thoughts on blogging ...

In all honesty, I did not have that much time to keep up with reading my classmates blogs as I was more concerned with creating my own posts keeping up with the homework for this class and three others, and learning as much as I could about blogging so that I was able to become comfortable with the format. I did on occasion have time to read what others posted, and what I did like from being able to do this was that I was able to learn that I was not alone in my stress and discomfort of not really knowing how to use most of the technology and software that I was presented with in this class. At first, I thought that maybe I was alone and that I was the only person that was unknowledgeable in regards to what was out there, and I found that I was not, so I was a lot more comfortable with the information that I was obtaining.
I actually enjoyed the process of writing a blog and I think that I am going to start a new one that I use for personal use to organize my wedding planning, thoughts, and notes that I would like to make and file in one location. I think that I will be able to make comments to myself, and perhaps others, about planning techniques I encounter, tips on creating invitation, sales, dress shops or whatever else I would like to post that helps me along my way. I hope that once I start this blog that I am able to keep it up as I would like to find a way to organize everything that I have so far as this is something in my life that I am struggling with to keep all of my information in one place. As for now, it is hard to say that I will keep up with the information that I have posted in the blog for this class, as I am not in a classroom yet and I do not know how else or for what else I would use it for. Perhaps at that time, accessing that blog would be more relevant.

creating my lesson ...

I like that I was able to challenge myself in creating my own personal lesson on something that I never thought I would ever learn about let alone be comfortable with, delicious, a social networking service. I created my account when we had to do the unit on wiki’s and I was so impressed with it! It was awesome to learn that there was something out there that would allow for me to file, locate, and access any important information that I thought that I would need for research or just simply sharing with a friend. I wish that this was something that I had years ago so that I would not always have to save everything to my flash drive and make sure that I had it with me if I wanted to reference the file to which I save all important information.
I am a little disappointed with the fact that I decided to stick to PPT to display the information that I have learned. I tried to think of other avenues that I could peruse such as using a wiki but I could not think of a way that I could successfully display the information, not only in a way that I liked, but in a way that I was comfortable with. That is the unfortunate thing about everything that I have learned, it is still in the working phase and I am glad that I have been exposed to so many new information sharing techniques, it is just going to take practice and time to get comfortable with using the ones that I enjoy. I will say that in my lesson I did using the elements of design that I would have never thought to apply and uploaded pictures into my presentation which was also something that I never have done before. I will say that although I did stick to something that I was comfortable with, that I still tried to incorporate new elements into the PPT that I would have never thought to do before. Overall, I was personally pleased with the outcomes of my presentation and am even more pleased with the discovery of my knowledge of delicious.

ppt as an educational tool...

I personally have always enjoyed PowerPoint as a student as I have found it to be a simple, easy software to manipulate and move around to get it to express the exact points that you want to make. I think that this is especially easy when you are working in a classroom as a student and you are doing group work. It makes it easy for the individuals in a group to work somewhat independent of one another, and then come together in order to put their contributions for their group together and discuss these items. As a teacher, I can also see the benefits of using PPT in order to enhance classroom discussion and to use it as a reference so that you are not to forget something important that you want to cover, and hey, nobody is perfect, and if you lose your place, it is very easy to look up at the slide and pick up right where you left off. I can see how this software can be over-used. In my college career, I would say that in having five classes a day in my undergrad that three out of the five classes had some type of PPT presentation. This is fine, if you are going to simply use them as a reference and not read word for word off of the document. But if you ARE going to do this, save your students the time, forward them the email attachment, and let them read your lecture at home in the comfort of their bed. I think that what I have learned the most out of this class and all of the technologies and software that I have been presented with is that it is truly all in the way that you use the materials to enhance your students learning. You could give two teachers PPT documents and tell them that they have to create a presentation to enhance their lesson on the life cycle and you would be amazed at how differently these two teachers would use the tool.

web 2.0 continued...

I have learned about MANY tools that I could potentially see myself using in the classroom during this unit. I like the idea the most of Delicious out of everything that I researched, while working in our group I was the one the was responisble for learning this tool. I am not sure if this is the reason as to why I like it so much, but for whatever reason, I do. I like that it is simple to use, easy to access, and that it is able to catalog all the valuable information that you acquire into one easy to find location. This is something that you can build upon over the years that you are in the classroom, or simply as you go through life, and edit the information once and a while to remove items that are no longer relevant to your lifestyle or academic needs. The one tool that I was not impressed with was Twitter, I DO NOT get the point of it. I feel like it is a simplified version of facebook where you are just commenting on things that happen throughout the course of your day, but I do not care that you are eating a sandwhich at Panera and I do not want to hear about it. Perhaps my view of this software will change overtime when I somehow find a need to have it in my life, but for the moment, I am not sure if I understand the whole point of 'tweeting' your daily activities.

web 2.0 ...

