Everything+I+need+to+know...

Everything I Need to Know About Applications of Technology.....I learned in this class.

 * **Sample - I am very eager to implement all of the resources I have learned about in this class. Through this class my misconception that a lot of the technology resources I had heard about could only be used in an Emints classroom has been completely thrown out. My students can't wait to see which new Voki I have created for the week to relay their morning message to them. Through this class I have been able to incorporate much more technology into my room, which has made it a fun, educational atmosphere. I plan to stay on top of new technology that circulates and to incorporate it into my classroom.** ||

Amy Jones- Just as many other students have stated, I was scared of this class when I first started. It seemed as if there were so many projects and words that I had never laid eyes on before. I had always considered myself to be slightly above average when it came to technology however that was the common technology that I already had knowledge of. I now feel as if a whole new world is open to me. It had been a few years since I had taken any type of technology course and alot has changed since then. I had heard of different programs and tools but never tried to tackle them. With this class I have had the opportunity to dive into everything and learn by doing. Just in three weeks time I have came across so many tools that will definitely enhance my student's education and the way I teach. I have found that I can make accommodations and modifications to allow any of my special education students use tools that I wasn't sure if they could use or not. Since I was unsure of the tools myself I never tried them. This class has been challenging but very useful and definitely not a waste of time! I am excited for the weeks to come and what else I can take to my classroom to better reach my students.

Erik Jameson- When starting, I was a bit nervous about taking an online class. Now after being in the course for three weeks things are a bit easier, yet overwhelming at times. Like this week when trying to do this assignment it took me forever to figure out why I could not edit or save anything, yet I was a member of the course. Silly me forgot to sign in and then begin my work. Now as you see I am able to edit and save my work. I have learned a tremendous amount about various technologies that can be incorporated into the classroom, it is now my job to stay on top of them (the interesting one of course) as they come out. I have discovered several programs that I plan to make assignments with in the future, because I know students would think project made on some of the various programs such as wordle, glogster or animoto would be fascinating and fun for both me and the students. I look forward to the future, when I can use these programs in daily instruction.

Jennifer Gorton- When I began this class, I was completely freaked out by it! I am not the most "techy" person, and the assignments all seemed to be written in another language! I had taken a lot of workshops and things, but those always left me with information overload! I think that is because I was never given the time to really practice and implement what I had learned. As I have gotten into doing the projects in this class, I have noticed a change beginning to occur...I am becoming more techy! :) I think that is because I have been able to practice and implement my new information, since I am being forced too! (Thank you Dr. Henry!) Another thing that has helped me to get excited about technology is the reaction my students have had! When we began the emodo project they were absolutely over the moon! They jumped in and literally took off. That helped underscore to me the importance of using technology more in my instruction. We've all heard it a thousand times, that students of today need to be engaged in a different way, but really seeing it for myself in my own classroom opened my eyes. I have also found that I am more excited as well! I also learned that it is not as hard as I thought. At first it is time consuming and a lot of learning, but once I get going it is actually pretty easy. The more comfortable I get, the more I am willing to try. I love the changes that are happening in my classroom and in my teaching. I am going to keep going on this new journey, and continue to use technology to revolutionize my instruction. ===Laura Cortner -I have never been one for technology-feeling that what I knew about technolog was "good enough". Part of that was because I was not aware of all that is available for use in the classroom. I am super excited about the interactive resources that I have found through my research for this class, as well as the resources shared by my fellow classmates. While I teach preschoolers, the Edmono site I created was geared towards fellow preschool teachers. I am hoping that we can share resources and provide support to one another. I am still trying to fit my very traditional learning style into this techno world. Angela mentioned that she did not like that her students knew more then her- one of my preschoolers started a power point presentation for me! These are amazing times, thanks to this class I feel a bit more equipped to explore all they have to offer. ===


