Putting It All Together (Like a Puzzle...)

For this week's class, it was a partial time to reflect on everything that we've been introduced to (or re-introduced to) in class.  So this week's blog will look at all that I've done over the last few weeks.  Here we go...

My Accomplishments

1.  The Wiki Page
2. The Classroom Blog
3. The Podcast
4. Photo Sharing
5. Video Conferencing
6. Screencasting

I'll try to group them to save on time, but let's analyze what I've done, and what I continue to do.

I began with the classroom wiki.  I had a pre-existing one, that, to be honest, didn't get a lot of use in the first semester.  I was a bit overwhelmed with everything else in life, but I tried to make it more of a priority in the 2nd semester.  As a result, I've gotten more collaboration out of my students.  Due to this, I was motivated to create a 2nd wiki, something that I could share with parents and students.  As a result, I created a classroom wiki that details everything that's being accomplished in class, along with resources and due dates.  This is something that I'd like to continue next year, and with a year of experience under my belt, I think it will be more successful.

Next is the blog.  I've been blogging for the last 2 years, but I wanted to create something to inform the families as well.  I found myself doing a lot of repeating of instructions, and I wanted to create something to alleviate that.  Now in its second month, the classroom blog is a step in the right direction.  I'm trying to share items with the parents that we're working on in order to give them tools and ideas to help their child complete projects successfully.  I've incorporated screencasts into this, as I am finding it's easier to narrate a visual than explain it 30 times to 30 people.  I plan on expanding on this in the future.

That takes me to podcasts.  This was something that I really wanted to jump into; I listen to a lot of podcasts, and I've wanted for years to create my own to host on iTunes.  I can now say that I've accomplished that.  I see merit in this; I could create podcasts to go along with the wiki page to give the students and teachers another tool to help them succeed.  This is what I've gained the most out of class; I will definitely continue to explore and use this in the future.

That sums up this week.  I've immersed myself into a lot of these tools, and I don't want it to simply be something I explored for 6 weeks and never revisited again.  I WANT to use these tools; now I need to figure out how to better manage my time.

Well, as always, I'd love to hear your feedback.  Thanks, and have a good one...