Final Reflection!

I can't believe I completed this class!  I wouldn't have been able to do it without Jenna and Zella.  Thank you Jenna for all of your help and encouragement!  Going into this, I was at a baseline level with technology.  I didn't really think about technology unless I had to, and then I always felt intimidated by it.  I didn't know much about what tools were available to me, and I definitely didn't know how to use them!  This class has been a huge challenge, but it's been very eye-opening for me.  I'm feeling a bit less intimidated by technology now!  I will still need a lot of practice to implement the things I've learned, but for me, it was just as important to learn about all the tools available.  Knowing is half the battle, and I honestly had no clue what was out there before I started this class.

My favorite activities were the Tagxedo and Storybird.  I think I liked them because they were so visual, and there was a creativity component to them.  I would definitely use tagxedo and the other online study tools in my special education classroom (I used quizlet, but I think I would explore the other ones, too).  My students need so much review and practice, that this would be another fun way for them to learn new information.  I think I would use Storybird for social stories, or maybe for part of the poetry unit they do in 5th grade.  I especially loved these tools, because they were very easy to use.  I also liked the data gathering and google forms, and would use these if/when I need to gather information from parents or students.  They were so user friendly, even for me.  The biggest challenge for me was the screen casting activity.  I can really see a lot of great uses for it, but I would have to get over the talking part.  Unlike some people, I do not enjoy talking that much.  I also found it challenging transferring the information from the websites onto my blog.  That was confusing for me, and something I needed help with on every activity.

All of the activities were new to me, so each one probably took me twice as long as someone who new what they were doing.  I really liked the interactive blog format.  It was easy to use and efficient.  It was also helpful to see other people's ideas, and the support and feedback from Jenna and my colleagues was great.  I also loved the computer lab time each week.  That was a life saver!