Midterm Reflection Paper

Bethany
Midterm Reflection Paper

Since I wrote my last reflection paper, my expectations for what I hoped to learn have changed in a positive way. I was under the impression that it would be difficult to create a webpage yet, besides a few minor problems, I found creating a webpage to be fairly easy. I am proud of myself for accomplishing something that many people have no clue how to do. I know that I will need to know how to make web pages when I become a teacher and I am hoping to share my knowledge with my students and teach it to them in an easy and understandable way. I am still hoping to learn more about power point since it has been a few years since I used this program. I am enjoying using the “blogs” and never knew they existed until taking this course. I feel like I have learned a lot about integrating technology into my teaching curriculum. I have learned that it can bring more effective learning and more motivation to students. Implementing technology into every lesson is not always the best, but many lessons can be done easier, faster, and more efficiently with the help of technology. I have learned that it is also important to receive student feedback after using technology in a new activity. That way, you know how the students felt about it and whether or not it changed their attitude towards the assignment. Sometimes the students perform and achieved better without technology, yet sometimes it makes a huge, positive difference in their learning outcome. I have also learned how to successfully create a webpage and how to create links within that webpage. I have also learned how to use a “blog” and hopefully I can show my students how to create their own “blog.” Being able to communicate with my fifth grade student has taught me how much she enjoys using her “blog.”
I do feel that I have gained a better understanding of how to tackle challenges. I am the type of person that can get frustrated easily with something if I don’t get it at first. I have learned that challenging myself with difficult assignments leaves me with a great sense of accomplishment when I am finished. From what I have learned so far, I feel more comfortable with technology than I ever have. I have learned a lot of useful tips that I could use in the future when I integrate technology into my own lesson plans. I feel that technology can make a lot of difficult challenges, simple.
I am doing things different now with technology than before I took the course. First of all, I am posting my thoughts on a “blog”, which I had never even heard of before taking this class. I have learned how to create a webpage which I had no clue how to do before this class. I have also found several lesson plans using technology that have given me a lot of creative ideas I wouldn’t have come up with on my own. I am also getting to respond to my classmates’ posts and getting to read their responses to mine. This is the first class I’ve had where a classmate has responded to something I wrote.
I have learned a lot of useful things from this class thus far and look forward to learning more. Technology is becoming more and more useful in our everyday lives and I think it is crucial for all future teachers to know how to use technology in the classroom. I think this course will leave us with a lot of information and knowledge that we will use for the rest of our teaching careers.