 * Kathryn Edwards- I won�t claim that I�m an all knowing technological guru, but I have learned a great deal in this class. I knew that I should be incorporating technology to help engage students and enhance lessons but I didn�t know how. After taking this class, I have some great tools to assist me in reaching a wider variety of students and will help me introduce information in new and exciting ways. My students have gone nuts with my Edmodo site and I think I might have to switch off some of my notification because I am getting so many emails of them responding to literary text! I have students who would never want to respond doing more than they have all year. This is so exciting and I can�t wait to see what else I can do with the site. This day in age students are so advanced in technology it is time to start using that to our advantage in the classroom. **

Alison Toczylowski
 * This class has taught me numerous things about technology! There have been struggles for me along the way, but with hard work and determination comes reward. I am excited to implement some of the new tools I have learned into my classroom and to keep learning, growing, and improving in my technology skills. I was unaware of all the possibilities that were right at my fingertips. My students are engaged and eager to get home to see what is new on Edmodo. I am beginning to set up book clubs on Edmodo so that students can collaborate on the books they are reading. Implementing my new technology knowledge will only benefit my students and their learning.

Kellie Faszold I agree with Jennifer. I was so stressed out looking at the assignments in this class. I had no idea what even one of them was. Now I am starting to learn and the resources are amazing. I google everything but there are so many helpful sites on there that it makes techy stuff a lot easier. I also agree with Alison when she says with hard work and determination comes reward. It is extremely rewarding for me to learn all of these new resources before I even have a class. That why I can implement and use all these cool gadgets for student teaching and get a lot more experience with them. I am excited to learn more and look forward to the upcoming assignments. Practice makes perfect and I need all the practice I can get. :)

Jennifer Wilhelm- When I started this class, I was completely overwhelmed and still feel in some ways that I am! I am not computer savvy by any means and have always been afraid to try things because I didn�t want to �mess it up.� I have been intimidated by some of the projects in this class but as I try them I feel more confident in my ability! I need to take time with what I have learned and to practice these new skills. As I have been trying these projects, I have noticed I am more willing to try other things just to see if they work. I think this is because I have been able to practice and implement my new information and it builds my confidence! I hope to have a classroom next year and this technology information will help me with my students. I want to bring technology into my classroom on a daily basis and have my students use computers daily. I have observed classes when using computers for an activity, the children love exploring the information. I know that our country is becoming more computer savvy and I feel the need to increase my student�s skills with information through my instruction. I have become more excited practicing with the programs that have been introduced and hope to pass that along to my future students. I am going to continue exploring the use of technology to implement in my future classroom.

Angela Chambers-I too, like many of you was overwhelmed when I first started looking around at what we had to do for this class. As I saw all of the assignments and names of things on the pages I started to freak out. I almost had an anxiety attack. I did not know what any of this stuff was when we started. I was never big on technology because I never understood how to use it or utilize it to my benefit. Until I started my teaching career I had no desire to learn. Well, then I got my wake up call when I realized how important technology was out here in the real world. I have absolutely loved this class so far and I can not believe how much I have learned already. I hate knowing that my students are more tech savvy than me because it is quite embaressing to ask your students to help you with setting everything up. I am confident that by the time I finish this class I will know enough things to actually help my students instead. Maybe I will teach them a thing or two about the technology of today! Wouldn't that be something!

BJ Stringer: Oh yes, this class IS a whole lot of work for me, maybe this is because I was just behind the times and still don't know the ins and outs of the load of programs we have been presented! I knew from my last classroom observation in a technology course that I had a lot to learn and thus far within this course I feel I have only reached tip of the iceburg. I also feel a bit disadvantaged because I do not have a class of my own to practice with. Instead I have three kids under 4 running around me while I'm feverishly trying to learn. So, I have excitement and frustration comingling in relation to this class! I know it is necessary and I definately want to learn, so I'm giving it my very best shot. The other day I got in touch with a friend who is a Social Media Manager for Allstate. She works in Chicago in this newly created division of the corporation and she's very tech-savvy. During our conversation I actually knew several websites that she had never heard of! So, this made me feel very good about what I have learned so far in this course.

