Frustrations....

The suggested topic for this week was about frustrations. I wasn't really sure if I was going to write about it or not, but then I came into some things that frustrated me and it made me think. As I was trying to convert some documents over to pdf format for WebQuests that we designed, I ran into some issues. First, my document became 2 pages when it was only supposed to be one, which really wasn't a big deal. However, the border that looked so nice surrounding my document was completely messed up on the second page. I tried adjusting the margins and playing with the border. Nothing worked, so I eventually just removed the border. It was very frustrating and the people at zamzar.com probably think I am crazy for converting that file about 7 times.

So, after that happened. It made me think about the future. While I think it is a great idea to use technology in the classroom because students can relate, and they need to know how to use it. I also realized that there will be times when things happen that I just cannot fix or solve in regards to this kind of thing. I thought about how frustrating this might be because I can't stop my lesson to try and fix a technological problem for 30 min. For example, in the class I am currently observing, they were playing a geography game using a Smartboard, but they could not get the pen to fix. The teacher had to take time out to try and fix it, but she was unsuccessful. Therefore, she had to make adjustments. These little hiccups really made me think about how I will have to always be adaptable to what is going on in the classroom with the lesson. Technology can be great, but it can definitely have some flaws.

These things will not deter me from integrating technology as much as possible. Though they did allow me to reflect on how my response would be as a teacher trying to hold the lesson together. With or without technology, I will still have to plow through those standards and lessons. Overall, these frustrations allowed me to maybe be a little more prepared about the future.

Webquests

I found a webquest this week that was in my particular subject area, which is history. The title was Causes of World War Two. It was developed by a student studying to become a teacher. The task was for students to get into groups and make a ten minute presentation on certain aspects of WWII. It provides some websites for students to use as well. I think that it would be an overall useful project to do in a U.S. History class. This point in history is important for students to grasp and understand, and this webquest would be a useful tool implemented in the class. The link to this particular quest is

I really like the idea of webquests. I had no idea what they were prior to this class. Webquests are really good tools that I will definitely want to use in my classroom. It gives me the ability to find fun projects that can integrate technology successfully into my classroom without being overwhelming or confusing hopefully. They can also be useful if I get stuck on how to plan a certain lesson or project by providing me with the tools or ideas I need. Plus, if there is a certain aspect I want to change, I still have the liberty to do that as well.

Websites and Wikis

This week I have been looking at different websites based on my content area, which is history. I found three different sources that were really interesting to look at. The best one I found was www.besthistorysites.net. They provide all kinds of sites that give lesson plans, activities, games and much more. I really think this site would be useful to any social studies teacher because it has such a wide variety of options for lessons. I added this site to our course wiki and I really think that it will be a useful one.

I believe that wikis were very interesting to learn about. I had never really knew what a wiki was other than Wikipedia. As far as integrating technology, I think it will be a very source for teachers to use. I would really be interested in this as a future teacher just like the PLNs. I think it is important for teachers to have as many resources to their disposal as possible. I am looking forward to using this more as a tool for future lesson planning.

PLN and websources

Since we have been discussing PLN and signed up for twitter, I have been taking a closer look at the people who I follow. I read some of their blogs. For example, tombwhitby's post about the purpose for #EdChat was mainly to discuss topics concerning integrating technology in the classroom. I completely agree. There was one blog I found that mentioned many people are unwilling to adapt to the integration of technology in the class or simply do not see the relavence for it in their classroom. I think that technology can be used in any classroom setting as long as it is available. In my classroom, I hope to be able to use it as a tool that will assist me in reaching students I may not have otherwise. Technology is here and whether people like it or not it isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Twitter seems like a great tool for teachers to use as a PLN type source. I think it will be very useful as a teacher because it will provide me with a vast number of resources from many different perspectives. As a teacher, I believe it will be very important to have a PLN. There will be those times when maybe I cannot come up with a lesson plan or I need help with forming a project. Having a network of people will help me not to limit myself or my students and provide them with a good education.

Also, this week we were to evaluate a website and I chose to do fun-science-project-lesson.com. This site was designed to help come up with science classroom ideas and projects. It seemed to me like it could be used as a tool in the classroom. However, it is also important to realize from this evaluation that many sites out there are not reliable. While I may have known that, it did make me realize that many of my students may not. Some of them may not have access to a computer very often, or they may simply believe a lot of what they read. I know now that it is my responsibilty to help guide them and provide them with accurate information about websites and also help them to discern whether or not a source can be seen as reliable.