Starfall Evaluation

For this activity, I evaluated the website Starfall. From what I can see and what I've heard from several educators, Starfall looks like a great tool for supporting early literacy.

This activity was really fun for me. I really enjoyed looking at all the different games and activities presented on this website. I feel like I genuinely learned how to evaluate a website through this activity. I also think it's really important to be able to look at a website and do some investigating before trying to present it as good material to students. So I now feel like that is something I can do.

Blogging about other blogger's blogs.

I've read many articles and blogs about the current education system. A lot of people have opinions about our it, some positive, most negative. But I’ve seen that many people who write about public education have never experienced public education by any other way than that they attended a public school growing up. However, there is so much more that goes on. So it was really refreshing to read a blog that has many opinions and ideas about education, and it was written by someone who taught for 22 years and who also has children! Will Richardson has great ideas for teachers and parents and interesting opinions about the current state of the education system.

His blog "Schools at a Crossroads" was really interesting. He begins the blog with a quote about how the US has done so much work to "expand potential" that we've actually created barriers for what we want to become. "It’s not schools themselves, obviously, that stand in the way of progress. It’s our nostalgia for what schools are supposed to be. It’s our lack of a modern context for developing a vision for what schools might become." His big point is that to make relevant decisions about 21st century learners, you need to have learned in this century. Basically, we can't expect children in this day and age to learn based on old teaching models that are outdated and ineffective.

Overall, this blog is such a great resource. It is a great way to refocus on the big picture of education and how to correctly make that ideal a reality. I could definitely use this blog as a way to stay current on events going on in education worldwide. I really appreciate Will Richardson's opinions on education and look forward to reading his blogs in the future.

What I expect when expecting TPTE, of course.

When I walked into this class for the first time, I was terrified. I only have a basic knowledge of computers and coolest technology I knew how to do was copy and paste (command + c and command + v). I was really nervous that this class would be extremely difficult for me. But over the past several classes I've learned quite a bit with relative ease! I've been amazed with how well I've been able to pick up on things because the tasks are broken down to make everything understandable! These last few classes have given me a lot of hope that I can succeed! 
I expect the rest of the class to be really exciting! I'm student teaching currently and it is amazing how technology is immersed in every part of the classroom. It really enhances the students' education. So I'm excited to learn new ways that I can use technology to positively influence my students' education in the future. That is really my goal for this class, to discover new ways that I can use technology to meet the diverse needs of children in a special education environment. If I achieve that, then I will feel like I have succeeded in this course.