I have definitely grown from
this course, this course has let me learn and use new programs I never even
knew existed. Computer classes are always a struggle for the teacher, making
sure that everyone understands the new material being presented as well as
staying on task. It was a huge help to have Lindsay in my group for all
of her projects. She knew most of the programs we used, and if she didn't
know the program she knew another one that would get the same job completed.
She was able to show me how to do a everything from little simple things to
large and creative things. The biggest technical skill I picked up and learned
this semester was how to put a website together, and linking it correctly.
I had so many problems linking my pages together; it was very frustrating
and found myself almost not caring, until Shufang Shi or Lindsay came to my
rescue. I'm about 90% comfortable now with linking pages together; I think I
finally got the routine down to a pat. I'm also very comfortable with Window's
Movie Maker, Puzzle Project Maker and Nvu. I have already used Puzzle
Project Maker twice this semester, incorporating it into my lesson plans.
I have also started another Window's Movie Maker, which I am putting
together for my family for Christmas. I found Nvu to be a lot easier for me
then Google sites. So I will continue to stick with Nvu from now on. I would
eventually like to learn how to work google sites, but not at the moment! This
has been one of the most rewarding courses I have taken at Cortland, I saw this
because I think it is important as a future teacher to make your own website.
This will allow your new students and their families to get some
background knowledge of their teacher, and possible content that will be taught
during the year. I think it is extremely important to know how to make a
website, especially since we are so technology orientated now a day.
In this course we did both individual work and group work. The only project was
I didn't need any assistance from the teacher or the other students in this
course were the Puzzle Maker project. I’m usually good with working with websites
and puzzlemaker.com was an easy website to work with. For the majority of my
other projects I worked with a group of 3 other students including Lindsay,
Eileen, and Katie. Since Lindsay was familiar with most of the programs
she did an excellent job making our web quest and our elementary school website
creative and spectacular. Since the others in our group were not as
familiar with the program we looked up most of the information needed to be put
into each project. I feel working in small groups is a great idea for a
computer class. There are always students who know a lot about the
different programs, those who know nothing, and those who know some.
Mixing the different abilities in each group will allow the stronger
students to show the weaker students what they need to know in order to learn
the material.
Overall, I found this class to be extremely helpful. I am also very
excited to now know how to use Window's Movie Maker, I absolutely enjoyed this
project the best, and like i mention above I have already started another
project using the program. I want to thank Shufang Shi for her patience and
positive attitude throughout this class. You have done a great job
keeping us all on track!