Final Course Reflection

Overall, I think that I learned the most about Web Quests and the benefits of various technological applications in this course. The virtual field trips were interesting. I plan on using the website that I made in this class in the future. The copyright material was an excellent refresher as well. I also gained useful knowledge about Smart Boards. I am confident the information I have gained from this class will serve me well in the future. :)

Reflection - Week 4

I enjoyed researching various sources for information and evidence for the Equity Issues in Educations essay. I was shocked to read about the various barriers students of this generation are faced with concerning accessibility to basic technological resources. I am not well versed in APA style, but found myself delving into the provided APA handout. The assignment became quite the educational experience. 

I was a bit perplexed by the LiveText submission requirement on the assignment instruction page, as LiveText was not mentioned in the syllabus. Upon going to the LiveText website, I discovered you can register an account for a nominal fee. So, I submitted my essay to the Dropbox folder as I have done all semester, and am waiting to hear back from Dr. Seaman to see if a LiveText account is absolutely necessary for course completion.

I have had an enlightening time with the assignments this semester. I feel much more prepared to include technology in my lessons. :)

Reflection - Week 3

This was an interesting week for me. I have never ventured into the world of webpage construction before. There were a few bumps in the road while using Word, but I finally got it all together. I enjoyed being creative with the webpage design and was pleased with the amount of quality websites I found for an American Lit. class. If I teach English III, I  plan on using the same table in my website. I found this week's assignment to be quite educational overall.

Reflection - Week 2

I must admit that I had a lot of fun making a Web quest for the Word Processor Assignment. I can see how this would make things so much easier when introducing any project that will require research. Since the links are provided for the students, there will be more time for focused analysis and critical thinking and less, "Miss...Miss...I can't find anything, Miss...Is this site, OK, Miss?"

This is also a really good way to put more responsibility on the student's shoulders in that they have a plethora of resources and class time given to them. It is up to them to be responsible with their time and work their way through the process. I think it would be interesting to combine this with virtual field trips as well. I definitely plan on developing many more Web quests for subjects that are not exciting material for lecture in the future.

Reflection - Week 1

I enjoyed the readings for the first week. The copyright reading was very informative as was the internet search strategy material. Virtual field trips seem to be an exciting and educational way to bring enthusiasm to abstract or dry subjects. I plan on utilizing this when delving into certain pieces of literature that contain "difficult" lexicon. Furthermore, the How to Google portion of the material was quite useful and would be most helpful for students during research units. I look forward to gaining greater facility in these new tools.

Introductions

My name is Hilary Cedillo, and I am certified to teach English Language Arts, grades 8-12. Currently, I am a stay-at-home mom. I anticipate the opportunity to keep abreast of new technology and learn how best to utilize it in an interesting and useful way in the classroom. I am woefully inept at most things technological, so I hope to become much less intimidated by all things "tech" by the end of this course.

I look forward to the coming weeks! : )