The benefits of my participation in this summer’s IT Gold Technology program are two-fold. First of all, I have effectively increased my technical skills with regard to the use of gateway technologies, and web 2.0 applications. Secondly, my participation in this academy allows me to gain a greater understanding of the multi-modal communication forms that are available and the strategies that are most effective to reach the desired result.
The technical skills I have progressed through include – Windows, Word processing, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint and Publisher. I am better equipped and more cognizant of how to use these applications to either enhance my presentations, or to demonstrate for teachers how to integrate technology more effectively in the classrooms. Technology integration is one means of eliciting active student participation in the lesson. Students who are more engaged through integrated technology are more likely to assume an active role in learning. I was the student this summer and could not wait to try everything that was presented. I was very enthusiastic about what I was learning because of high degree of technology integration.
I have also come away from this course with a more efficient means of communicating information to a larger target audience, as well as to a broader base of people on the world -wide web. I can now work more collaboratively with others without trying to make all of our schedules work for a face-to-face work session.
I was provided with opportunities to problem solve, working as part of a team as well as individually. These were excellent models to take back to my work environment for sharing with colleagues or to pass along to teachers when modeling effective practices for enhancing student engagement. I am eager to practice my improved listening skills and some of the planning techniques. All of these behavioral techniques provided a healthy balance to this session.
The IT Gold 09 program was extremely beneficial to me, as well as to the district. I have increased my technical skills which will allow me to work more efficiently. I have also increased my working knowledge of groups and how to effectively communicate to different audiences. This was an extremely worthwhile experience that the district and the University of Arkansas, provides for educators.
Posted by kbroadnax on Jul 9, 2009 in
Technology It all became so real today. Even though I was exhausted and starting to stress about getting my portfolio completed for monday, it was an awesome feeling to see my work on the web. Thomas has done an excellent job of guiding us through this process and getting us all there today.
I haven’t had a chance to see the websites of others but it was a wonderful feeling when I navigated to my site and I sent the link to a friend. (even though I still need to do some work). I left there today feeling like I never want to stop playing with my site and making changes. I even tested my comment form and it worked! I know this probably gets to be routine for web developers. I didn’t think I would be able to do as much of this and it is not the masterpiece but it is my work that I am excited about.
Posted by kbroadnax on Jul 6, 2009 in
Reflections,
Websites I think the break did everyone a world of good. I was well rested and ready for the continuation of building our webpages. Today’s session was relatively stress-free, if you were willing to try without fear of breaking something. Having Shanel beside me is a good thing – she is very patient and supportive.
It is hard to beleive that this is almost over, I will certainly miss the excitement of working with new applications and my classmates. I hope that I can continue to develop my skills when our class ends – I know self-initiated learning. Amazing how all of the pieces have come together.
Posted by kbroadnax on Jun 30, 2009 in
Reflections,
Websites I almost feel slightly stressed out about having to read about stress and managing stress. Why? It is late and I am tired and I am mentally working myself into a corner over how much I need to complete before we meet tomorrow morning in class. Did I manage my time wisely today? I think so, but obviously the timing of this post says otherwise. Maybe I thrive on the stress of having to meet deadlines. We touched on that point somewhat in class earlier today.
The website www.mindtools.com provided a wealth of information on the issue of stress management and I found the three major approaches rang true, depending on the source of stress. In terms of how I deal with stress I think it really depends on the circumstances and sometimes the individual(s) involved.
Tags: Stress management
Posted by kbroadnax on Jun 30, 2009 in
Technology Wow! All that I can say is the possibilities are endless. working with our style sheets is just that WORK! I continue to be excited with the options available for web pages.
I can’t wait to see what we all develop over the next two weeks.
Posted by kbroadnax on Jun 29, 2009 in
Reflections Today is the last day for the ESL Academy which began the same day as Cyber college started. So now I can have my full focus and attention to my technology classes. Whew! I gave my eyes a break last night by not working on anything after 6 last night, until this morning.
I love what I am learning and I am not complaining in any way about the amount of time required. It now actually helps me feel like I am not just playing on the computer but actually trying to solve a problem – like our spreadsheet assignments.
Posted by kbroadnax on Jun 26, 2009 in
Professional Development,
Technology We have made it to the half-way point and even though the information load is heavy, I am still enjoying this class immensely. I already fell that I know a whole lot more than I did two weeks ago – though not everything, I never will. Our web pages are beginning to take form and I hope I can really execute what I have planned in my story board. Today was a good day for Excel and working out what I plan to do for my homework assignment due on Monday.
I love the challenge of this class and I am not frustrated just yet.
Posted by kbroadnax on Jun 25, 2009 in
Technology,
Websites Thomas provided us with an excellent session today on how to develop our webpages. I am beyond excited, I can’t wait to finish this project because the features of Dreamweaver are very user friendly for a novice user. I am not someone who wants to re-invent the wheel I just want to learn how to use it to create a useful site for others.
Posted by kbroadnax on Jun 23, 2009 in
Professional Development I recently attended a two-day institute on the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) II. It was the second part of a two part trainer of trainer series. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect since this session was intended to enhance prior learning.
That session turned out to be one of the best learning experiences I had during this school year. What made it so memorable was the opportunities to practice what I was learning as I was learning. The presenter used video, PowerPoint, small groups and several grouping strategies. Participants who did not know each other before the session were able to interact with each other. Our activities were timed, the expectations for the day were clearly communicated and we had several opportunities to discuss what we were being introduced to. Opinions were valued and respected and as I sat there I had all of these AHA moments where I could make the connections to what I could implement back in my district.
The presenters were credible, they used their experience with this protocol to engage the participants and encourage participation in all activities. The use of hands on experiences also made this a very memorable learning opportunity. They did an excellent job of meeting expectations while allowing participants to explore new information and practice new strategies.
Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.
|
Theodore Roosevelt, Speech in New York, September 7, 1903
26th president of US (1858 – 1919) |
Tags: SIOP
Posted by kbroadnax on Jun 22, 2009 in
Summer school,
Technology Yippee! I made it through this first week. Some minor frustrations with loading video into PowerPoint presentations. I am going to play with this some more this week to see what I can do. Adding audio has been fun too. I am surprised at how much I can remember on my own, but I also realize that this needs to be used continuously so I won’t forget.
