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Response Journal- EDUC 2040

Journal Entry 1:

What are some effective methods of using the internet in your classroom?

 I'm still thinking about the ways the internet can be used in my classroom. I have huge fears of copyright laws, restricted sites, or having students who know more about the media I am using to teach than I do. I want to teach history and foreign policy so the internet could be very useful in gathering resources. It may also be useful because it gives us access to information about anything we could possibly want, and it's more up to date than any textbook we would be assigned. Even if I take those things into account, it still makes me extremely nervous. Trying to figure out which sites are valuable, where information originates from, the biases that exist on the site, and opening the door for the many other things they could encounter while they are on the internet are all problems I do not know how I would handle yet. Overall, I am still pretty overwhelmed, but I will figure something out. Some ideas I have include mock elections, a class webpage, allowing students to do projects that incorporate the internet, or virtual tours.

Journal Entry 2:

I apologize, I got confused about whether or not our journals were due by 6 or 4 and if there was one due everyday we had class. Anyway, here's my journal (at 5:55 pm), so you don't have to go check, I'll be honest. I understand if it's late and you can't count it.Read the syllabus again (probably should have done this first) but I got it now.

I really enjoyed this project. I probably made it bigger than it needed to be (since I'm still not done) but I would rather figure all this out now than attempt it later when I have a million other things to worry about. I feel a little bit more confident than I did after Monday's class, but I'm not 100% yet. I know that I would feel more comfortable giving high school kids an assignment that incorporates the internet than I would students in middle school. I guess I would just have to find a way to make it work because I do think it's important. I'll get there. For this assignment, I tried to find ways that I could link history with other subjects and I think the internet is an excellent forum to do that. I figure if I'm working on making connections for kids I can also incorporate something they like. Plus, typical textbooks do not make an effort to link the history lessons to their interests (at least not one that I have encountered-feel free to refer). I guess that's pretty much it. I liked this assignment and I'm busy brainstorming other ideas and hopefully I'll find one that I feel comfortable with for younger kids if I need it.

"D-U-N Done"

Journal Entry 3:

I think there are numerous ways office suite could be used effectively in the classroom. I think I know most of the simple ways I could use this piece of technology in my classroom, but I in no way have extensive knowledge. I know I'm not using it to its fullest capabilities, but I would like to learn more. I don't have the amount of "free" time I would like to have to sit and experiment with all the different things I can do. I am probably my own worst enemy in that regard; sometimes I don't see the point in learning to use technology if my classroom won't be conducive to doing so, I will need to use a different system (maybe they will provide an internet gradebook), or I will have lots of ideas and students won't have access to computers. I know it's better to be prepared and it's also better to know more than less, but when I have limited time (in general) it's hard to push myself to spend my time doing this. With this in mind I brainstormed some activities I would like to do with each program within office suite and I put the ones I'm capable of doing in one color and the ones I need to learn more about in another. I would love more ideas, because I realize I haven't even scraped the surface.

Word: Worksheets, Word Processing Documents, Newsletters Excel: Gradebooks, lists, graphs, games, grade distributions Powerpoint: Presentations, student presentations, create your own adventures, games, group activities (this should be pink)

Key: Pink: C omfortable doing it, Purple: I am pretty comfortable doing these things, Blue: I really have no idea.

Done--Sorry I'm a procrastinator

Journal Entry 4:

This was very useful for me. I used excel a lot in undergrad but we never necessarily used it for the things it's meant to be used for. It was a lot of entering lists and making graphs from those lists. I didn't really understand how/why it was useful; now I do. I think the gradebook is something I will use in the future, especially because I like to have my own system of doing things. I can foresee myself possibly not liking the system I was given, previously I would have used it simply because it was there. I appreciate that I have another option now. I also found the mail merger capabilities interesting and potentially useful. I need to work more with it, so that I can make it more personalized in my own special way. Right now, I think I will do all of these things but I can see myself getting a year or two into teaching and wanting a short cut. That will be exactly what that provides me, so thanks. I liked the assignment, I see myself using it in the future, and I see the potential to draw other things out of it. I would probably create a rubric and allow each student to keep track of their own grades either as an assignment or for extra credit. It taught me new things and it gave me more ideas for things to do with my students. I can't really ask for much more from an assignment.

Look at me getting things done more than an hour before they're due--Done.

Journal Entry 5:

So first, Xander Cage because my son's name is Xander and people (wrongly) assume that's who he is named after. It was a stream of consciousness in the form of a grade book. As for using photo shop, I don't know how I feel about it yet. Right now, I would be leaning towards not liking it. It seems like so much work to get a fairly simplistic result. Maybe if I enjoyed technology more I would get an inner thrill from all the work I did, but instead I find myself thinking "there has to be an easier way to do this" or "I think I missed something". I agree that it could be useful, and I liked hearing the examples of ways to use it during class. However, I'm just not there yet on how I want to use it. I could see it being more useful for younger students. I worked on getting acquainted with it today and hopefully I will have a stroke of genius for some project I could develop on Wednesday. I'll figure it out for Wednesday; I have so far and I have faith I'll do it again. We'll see. Right now, I feel okay but I definitely need time away from it to think. I'm a person who processes and I don't take immediate action very often.

DONE

Journal Entry 6:

So I came up with a few ideas, but I'm still not on board with photoshop. I really liked the idea of the secret postcards but I didn't get to really explore it yet. I could definitely incorporate that one if I went the counselor route instead of the teacher route. I guess I could probably find a way to incorporate it in the classroom too, but I haven't thought that much about it yet. How would you have students post so you didn't know who it was? I guess I'm not really sure how that works. That and I go scary places in my head like what if someone were to post something illegal. I guess I would explain that in my assignment disclaimer. Anyway, I feel like I see the ways that photoshop could be useful but I don't really see myself ever using it. I could allow my students to and (like you said) I now feel I have enough knowledge that maybe I could help them. I guess I'm sticking with the assertion that it's a lot of work without much result for me, but it is cool and if I had oodles of time I would consider using it to do some of the cool things you showed us.

I also thought the black and white with shots of color was a cool idea, but I don't know if I have the patience or if I could actually do it. Maybe I will try it one day.

And that's all I really have to say about that.

Journal Entry 7:

I would have liked to learn to use some of the statistics in Excel. I realize the opportunity was there but I did not make it to that point; a way to figure out grade distributions and student distributions could potentially be very helpful. Something simple would be how to change files into different forms. I'm not a big technology girl so I'm not really sure about how I would use other forms of technology in my classroom. I would love more ideas, but I don't really have them. The only other thing I can really think of at this point is figuring out how to block sites on my classroom computer. I realize most people may already know these things but that is something simple I have no idea how to do.

Final Journal Entry: Reflect upon this class, its effectiveness, its content, and your place in it.

This class was very effective for me. I could probably use a three hour class in technology, but I understand that wouldn't be beneficial to everyone. The content was appropriate for me, but again I probably reside in the lower half of the bell curve when it comes to technology and my experiences with it. I thought that it was a good forum for participation and I never really felt as overwhelmed as I expected. I haven't looked through everyone else's work yet, but I want to. I simply need to find the time. I may feel better or worse about where I am when I do that. Right now, I am very happy with the class and the work that I did while I was in it. I think I have a very good foundation to do anything I would want to do in my classroom. My only remaining questions is, will the wikispaces remain? For how long? I guess I would like to use other peoples ideas and the resources pages after leaving this class, but I don't feel time to use them to their fullest capabilities right now. Overall, I feel good about this class in all areas. Thanks for your patience =)