From+My+Heart

=From My Heart= = = "WOW, I'm done with my wiki! And I want to tell you some things."

It took me a long time to decide to go back to school to get my teaching certification. I was worried about the all the little things, like applying to the school, getting transcripts, taking the math placement test and getting immunization records. The thought of the process was entirely overwhelming. At my age I have no idea where my immunization records were and those were the least of my worries. Once I got through those hurdles and they are very much hurdles, I decided to take three classes this semester to as my husband agreed to, "speed up" the process of licensure. I accidentally was able to register for a class that required pre-requisites and went into the class drawing a blank as the whole class was taking about rubrics and methods of teaching writing. I hardly understood a word. After talking to the instructor I realized I registered for the wrong class but had already sat for the entire class as I had been too embarrassed to leave. I was really questioning if I could really do the teaching program and if I had the resources (I.Q.) to be a teacher after that class. I dropped that class hoping that someday I would be able to take it. When I walked to into Educational Technology I felt overwhelmed again. Dr. Stocker had asked everyone to rate themselves on a scale from 1 t0 10 as to their computer literacy and savviness. While everyone rated themselves at 7 or above I rated myself a 3. Later two students rated themselves low as well but everything seemed so hard. How in the world did people get through this? I spoke with Dr. Stocker after class and she reassured my I could take the class even though it was one of my first education classes in the program. I explained to her I didn't even know what a rubric of unit of study was and she said that I could learn what it was in educational technology and not to worry I was in the right place. It was an encouraging and positive message that maybe I hadn't made a wrong decision to go back to school. Maybe I was in the right place.

The creation of my wiki was both a fascinating and at times a frustrating process. Using the web tools to create animation was exciting, while thinking of how to integrate "blabberize", photos with moving mouths was at times exasperating. LIve Text Metropolitan State's required electronic portfolio is a nightmare! How could I use all these computer web tools? Why would I use them in the classroom. How can these tools help students to learn? I have tried my best in this wiki to show how some of these tools can be integrated into a unit of study. Some of them have practical purposes such my blog which I want students communicate with me in a safe way, or my "tumbler" link which allows students some helpful links to get started on a research project. Other tools such as "toon doo" seemed just for fun and I still don't know how to integrate them into a unit of study. I know though how to access these tools and to put them on a wiki to make a web page more personal and engaging to a student. I could make virtual timelines, flash cards online or trace my classes' social studies journey through "google earth". I now have this arsenal of creative tools to pull from when I do have my own class and the opportunity to teach. Today's learner is drawn to this technology and it is important to have these tools to choose from as a 21st Century teacher.

I learned with encouragement and help I can learn things I didn't think I could. I can create fun things on the computer that seem impossible to create without a computer science degree. I learned how important it is to keep open lines of communication with your students and how you have to respond to them. I learned how support and encouragement of teachers and classmates can go a long way, especially the positive support from a teacher. Oh, and a rubric is a set of standards that you create to use to evaluate a lesson on how well it was learned.