** Rick Bradley: I love to use technology in general so when I signed up to take this class I was ecstatic!! The funny part is that I just had a PDC day right before the class started and the topic was technology in the classroom. Most of the websites we are using were discussed and some were discussed that we aren't doing. So I felt really good about taking this class. I like to have my students use technology as well. I teach special education and most of my students are several grade levels behind so my use of technology can help me bridge the gap for some of these students by the interactiveness of the internet and the plethora of ideas and options available to them!! I can't wait to see where this goes and what I can take from this class in the future... **

** Darin Cissell- I have really enjoyed finding new ways to teach and integrate technology. I have been teaching the same curriculum for almost 10 years and at times it gets boring doing the same projects and lessons semester after semester. This class has given me a lot of new ways to challenge myself and help my students learn in new ways. The biggest problem is deciding which technology to integrate first, I feel like everytime unit I get excited about something and then the next unit there are even more things to consider. I just want to make sure that I am comfortable with whatever I try to use first and then I plan to build off of that. I know that I can't use everything that I am learning but need to start somewhere. ** Andrew Patterson - Teachers need to take more technology courses and become familiar with the changes that occur and use the tools that are provided on the web. The wikis are a great place to find new ways to integrate technology in the classroom. The students crave technology, their world is filled with technology such as cell phones, I pods, computers, and it is instant access to information. It is difficult for a teacher to reach their students using the Direct Instruction approach. The students need to be taught using the technology available today, so that they can evolve with technology. I feel overwhelmed at times and wish the course was 16 weeks. I believe that school districts need train their teachers on how to use technology to teach. Training on how to use technology to teach is important and needed if we are to reach our students academically.


 * Emily Edens- **
 * Technology is such a huge part of our lives today that it seems we can't do anything without it. How will students in 15 years view the technology that we think is cutting edge today? Already, many schools are giving their kids access to iPads and the programming that goes with that. This class has been more involved than any other online class I've taken and it has forced me to go outside my comfort zone when dealing with online programming and technology in general. I feel as though I'm finally getting the hang of it. I've been introduced to many different sites and programs that I could utilize in a high school history class to keep my students interested. I am still somewhat unwilling to admit that technology is going to be what gets through to the students, but I'm slowly beginning to come around. This is a very useful class, no matter how frustrated I get with it! **

David Edgington- I must admit I didn't realize there was this much technology that can be used in the classroom. I came from the years where the overhead projectors were a pretty big deal, along with the early computers. My eyes have really been open to a vast amount of technological resources I will be able to implement from day one and we're not even halfway through the class! I'm excited to see what I can to with Edmodo in a special needs setting, along with many of the web 2.0 tools I have found. With many of the popular social pages, music pages, and games online now, it almost stands to reason as an educator you will be able to reach kids much easier than the old stand up and lecture routine. This is going to be such a worthwhile class, I can't wait to start teaching and put these resources to use!

Nathan Leslie- I am glad that I have had the opportunity to take this class. I firmly believe that a major part of our job is to keep up-to-date with educational technology. I try to incorporate technology into my classroom and I also try to keep up with the latest educational technology. I am somewhat familiar with most of tools we have mentioned thus far, but I hadn�t actually played around with all of them before this class. For example, I knew all about edmodo, but I was not member and had never created my own page. I think this class has given me that final push to really involve myself in some of the technology I have heard about. So far, I think it has been really helpful. I am sure I have not learned �everything I need to know� yet, but thanks to this class I am well on my way.

Jaclyn Gilliam- When I found out my next college class was going to be technology, I was both nervous and excited. I was nervous because I struggle so much with technology and I am unfamiliar with technology's terminology. This makes me scared to try new things for fear I will mess up, break the equipment, or just look stupid in front of my students. I was excited about the class though because I was hoping it would make the little light bulb click for me. I admit that it takes me six hours to create something for this class that most people can probably do in one hour, but I have really learned a lot. I believe that teachers need to constantly be shown the new stuff in technology in order to keep up with the students and make lessons more stimulating. Because of this class, I have found and learned to use new interactive sites. Some of these sites were required by the class, and some of the new sites were found by accident while attempting to find the college projects. One of my favorite sites I have used in this class so far is Edmodo. I see many possibilities for this in my classroom and I am excited to put it in effect.

