Final Post!

I have to say, I really learned alot taking EDM310. Throughout this semester, we have gone over many things in this class from basic blogging to posting voicethreads. I found some things helpful, and other things....not so helpful, to be completly honest.
I would like to teach kindergarten in the future and I found that some things would be useful in my classroom, and others wouldnt. I would love to have a class blog or website, this way all class info can be available anytime. It would be convenient for parents to know what their child is doing as well as check what the homework was if they missed it. I know having a class blog to refer to in elementary school would have helped me out alot!
I also liked using Skype. I don't think this would be useful in my classroom. I found it useful to chat with my mother in New Jersey. It was cool to be able to see and talk to her, even when shes so far away. Also, it would be beneficial for meetings and conferences, however I dont think I would use it in my classroom.
Google spreadsheets could become a useful tool when it comes to keeping a gradebook! It is important that you have a hard and an electronic copy of all grades for each student. Having it on a google spreadsheet would be perfect. Not only can you use it for grades, but you can use it for other important documents such as important student information and personal file.
I had already been familiar with ALEX and ACCESS, from another class but by doing a little more research on it for EDM310 made it more clear to me. They are both great guides to creating a successful lesson plan for student mastery. There are specific guidelines and examples that are easy to follow and understand. I found these materials to be very helpful in making lesson plans as well as become familiar with the Alabama ciriculum.
These are just a few things I have learned from EDM310. I find that by taking this class, I am able to not only understand technology, but I also know how to apply it to managing a successful classroom. I really didn't think that any topic was not covered in this class. I do feel however that there shouldn't be weekly blogs. How many times can you blog before you get it? I think that maybe doing a blog assignment every other week would be good, and the other weeks can have a project assigned. I think that would lighten up on the work and make it easier for us to keep up in the class. To be honest, I was not at all excited about this class. I think Mr. Sullivan was great and all, but I was just not looking forward to coming to class every week. I don't think I have ever been excited to go to a class, so don't take it personally. :)
I think the most intellectually challenging thing we learned was using voicethreads, videocasts and google earth. I think so becuase they were much more detailed and required a little more time than usual assignments. I would consider myself to be technologically literate to an extent. I feel that I know all of the basics like how to post pictures and blogging, but when it comes to the more complicated stuff, I'm not that great at it. Hopefully, I will be able to learn more about technology in the future and pass my knowledge on to my future students!