I am still not too sure if I really understand the whole concepts of Web 2.0. I understand that it is a more interactive communication based format than the origional Web, but I guess it is something that I am still lost about because outside of the wiki's I am not entirely sure how it is used. I think that it is going to take time for me to really understand how to work with and use these new formats especially in regards to editing and formating my pages so that they look professional and creative and are truly an accurate representation as to who I am as a person and professional. I think that blogs are a great technology to be used in the classroom. I can see them being an excellent way for students who do not usually have a voice in the classroom to be more apt to share through text and a more liturature based format. I think that this provides as opportunity for students to learn from eachothers posts and thoughts and perhaps pick up bits and pieces of information that they might have missed or did not think of on their own. I like the ideas of wikis as well, I am just slightly unsure of the whole editing portion of them, it is slightly scary to think that anyone could go onto your page and post whatever they want. From a classroom stand point I could see a great potential for bullying and misuse of the page, I think that is might be something that would be more appropriate at the college or late high school level. I like the ideas of social software, but like anything, I think that it is just going to take time for me to jsut comforable with how they are used and what I can do with them in order to better benefit myself and those that are in my classroom.

ms word ...

I personally am the proud owner of ms word 2003. This is not because I never saw the point of upgrading, I have wanted to. However, this along with a new laptop were going to be my graduation present to myself since I bought the computer that I currently have when I began my undergrad in 2003, and it has been a long run! In saying that, the experience that I do have with 2007 have come from using the computers on campus in Longmeadow and no where else. I currently have to go to the library in town in order to use the new version of the software. I will be honest in saying, I am not comfortable with the new layout at all but I know that that is something that will come with time as I remember feeling the same way about the 2003 version. I do like the fact that there are many additional features that have clearly been developed over the years and I could see this software being highly useful. I like that you can create envelopes on the new version which is something that I migh find useful when making my wedding invitations and the envelopes to send them out in. I know that it is about time that I get comfortable with this new package, but I really did not see the point in doing so until now. I like that I am being exposed to some elements of the software before I own it myself and this should make the whole process that much easier for me. Not to mention, I am sure that once I enter a school system, this will be the version that they have and it would only make sense for me to be aware of how to work and manipulate the software before attempting to help my own students do the same.

I am in the beginning stages of creating both my flyer and my newsletter and at this moment, I have been doing mostly what one might consider, playing around. I am trying to get comfortable with the whole format. I have been using just random words and ideas on a blank document, moving them around, adding pictures, changing fonts and texts, and coloring backgrounds just to see what it all looks like before I begin to apply it to my actual work. I think that through this, when it comes time for me to complete what needs to be done, I will know how to do more editing than I would have been able to before in not knowing where certain features of the software where located. I am hoping that I will be able to be successfully creative and either way, I am enthusiastic to be learning all of the new information that I have been and I can not wait to apply it to elements of my own classroom some day!

elements of design ...

I never really learned specifically about the principles of design although you often apply them while creating a power point, handout, or flyer subconsciously without even realizing that you are using them and taking them into consideration. I always tend to think about everything that I create that will be seen by anyone more than just myself. I like to present information in a way that is eye catching, easy to read, and most importantly, easy to remember so that the points that I am trying to get across stick fresh in the minds of the reader. I have never enjoyed having to set through a presentation that repeats the same background on every slide, that repeats the same color, that uses the same font and text, that has no pictures and no animation (which at times I do not really mind). A few new considerations that I have learned through this unit would be to be bold when I display information, stay away from always finding comfort in a central alignment, use repetition in your piece and if colored print is not an option, consider a colored piece of paper.

I think that all of what I have learned this week will help me to design better handouts and flyers when it comes time for me to do so for my classroom. I never really thought of the reason as to why so many of the handouts that got sent home with me from my classroom never made it to the hands of my parents, this was probably due to the fact that I had no interest in them and from that fact assumed my parents would not either, so I kindly placed them into the trash. If you send home a flyer that is plain, all black and white, with the same text and font, and no pictures, it is not going to even excite the local librarian. I think that all of the information that I have learned this week is great information to have as when I do begin to create handouts, I am going to take all of these elements into consideration. If you are going to take the time to create something, why not take an additional minute or two in order to jazz up your piece for your readers and make it that much more memorable for them. Not to mention, that there is a greateer chance that it is not going to end up directly into the trash bin. I also think that on a professional level it will help your creative pieces get noticed by your co-workers and administration. If they see your hard work and efforts perhaps they will turn the tables on the work that they produce as well.