about Spanish class was the culture section when we would get to study art and Spanish culture. This project was a great opportunity to combine two loves of mine. 

Glogster

Glogster is such a cool tool! This tool allows you to create interactive, graphic blogs. With Glogster you can insert audio, video, images, and text boxes. This would make for a fun projects for students to create a glog about a subject the class is studying. Students could also create a glog for a certain person in history that they are learning about. Glogster gives students and teachers the freedom to be creative and express their personality. I look forward to using it in my classroom one day!

Storybird

Storybird is such a fun site for students and teachers! I love the idea of coming up with a story to go along with the incredible artwork they provide that correlates with the current lesson in the class. This site is also great for students to learn the art of storytelling. I would love to one day have my students use this site as a creative outlet to come up with their own silly stories.

Inspiration

The picture above is a screen shot of my Inspiration project. I did this project on the different types of clouds and the type of weather they are associated with. Inspiration 9 is a great tool for teachers and students. Teachers can use this when they are presenting new information or they could give a diagram, outline, or map to their students as a study tool. Also, students can use this software to create their own diagrams, outlines, or maps as a project. 

Interactive White Board/ActiveInspire

This assignment has proved to be the most challenging for me so far in the class. I had a lot of trouble figuring out everything on my computer. Once I was back in our classroom, I had a much better time with it. I chose to do this assignment on telling time. I volunteered in a second grade classroom this past year and I know the kids would have loved this! These boards are so cool. What a great way to get the kids involved and engaged in the material!

Resource Wiki

The Resource Wiki was not my favorite task during the process, but after it was finished I could see how helpful it will be in the future. It was good for me to gain experience in learning to search for resources of all different subject matter for myself. The other girls in my group had great resources. I really enjoyed looking at what they had found and posted to our resource wiki.

WebQuests

Web Quests are a great way to add some excitement to the classroom. Students can work individually or in groups to find the necessary information online. This activity gives students independence. Rather than having the information fed to them by their teacher, they are finding and learning new information on their own. Web Quests also enable students to experience something that they would not in a normal classroom setting.

Wikis

Working on the Wiki's has been something completely new to me. I had obviously heard about Wikipedia, but I did not know how it worked or that there were other ways to use this tool. I have already found this tool helpful in planning events with friends that are out of town. I am maid of honor in a wedding this fall and it has been super helpful to use this resource through Google docs. The other bridesmaids and I have been able to plan, schedule, and share addresses all from different states.

Scavenger Hunt

The scavenger hunt has probably been my favorite task in the class so far. I definitely prefer to be outdoors rather than indoors. I was a soccer coach for nine months before this summer session started. It has taken some getting use to transitioning back into school mode. It was great to work together, go outside, be active, and be creative.

Resume

When we were asked to re do our websites, I honestly thought that this task was a little unnecessary. I thought that my former resume was perfectly sufficient. It was sufficient for what I was previously doing. I originally got a degree in Psychology and was pursuing jobs in ministry. Now that I am back in school and pursuing a career in teaching it is time for some updating and reforming of my resume. My revised version is much more suitable for my new goal.

Timetoast

I love the timetoast website! This tool could be used for most any subject. Teachers can use it for presentations to the class or to give to students as a study aid. Also, students can create their own timetoast timelines for projects or presentations. This is much more fun than cutting and pasting on paper. Teachers could also make a timetoast timeline of their lives with silly pictures and fun facts to introduce themselves to the class at the beginning of the year.

Wordle

Wordle is a useful tool for English and Language Arts. Students can use this tool when writing a paper to find out which words they use too much. For example, I know that I overuse the word "also" when writing a paper. During the proofreading process, I can use this tool to see if I have improved in avoiding this word or another. This tool could be as a fun project for the students to type their names and words that describe them so they could make an all about me wordle.

Aha

My biggest "aha" moment of the course was when I learned how to insert a link into the text to where someone can click on a word and it takes them to a website. I have always wondered how to do that and now I know how. Another useful thing I have learned was how to operate Pixlr and edit photos. I learned how to insert text and how to use all kinds of effects to make the picture look professional.

IBA

For my Inquiry Based Activity I chose to do an activity that would teach students how to say the different body parts in Spanish. I gave the students three websites to look at so they could complete the questions. They were to look at two interactive websites that would allow them to hear the words and match the body parts. The students also were to look at a youtube video that went over the different body parts in Spanish and English. I had so much fun doing this activity. I studied Spanish in college and I had forgotten how much I had missed it.

Web 2.0

Monique and I drew Pixlr for our Web 2.0 project. I had never heard of Pixlr before this assignment. I really enjoyed playing with it and figuring it out. Pixlr is the best website I have seen for editing photos.  The picture above is a photo I edited while teaching myself how to operate the site. I love the tint and the vintage effect on this picture. I will use this to edit my own photos but also for the purpose of gifts. The editing features allow you to add text to the photo. This would be perfect to add "Happy Mother's/Father's Day" to a picture of you and your parent for a special addition to a gift. The most useful aspect of Pixlr is Pixlr Grabber which can be used to capture part of the whole of the content of a website open in a browser. This tool could be used for a project such as this to explain how to sign up for a website.

Website Evaluations

I am so glad we did website evaluations. It can be difficult to figure out if a website is a reputable source or if it merely appears to be reputable. Before Tuesday, I had never been formally taught what to look for to distinguish whether or not a site is one I would want to use.  There were several criteria listed on the evaluation that I would not have known or thought to look for such as alternative text located on the graphics. Typically when doing research online, I play it safe by using websites that I know are reputable such as a university site. For this activity I evaluated a resource site for foreign language teachers for grades K-8. I found the site to be mostly reliable. However, there were several sections of the site that had not been updated in over three years. This could be a sign that it does not have the most current methods and resources for teachers today. 

Course Expectations

I have high expectations for this course. I use basic social networking sites and am somewhat knowledgeable when it comes to technology. However, I have a lot to learn when it comes to constructing my own website. Also, previous to this class I had never even heard of a wiki. This is one of the few classes I have taken where I can immediately implement what I am learning. The information is relevant and applicable now. Another aspect of the class that I like is the laid back environment that has been created.