Ambyr Lay -- Where to begin? I have felt more challenged by this technology course in the last three weeks than in any other course I have taken. I realize that says alot about my discomfort with trying new technology out. For the last few years, I have wanted to learn more about the various tools available out there. This class has provided me with the opportunity to research these tools and familiarize myself with them. For that, I am grateful. I have not only been introduced to a great many new resources for my classroom, but have also overcome a bit of the fear in trying new tools. My favorite discovery this far has been edmodo. I have found it to be the most user friendly tool for myself and for what it has to offer to my students. I llok forward to the many challenges ahead and hope to find more that is useful for my students!

Keely Sutton- As the weeks progress, I am learning about more viable tools to incorporate in the classroom. Initially, when I began the class, I was fearful of whether I would be able to keep up with the rigor of the class and the technology that wiould be introduced. Though it is challenging, throught the help of my peers and instructor, I have found that much of what I feared is not as complicated as I thought. What I have learned thus far has begun to make my classroom environment, as well as my lessons more interesting and engaging, and I love it! My students are technologically driven, so they are essentially loving the methods that have been impletmented in the classrom the last 3 weeks. I am eager to learn more and discover even more intriguing wasys to incorporate technology into the classroom.

Susan Long- The first thing that has been confirmed for me by this class is that I do not LOVE computers the way others do. I keep looking outside at the sunshine and wishing that I could get out there. :-) The second thing that I have learned is that teachers (like my son wants to be) need to take classes like these to be effective in this day and age. The technology tools that we have learned about, and are available, are so awesome and numerous that they take teaching to a whole new level which is required for the students of today. The Edmodo tool would be great to use for collaboration with other educators. I currently prefer the Symbaloo to the Delicious list. (I think that the use of picture tiles and the way it is organized work better for me.) I now have a rudimentary understanding of wikis and liked the idea of making one for definitions of vocabulary words. (I laughed outloud and got tears from the video "Wikis in Plain English" because he made fun of e-mails, which is about where I was technology-wise before I took this class!). I need to get on and practice more with Moodle to really see how else I could use it. I have been impressing my family by throwing these terms around...Moodle, Symbaloo, Wiki, Edmodo... Now I am ready to tackle a WebQuest!

Ann Matoushek- I am not in the classroom any longer but have found many technology tools to support teachers who may use them. I have also found tools that I can use in my current position as an administrator. I present often to staff on various topics so anything I can do to make my presentations more appealing other than the standard powerpoint! I will use Photostories for presentations. I also am researching the capacity to use Edmodo with fellow administrators and teachers to share information regarding paperwork, information we need to relay through email and documents we share. I am happy to have explored Wikis and edit the Wiki and can see it being useful for teachers to share information with one another.

Debra Koch-

Oh my goodness where do I begin! I have learned so much in the short time that I have been in this class. I feel that I have been glued to my computer and have tossed and turned at night worrying about all that I need to figure out. It is slowly coming together and I am feeling less overwhelmed by all the technology out there. I know that I haven't even begun to scratch the surface, but what I have done is gained a whole new respect for those e-mints teachers and those that use technology every day in their classroom. I would like to be one of those teachers someday. I have learned how to complete a wiki, however simple it is, I have finally figured out the Edmodo thing and attempted to participate in some of the groups. I have become an expert so-to-speak with the Blackboard program going in and out of different tabs to get done what I need to do. I have started the Symbaloo project and absolutely LOVE it! Now I can access my bookmarks from home from school, what a wonderful tool. I am looking forward to the webquest project. I am also anxious for summer so that I can spend more time working with the knowledge that I have gained to use it in my classroom in the years to come. I know that with practice and repeated use I can become more tech savvy and make my lessons and assignments much more interesting for my students and hopefully for my colleagues.

