Reflection: Week 3

What?

This week in class, January 20, we learned how to make "google sites." I was nervous to begin this assignment, but as Doc Waters walked us step-by-step through the entire process, it became easy and enjoyable. Next Wednesday, our own google site is due, which will be our future (hypothetical) classroom website.

So What?

To be completely honest, I did not understand why we were doing this assignment at first. I was thinking to myself, "I'm not a computer whiz, I don't understand the convenience of this website, this is too complicated to remember, etc." But then I started to create my Home page and began recording my future, idealistic job information. I have always wanted to move South, namely St. George, so I was pretending to be a faculty member at Dixie High School. I was searching for e-mail addresses of those teachers currently working at DHS so I could create a mock e-mail address, but I did not come across that information. What I did find though, was each of the teacher's very own classroom websites! I was surprised to find this because I did not realize how common these google sites probably are and how often they are used in secondary schools today.

I found all this information near the beginning of class on Wednesday and it really inspired me to work hard on my own google site to make it professional and clean so I can hopefully use it in the future. When I saw the innovative classroom websites of these Dixie High School teachers, it hit me that a lot of principals probably advise their faculty to create classroom websites for the convenience and comfort of parents and students. These sites are also helpful for other members of the faculty to gain ideas from other teachers and create fun learning activities.

Now What?

Google sites is a feature that I am definitely going to use in my future classroom. It is an easy and reliable way to inform students and parents of various announcements, updates, or homework there may be. I also really enjoy the "calendar" and "homework" features on my google site so if students are absent, they can easily see what they missed in class or be reminded of what will be due the following day. One feature I would like to add on my site is a page or link for students to view their current grades. In the future, I know this website will help me to be more organized and thorough and it will satisfy many parent questions about various homework assignments. Because students are so technologically advanced these days, they will also enjoy this unique feature.

This is an honest statement, I have never had so much fun doing a homework assignment. I was able to find some great health links and content that I will use when I am a teacher and I really got into the mindset of thinking and organizing homework. I found myself being excited to work on my website and being late to other obligations because I was having so much fun in the creation process. Throughout the last four days, my mindset has completely changed, concerning google sites, from thinking "this is stupid and I will never use this information" to "I can't believe I never knew the benefits of this google feature and I don't know how I could live without a classroom website throughout my teaching career!"

Video Reflection:

The video we watched this week was entitled "Pay Attention." I was not sure how much I liked it at first, but by the end I was starting to think of some great ways to engage my students through technology in my classroom. Although I think this video would have been a lot better if the music was not so dark and depressing, it was still full of great information that I am glad to have learned.

This video clip made me think of how engaging it would be to include tools like cell phones, blogs, and podcasts into my lesson plans. My content area is Health and I love it because it is so easy to be creative and unique with my class activities. After watching the video, I looked up a few Health podcasts that I might be able to incorporate into my classes and found some great ones that I think students would really enjoy. For example, I found some fun exercise routines, healthy food suggestions, and relaxation techniques. My students would really enjoy the variation of this assignment. I also liked the idea about letting students use their cell phones to contact people from other schools, states, or countries and asking them a few questions about their culture. Another way I can could use cell phones in my class is by letting students enter Emergency Hotline phone numbers while talking about safety or suicide, which would be beneficial to adolescents. I am excited to continue learning about technology in this class so I will be able to teach my students how valuable and educational technology can be.