Basically, I did not mind this course. However, I know my problems when it comes to my own education: if the course is not difficult, I do poorly. It has been a flaw in my learning for a long time. I try and try to see a way for me to get through this problem but if another course is more difficult I will focus more on that one. I am not saying that this course was completely easy. It was just easier than my other courses because I am familiar with technology. But this course was also different than what I expected. I was expecting more of a lesson of how to incoporate technology into the classroom. But I feel odd about that subject because I feel as if the class did not expose me to that subject; but you certainly showed up podcasts and blogs and other stuff. So I feel like you did your job perfectly. But the problem is, I think I already knew how to incorporate that type of stuff into a class. Perhaps it was because of other classes in the School of Ed I have taken. I also understand that this is the 1st course in a series and I am looking forward to using these methods in the future. I wish, though, that instead of elementary kids we could have been at a middle or high school. I just do not have a connection to little kids at all. Maybe in the other courses that can happen.
Another thing about this class, and please forgive me for this everyone, but all the crying about the work. The workload in this class was not that much. Now I know I did not get everything turned in on time or at all; but I take the responsibility that I could not or did not do it. So Anne, don't lessen the load of work if you teach this again and don't do it for W310. This is an addition to your license and everyone is treating this as any other lame class. I signed up for W310 for next fall, bearing that IU doesn't fail me out because of a registrar issue with another class, and I am expecting it to be in-depth, interesting, and hard. I think its going to be just me and Andrew....pleanty of one on one teaching there so please kick our ass with work.
So back to this class again: Anne I always heard you during the classes say something like "I dont want to hear any other clicks during this presentation" referring to us looking at the web. I was thinking about that and I think that maybe if the lab lights were all the way on except during the overhead time (which was a lot of time) would maybe make us pay more attention. Darkness just instigates lazyness. Another thing I would have liked is maybe a little more exposure to technology. We talked about that during class where we use one new item each week. Thats not such a bad idea.
Anne you might hate me on this one but I think the lesson plan templates were bad. I think that we should have been required to make our own templates. If we get a template and fill in the blanks, that lessens the quality our of creativity. We need to expand our own ideas using technology and creating our own lessons from scratch could have broadened our boundaries. This is just how I felt about the templates. When a plan was due, I would judt download the template and be like "well, looks like I can spend maybe 10 mins on this because its all right there for me: what is my plan, what resources, how much time?". I just simply mean that we needed to make our own stuff. And if people complain about doing that, tell them that as a first year or even 2nd or 3rd, new teachers are typically required to submit weekly lesson plans to the principal for approval. So get used to it!
Being that the lab that we were in was in the School of Ed, someone with influence needs to submit to the tech crews there to install educational programs that we need to be introduced to. They do that for the school of music and b-school and they have all kinds of math programs on all the systems at IU....but the school of ed is a forgotten product of past tax dollars. It is like IU does not pride itself in anything but the 3 Rs....typical of a lousy public school. So thats another thing that could have enhanced our learning experience in this class. Nothing you can do about that right now though. IU would rather buy brand new White Chevy Subarbans than spend the money to properly prepare all of us Ed majors.
I am sorry that I did miss a lot of this class. I wish I didn't have this problem with my damn kidneys because life would be a lot easier......and I would be freakin done with college.
So overall, I think this class was useful. Even though I think it was easier than my other classes, it did further expose me to new technology that I had heard of, but never used. I hope that this reflection serves you well in the future.
Thanks!
-Phill
1 comment:
Phil,
I appreciate your honesty. I think for w310, we are going to create learning contracts at the beginning of the semester. You will be in charge of designing your own learning progress and will meet with me on a bi-weekly basis to discuss your progress. I will try to pair you up with a student that needs assistance with your subject area. This will put you in charge of integrating technology and finding ways to help the student using technology. We will discuss your experiences during our class. I also plan on having a 10 minute overview/hands-on activity every class period. Also, we should take 5 minutes to discuss an idea or topic that is new to the field of educational technology and how it could be incorporated into everyone's area. I like the idea of also looking collaboratively at everyone else's ideas.
I think that in terms of workload, you and Andrew both mentioned that perhaps there needs to be more. Therefore, in w310, we will have more readings, podcasts, etc... in order to expose you to more integration knowledge. I'm still confused as to what you would like to know about "how to incorporate technology into the classroom". Does this mean classroom management strategies, etc...? I think we covered some of this, but I need to make it more transparent. Perhaps even listing objectives that we will cover each day and adding this to the KWL chart.
The lesson plan templates were there for guidance. Since we have such a variety of levels and experience in w210, I think it's best to start out with a template. Perhaps in w310 we can have more flexibility with this. I'll have to think about this more, but I think we did learn a lot this semester. I think I may try to do a brief presentation on this for the end of class.
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