Trisha Watson- I truly cannot believe the information I have ingested in only three weeks and the difference I am already beginning to see in my own classroom. I almost cannot wait until a new school year so I can start fresh with all of these tools I have learned how to use; particualary Skype and Edmodo. I feel like so many more doors have been opened to my students and myself though this course. I am excited about the Webquest project but three weeks ago I was terrified at the thought of it. After learning how to create blogs, and wiki's in such a short time I am feelinga whole lot more tech-savvy now!

Lesley Dimmitt- I always thought that I was pretty tech savvy...until I took this class. I have been humbled by realizing that I didn't know as much as I thought I did. I have been struggling in this class, not because the material is too difficult, but due to me not knowing ANYTHING about what we are learning. I, however, have decided to step up to the challenge and attempt to master the material, despite my struggles. I am looking forward to researching and getting to know my childrens' and students' future world of technology. What I am struggling with I have to remember that today's kids are learning it at a much earlier age and it will become second nature to them. I do have to admit that I am feeling more in control as the weeks progress due to me learning a lot, particularly about Wiki's and Web 2.0 tools. **Practice definitely does make perfect. Sort of.**

Lori Little~I was actually excited to take this class. I feel as though my technological devices are capable of doing much, much more than I am able to use them for and I want to master my devices! However, I find this class lends to much frustration in the fact that I spend many more hours figuring things out than what my ending products represent. I feel like I have spent more time on this class than any others...combined! But, in the bigger picture, I'm understanding what it means to feel "outside the box" and overwhelmed with where to start. Sometimes we get so comfortable with our own routine, we forget what its like for others who may be having trouble. I have learned a great deal about Edmodo and Web 2.0, but I have also been reminded how it feels to be completely out of my element and lost. Because of this class, not only will I have the technological knowledge to engage, differentiate, and challenge my students to meet their individual potential, but I will also have an equally important lesson of compassion and patience for students who feel "outside the box". For different students it might be during reading, or math, or science....whenever it is, the feeling is the same, utter helplessness. I'm determined to learn all I can about implementing technology into my future classroom, but that's not all this class has given me and I am confident I will be a better teacher because of it! Jamie Bredensteiner- This class has definately taken me out of my technology comfort zone but I've really enjoyed it so far. It is very time consuming but I find it fun to figure out these Web 2.0 sites. I am excited to possibly have my students use my edmodo this summer and use the Flat Stanley Project. I have a class wiki that very rarely gets used by my parents but hope this will change next year now that I see how easy it is to keep up to date and interactive. **Nancy Morgan-I like the saying you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Yet, I do believe you can, if you just keep reiterating the same information till they get it. This saying reminds me of myself and this class. This class has been very overhwhelming for me. I do believe I have learned a lot already from this class, and yet each assignment that is due, I am a bit more overwhelmed than the last time. I do like the communication amongst the class on the discussion board. There has been a lot of useful information available on discussion. I do think that even after this class I would benefit taking it again just more for a little more of an at ease disposition. I do think that things we are not positive we know how to do something, it definitely takes us out of our comfort zone. I am definitely out of my comfort zone. I am just amazed at all the tools that are/were at my fingertips for the classroom. When this class is complete I hope I retain all of this useful information that will assist me in the future to be the best teacher ever for my students.** <span style="color: #ff0f0f; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;"> <span style="color: #ff0f0f; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;"> <span style="color: #ff0f0f; font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 120%;"> <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Danielle Guenther- Before taking this class, I thought I was pretty tech savvy. But this class has informed me of all the MANY resources out there and how I can use them in the classroom. I am excited to use all of the tools that I have discovered thus far. By taking this class I have learned many ways to make learning more fun! This class has been really helpful and I plan to continue gaining knowledge of technological tools to use in the classroom after the semester is over! :)