Carrie Mocyk                                 EDU 506

Final Self-Reflection Report               December 1, 2008

 

Overview:

 

Integrating computer technology into the classroom is an important part of being an effective teacher.  Throughout this course I have learned effective ways to incorporate technology to assist me in creating lesson plans more effectively, presenting information to my students more effectively and better preparing my students for real life experiences.  As a business teacher it is important to stay in tune with technology because the industry demands it.  Any tools that I can learn to stay up-to-date with technology is welcomed and appreciated.  This course offered me the opportunity to think creatively and learn how to use computer programs more effectively.  Although I consider myself “computer savvy”, I still learned a lot about the MS Office that I did not know.  This course should be a requirement for all students wanting to be teachers.

 

Title:

MS Word- Composing Fan Mail

 

Description:

Students were asked to compose a professional business letter to a famous person of their choice requesting a free item.  Students needed to research the address of their person, write a letter using the modified block format, check each other’s work for errors.  Students then mailed the letters in envelopes created using MS Word.  Throughout the year, students received letters back from their famous person of choice along with free memorabilia.

 

Reflection:

I really like this assignment.  Students are completely engaged in what they are doing, while they learn to effectively write proper business letters.  Since such interest is there, it is not difficult to keep the students on task.  The letters are usually very well written by the time I get to grade them.  Plus, it is always fun to hear that a student received a response back.

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Title:

MS Excel- Students Grades

 

Description:

 As a teacher it is important to keep an accurate grading sheet for your students.  In this assignment teachers have the opportunity to create a spreadsheet with students’ grades and then determine what the average of the class was for particular assignments and have a visual graph to look at to see the averages. 

 

Reflection:

MS Excel has so many uses. The assignment showed me one more use.  I was not familiar with graphing too much so I appreciated learning that it wasn’t that difficult to create a graph.  I also never incorporated color into the spreadsheet.  Color makes it easier to read at times.  Although very familiar with Excel, it just proves there is always something more to learn!

 

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Title:

MS PowerPoint- Open House

 

Description:

As a group, it was decided to create a PowerPoint presentation that will be shown during the next open house.  The purpose was to educate parents and students about the benefits of integrating technology with Art.  It was also created to make others aware that there is more to Art than painting a picture.  While creating the PowerPoint, the group learned how to effectively create a PowerPoint that will captivate the audience, while not distracting them with graphics, transitions or sound effects.

 

Reflection:

Although I have used PowerPoint in the past, this assignment allowed me to become more familiar with the program.  PowerPoint has so much to offer to presenters that the only way to learn all of the components of PowerPoint is to use the program.  This assignment gave me the opportunity to learn how to more effectively use the program.  I have been leery of using slide transitions and animation in the past because I don’t want to distract the audience.  This assignment showed me how to effectively use these tools.


 

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Title:

MS FrontPage-WebQuest

 

Description:

This assignment required us to learn how to create a website, webpage, different links associated with the Webpage, and how to post the Web Page to the internet.

 

Reflection:

I was not familiar with FrontPage at all.  I found that if you can maneuver through MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint, it is not too difficult to maneuver through FrontPage.  The most difficult part is to break down the components of the website to create the links and banners.  I had to be careful to get the links correct the first time because it can be difficult at times to fix errors while using FrontPage.  I was most proud of this assignment because I never created a Website before.

 

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