An Honest Reflection of EDM310 (Final Exam Part 1)

1 What have we covered in class? The question is what did we not cover? The vast amount of websites and tools that we used for EDM310 was overwhelming at times. Some of the information was useful and very interesting. Some of the information and tasks were just that...task...chores really. Some of the tasks I became really good at and some tasks still give me nightmares. I better tackle this question with 3 lists. I will title them, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Each title should give you an idea of my thoughts and feelings....

The Good
*Posts I read gave interesting perspectives and new outlooks on teaching
*Comments4teachers for great teaching ideas
*Comments4Kids for encouragement that kids are still enjoying school
*Google Forms, Docs, and Spreadsheets boosted my confidence level because they were very easy to use!
*ALEX offers great new ideas
*Other teachers and students outside our region...Hallelujah! Fresh new ideas!
*Blogging was new and different and I think maybe I was a little too honest, but blogging helped to share my ideas....whether you agreed or not!
*Wikis and presentations made me explore with technology more. Teachers should be lifetime learners.
*Picasa was great for photos although I still like to order my prints from Snapfish and Shutterfly.
iTunes and iTunes U are great for subject offerings via the Internet...great for long distance learning.
*Videocasts were fun to work on with others. It took teamwork which is something we have to learn if we are going to work with # children and # other teachers in a school.
*I think I am very professional. My very first principal stated in one of the very first faculty meetings..."If you want to be treated like a professional, you have to dress and act like one." That is a great statement!

The Bad (These were a chore!)
*Movie Making should be left to the professionals! I am too anal and tried to make it perfect and I was never going to make a perfect movie, but at least I did make 3! I was proud of myself!
*Podcasts were just too boring! I must be ADD...
*The future of our schools is a debate that no one will ever win. I don't have the time, energy, or patience to argue (debate) the issue. There will never be enough money for schools. Teachers will never be paid enough. Facilities will never be efficient enough....it goes on and on and on!
ACCESS is not for me...I am certified PK-3

The Ugly (These things should be deleted forever!)
*YouTube (do you really want to get me started with "my overprotectiveness" (is that even a word?).
*PLN's for me because I am just not that organized!
*Twitter
*Skype- just call!
*GET RID OF Comments4Classmates because these people are so late with their posts! Just do it! I can't do my work if you don't do yours...
*Google Earth didn't work most of the time....one of the most frustrating websites to make a tour! ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*Technological Literacy...a terrific term for how to make someone's self-esteem go down the drain! Some tasks would build up my confidence and others made me feel so dumb!

2 Was there something else?
Seriously, I think we covered it all, didn't we? I don't think my brain can absorb one more technological task!

3 My Ugly List above should give you insight into my thoughts about things/tasks we had in EDM310 that were dreadful. Of my list, I have to say comments4classmates was the biggest waste of time!

4 EDM310 did not excite me. I took the class because I had to for ALSDE. I thought I would learn something that I could use with my Kindergartners. I learned things about technology, but it's not useful. Maybe I can use the SmartBoard concepts that we talked about in my classroom, but that is just about it!

5 & 7 I don't think I was intellectually challenged. The class had more "opinion based" concepts. I was more challenged by the Google Earth Tour Project. That was not intellectually challenging, just frustrating! I still don't think I did it right. I could handle every task and solve every glitch except for this project! ARGH!!!!!I wasn't bored with the class, just frustrated with some of the tasks.

8 & 9 Am I technologically literate? I honestly don't know! I have to rank myself as being SOMEWHAT technologically literate? I am more aware of technology tools at the end of EDM310 than I was in the beginning of the semester. I hope that was one of the goals or objectives. I cannot honestly answer your question on how I will maintain or improve my tech literacy? I am going to rest my eyes and take a break from this monitor, keyboard, and mouse for a while.