I am having a heck of a time trying to create a new blog.  I guess that it my handicap!

Almost Finished

Shew! With a sigh of relief, I have completed all the assignments for this class with the exception of the final test.  It has been a long road for me.  I had to laugh when I read one of my classmates post about when they first looked at the syllabus and didn't even know what many of the assignments were.  LOL. I too felt that exact same way.  Today I am happy to say I have a few new tools in my toolkit.  I can see myself using several of the different assignments again in my classroom. I was nervous about taking this class right from the start, but I'm glad I did. Glad to wind up the semester too.  

Behind the Times

Before beginning this class, I thought I was up to date on technology and I did a good job using technology in my classroom.  When I first read the syllabus, I thought I was in the wrong class.  I had no idea what several of the topics were about.  I was unsure if I was going to be able to complete the assignments and class.  Now, the class is more than half way complete and I am doing alright.  It is stressful at times but nothing I can't figure out.  I have incorporated some of the new ideas into my routines and my students enjoy them.  I am afraid though that by the time I figure out the best way to use most of these, they will be outdated and I will be behind again.  LOL!!!

Email Assignments for my classes

The email assignments for my classes have been going...AWESOME!!! The students love them and they are so easy to write feedback and send back to the students. It has raised the morale in my classes :-)

I'm excited about doing the blog this week and getting started using those in my classroom after Thanksgiving.

Feeling Better!!

This class has been completely overwhelming for me. Each and every time I try to complete an assignment, it seems as if something always happens. I have been pushing myself very hard to get my assignments for next week finished this week also, so that I may enjoy my Thanksgiving break with my family.  Today I finally got all of my assignments finished.  I feel very happy right now. Now the only big assignment left is one test.  I feel that I have learned a lot of new technology that I will be able to use in my classroom.

Overwhelmed

Like many of you, I have been trying to get my Thanksgiving assignments completed so that I can go out of town and visit with family.  Things were going great until I created my own blog.  Apparently, my google account has a virus.  I didn't even realize this was possible.   This virus has shut down my blog, my school computer, and my partner's school computer. I could cry at this very moment.  After hours of struggle with this assignment to have it simply shut down has been heartbreaking.  It was almost completed.  Even worse, to realize the impact it has had on my computer and my colleagues is gut wrenching.  The computers we used were the ones connected to our smartboards(of course).  I'm sure when I get home today and log onto my home computer, it too will be in the same shape since I started the blog from there.  Our school technology person has warned me not to log into my google account again.  This class is almost finished, thank goodness, because I'm not sure how many more computers I will have access too...lol.  I'm seriously not sure how quickly the technology department will be able to repair our school computers, or how expensive it will be to fix mine at home.  All in all, I'm very frustrated, overwhelmed, and just aggravated.  Say a little prayer for this gal, I could sure use it at this point.

I didn't realize I was so behind!

Well, it's official, I don't know anything about technology! What I know is so basic, it's nothing like the assignments that we've all been working on. Before taking this class, I had no idea I was so behind!  I have been exposed to things I didn't even know existed!  While doing the web quest, I kept thinking that I would let it be on a topic I would actually use in my classroom.  I will have to say that I will be using my web quest after Thanksgiving break, which I am very excited to do! I plan on using the things taught in my classroom all throughout the remainder of the year! I really think the kids will enjoy making their own pod casts! I forgot to mention this in the pod cast, but I believe it would be an awesome way to record your homwork hotline assignments each day.  Incorporating podcasts into my teaching will be new and challenging, but I am going to give it a shot!  The overwhelmed and stressful feeling that I've felt while doing these assignments has about took me under, but I can finally see light at the end of the tunnel!  We've almost made it!!

The WebQuest kicked my tail...

I always thought I was pretty technologically savvy...however, after taking this class, I feel the complete opposite!  Don't get me wrong, I can navigate the assignments pretty well but not up to par.

I worked on the WebQuest for at least a couple hours each night for a week.  I thought it was pretty good too! :-)  But my grade didn't reflect how well I thought I did.  I have definitely learned what to do for future WebQuests though!  I like them but they are a lot of work!  I hope I'm not the only one that feels that way!

Anybody else ready to throw in the towel?

This class has been insane for me!  Challenge would be a severe understatement.  The towel is in hand and itching to be thrown, I have wanted to give up several times since the beginning but have made the deadline so far for each assignment.  If it is not me understanding how to do something it is this stupid computer acting like it is possessed!  I hope I can endure the web quest and the pod cast but only time can tell!  I vow to win this battle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, I have been working diligently trying to accomplish the tasks for this class.  I tend to be an over achiever and want to get everything done well in advance of the due date. 
Anyway, this being said, I am seriously thinking about going out into the forest and living in a cave where technology can not find me!  The screencast was a test of my sanity, the WebQuest completely did away with my sanity, the PodCast is going to have to wait because I need to find my sanity, and here I am posting on the Blog.  I do not know how I am going to get through this!!!
I think the technological world expanded while I slept, and I have woken up to realize that there is a whole world that I have never even heard of.  How does this happen, when I get up and out every single day?

I don't know.  I guess, I am going to have to leave the "old school" behind and embark on this new world of technology!  Lord Help ME!!!

Well...I started small....

This week I decided to try and get more "techy" with two of my classes. I started small to see if I could get my students to respond, so I created an email assignment in which they must respond to literature in an email discussion over the weekend. I have yet to log in and see their emails, but I'm anxious to see how it they did.
When we get to web blogs and I learn how to actually create and use those, I plan to try that. But, this was a small step for me. :-)