The Semester is Ending...

When December 1st rolled around you could see it in the classroom...it is the holiday season. And with the holiday season brings the end of the semester. I now have two semesters of my "Teaching with Technology" class under my belt and looking back (to do a little reflecting, as we as preservice teachers often do) I have learned so much from this whole experience.

I have seen, learned about, and created things that have brought ideas to life using technology that before could only be found in textbooks. It is amazing the resources that we, as teachers, have at our finger tips because of the internet. We are able to see all that others are doing, share ideas, which is becoming even more important in a world governed by standards that decide our worth, we need to be able to help one another! This semster alone I was introduced to the world of webquest, sites such as Elluminate (which is amazing by the way!), and most impressively the K-12 Online Conference. And although I could not particpate while the conference was ongoing, all the materials are still there avaliable for me to look at. I particularly find the work of John Pearce who comments on blogs and other web related activities for students, particularly his third graders. Which was interesting because I am placed in a third grade classroom and have some of those same concerns. I loved the way the students could rate how much they liked or disliked the bloging and other activities because I am always worried about how the student feels.

I have enjoyed these past two semesters, my eyes have been opened to a new world. I hope that I continue to look toward the world of technology and blogging especially in my own classroom. In a few months I will be a full time student teacher, it's a scary thought, but a good one at that because hopefully I can continue to use more technology in my classroom to create a unique learning environment that can fit all of my students! (reaching all learning types is one of the ways I have seen technology used most effectively) I just can't wait!