Course Reflection

             When entering IT 365 for the first time, at the beginning of the semester, I had no idea what to expect. I knew the class would incorporate technology, and I knew the class would teach me ways of incorporating technology and what I learned into my future classroom. I did not, however, expect the class to  teach me so much about new, innovative resources and ways that other teachers and/or instructors are conducting their classroom. For example, the World Peace Games. The teacher who devised the games and conducts them in his classroom, gives his students the freedom to make their own decisions. The teacher does not run the classroom like a dictator; however, he still has the control and respect of the classroom. I loved seeing this and coming to the realization that that is the exact type of classroom I want to have for myself. I realize I will more than likely not be facilitating the World Peace Games, I hope to be teaching younger children, but I do hope to have the same freedom in my classroom while still maintaining respect and control of the environment. Other things I enjoyed in the class was constructing the website. I loved creating it as if I was already in my own classroom. In addition, the website allowed me really consider what I would want to do in my own classroom as far as a morning routine or how I would want to keep in contact with parents (i.e. newsletter, email, Remind 101, etc.).  Other projects that interested my in class were the Voki and XtraNormal videos. I learned a lot from all of these. I was able to bring something away from both of these projects. I was able to think about the ways I could incorporate these videos into my future classrooms, not only by teacher introductions, but by using the flower Voki to teach about plant cells, photosynthesis, etc. XtraNormal videos can be used to teach about the same types of things due to the fact that there are more options and there can be more than one speaker. This is just some of what I have learned in this class. In conclusion, I have learned a lot from this class. I hope to be a better teacher with the changes in technology due to what I have learned, and I hope to be able to include  more technology into my classroom to grab the attention of my future students.

Signed,
Anna Claire