Final for Tech 390

Three important things I learned:
1. I think one of the biggest thing that I learned in this classroom was about the websites. I was so unfamiliar with Mac Computers. It has been a long time since I have worked with this class and this class has definitely gained my confidence.

2. One of the weblinks that I KNOW I will use throughout my teaching career is crayola.com. That is such a fantastic website to use to get good ideas on various activities and projects to use in th classroom.

3. Another item in the class that I really enjoyed learning about were the podcasts. It was amazing to me that we could actually get this done in our lessons for the after school science program. For the most part it worked great and the students LOVED it! We actually were about to put all of the groups together to make cd's for the students to take home. Without learning about podcasting, this would have never been done. It is a great way to add technology into the classroom!


Reflection on six of classmates websites:

Kiley Olds- She did a great job with her website! I loved all of the color, but it was a little hard to read her about me section. All of her projects were well done and very organized. I think it's important to be able to find things quickly and her website showed this. Overall, she did a great job!

Jennifer Meyer- Jennifer's website was absolutly awesome! I loved how she linked her pictures to a blog. That was such a good idea. I also liked the visual calendar. All of her pages were colorful and easy to read. It is evident to see all the time spent on her webside!

Joan Steinkuler- Joan's website was very organized and neat. I liked her personal page and the effects she added to the pictures. I think that there may be a little more added to some of the pages, but overall her website is really cool! I love all of the different backgrounds that she used!

Kayla Juenemann- I like all of the different backgrounds that Kayla used. I also really liked how she had her home button in the same place to it was always the same color and easy to find. The only thing I would change is one of the backgrounds that blends into the internet white, but other than that, it is a very cute website that is easy to navigate.

Keri Sherman- This website was so organized. Keri did so much extra work that makes it look so awesome! I really like how she documented her corrections class on the website. What a great idea! All the different pages and colors make it enjoyable to look at.

Chris Schmidtberger- Chris's page is pretty simple and to the point. I think it is a good idea to put your resume one your website. He did a great job labeling things!

My own personal webpage- Through looking at all the different webpages, I have seen great ideas that I wish I would have usesd. One of the things I wish I would have put on my website was my resume. I also wich that exedia wouldn't have crashed so I could fix gramatical errors that are driving me nuts! Some of my links were incorrect, but I still like the idea of having links. Other than that, I would leave a lot of it the same. I put a lot of work into my website and am proud of it for the most part. I like all of the colors and different backgound that I used. All in all, I enjoyed this project and hope to implement a website into my future classrooms.

Article 5

More video games, fewer books at school? By: Debra Sherman
Video games are now being brought to surface presenting real-life problems to solve. These games teach as well as entertain. It can be referred to as digital media literacy.

Article 4

Class project: reading, rapping, history teaching the past with modern tool by Angie Green
This article was interesting for me to read. It talked about rapping through reading material. Some students are able to remember information better by singing it; similar to how the alphabet is learned. This can tie back into Gardner's multiple intelligences. Teachers need to be aware of how each student learns in their class, and accomodate lessons to meet the childrens learning styles.

Article 3

U.S. -forn don't learn the language easily by Marcela Sanchez
It is intersting to note that Englsih is the 2nd language for approximately 55 million students in the U.S. This is hard on teachers that don't know a different language. That's why school systems need bilingual teachers. NCLB holds schools accountable for all of these students. Many children are not learning English, even after several years of living in the U.S. This is a scary thought. Schools need to make sure these students can speak English along with their primary language.

Article 2

Offering grants to universities and Colleges closed by flooding after Hurrican Katrina in 2005. The schools really need to help in this sort of natural disaster. It's important to remember that Hurricane recovery issues are still a huge deal. I have seen all of the distruction in Gulfport, Mississippi. I went with a group of Fort Hays students to work on homes that were and still are damanged from Hurricane Katrina. Our job is to offer help to all of the victims! These grants are really going to help the schools.

Article 1

There was $250 Million proposed to lure teachers to New Orleans schools. Democrats propose N.O. teacher incentives. Details of legislation unveiled on eve of Bush trip to the Gulf Coast. This article was by Bill Walsh.