April 28, 2010

I FIGURED OUT MOODLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok...I got that out of my system. :) As I said, I figured out moodle (or at least I think I did). It really didn't take long to do my moodle project at all. I think I am going to turn it in tonight. I was proud of myself for figuring it out. I was unsure of how to use it in a kindergarten classroom though, so I went back to my days in 5th grade. I did my project on 5 topics in grammar. I think it went well. I think that moodle could have been a little more user friendly, but overall, it was ok.

Now I need to do the wiki and that is actually the one I have been dreading. I am not sure what to write or add. But, it's the last one. (Yay!)

I got feedback on my site last night and I was fairly happy with how it went. As the overachiever I tend to be, I kept going over things with my husband. ("I should've....) He finally said, "You did good on soemthing you had no idea how to do. You're fine." I guess he's right. I'll be settling down now. :)

When does the class actually end? I am leaving for Florida May 15. Hopefully everything will be wrapped up by then. I need to check that out today.

Have a great one!!

April 25, 2010

This was not a productive week!!! I planned to get a lot of work done this weekend but sadly, that did not happen!!! I just spent the last half hour or so reading thru the discussion boards and responding to them. I hoped to be halfway thru my moodle by now. ugh! Now I have some of that panic sneaking back in. I need to get down to some serious work now. Night all. :)

April 18, 2010

What a productive week!!! I turned in my website assignment the other day and today I did my podcast. I was surprised at how easy it seemed to be. I would like to take an online tutorial to see what all audacity has to offer, but I think I did an ok job with what I figured out on my own. It was really easy to do. I sent my husband and kids on a few small errands so that I could have some peace and quiet. :)

Today I also wrote my wrap up of my discussion and started poking around with moodle. I also got caught up with the discussion boards and am actually doing a blog post on time. I guess this crummy weather has helped! At least it's good for something.

Have a great week everyone!!

April 13, 2010

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!! I finished my website. Tonight I'm going to go through and double check that all my links are good and then it's outta here! Feels good to be done with that one.

My little guy is sick right now with the flu and is clinging to me. It makes it really hard to get anything done. Oh well- he comes first.

I missed the synchronous chat last night. I had stayed up till 1:30 the night before learning second life and then couldn't download or log on to Palace correctly. I tried over and over. I tried again today because I don't like when I can't figure something out, but still no luck. :( Would've been hard/impossible with a sick baby anyway.

Anyway, I feel like I've got a handle on this finally!! Just a few projects to go! Have a great day everyone!!

April 2, 2010

Oh wow! I'm starting to feel like I'm getting somewhere in the class and it's a really good feeling. Now my issue is that it is 84 degrees outside. I don't want to do work!!!!!! :) That's the kid in me coming out.

I am just about done with the website. I did a large chunk last weekend. I plan on wrapping it up this weekend. Maybe Sunday if it rains like it's supposed to....

I have worked out what I am doing my for my podcast but haven't done it yet. I think I am going to create a podcast for parents that could be posted on the class webpage that teaches some of the songs we do in the classroom. I think I will do this one on the spanish songs we do for the days of the week and months of the year. I will also give pronunciation of the words so that parents can practice at home with their children.

March 16, 2010

Last night we had our first synchronous discussion. Wow! I have to say that I wish I had the guts Gerald and Whitney have. They did a great job leading the discussions. I missed the wrap up at the end. The kids were fighting and screaming. I think my husband was hiding somewhere else! :) They're fine by the way- just looking at each other wrong. Ugh!

I just wanted to comment on Wimba. I felt a bit overwhelmed at the beginning. I wasn't sure how to use it. As more poeple came on, it became a little confusing and I was glad that Gerald switched to text only. The talk function was a little jarring and distracting. Voices were delayed and we didn't know who was talking. I don't think it's a tool I could see myself using in the future.

However, once again, great job to the presenters!

March 15, 2010

Well I thought about the article from my last post quite a bit and I have come to realize that I don't like the idea at all. The cost can be staggering when you count the number of buses and the monthly access fees. I don't think it's a good idea to let kids roam free on the internet without adult supervision. I think that it is unfair to provide this extra study time to students who can afford to buy laptops and net books and leave those without the means to sit without it. I think that would build resentment and cause other troubles.

I also just finished my asynchronous discussion on using socail networking sites in the classroom. The general consensus was that it is not a great idea. People in my class tended to think that there were more issues that positives with using them in the classroom. Of course, we touched on the need to keep students from accessing other pages within Facebook. The biggest issue though, seemed to be the teacher/student relationship boundaries. I hadn't really given much thought to that angle before the discussion. That really made me see that social networking sites do not have a firm place in education, unless it is in higher education, where all parties involved are mature enough to use the site correctly. Working with kindergarteners has kept me from thinking about those types of issues, but they are very important to consider when working with teens. I think that there are other types of sites more appropriate for classroom use.

Have a great week everyone. Are you seeing the light at the end of the tunnel yet? Still not very bright over here. :)