So, it's finally here - the class I have been dreading. Let's be honest, this class might as well be called EDM 666 - Technology To Torture Tara With. 'ABANDON HOPE, ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE." But after sitting through the first night, there might be a ray of hope that it won't be as bad as I think it will be.
First off, there is no Excel. Do you hear me? NO EXCEL. That in and of itself is cause for rejoicing.
But second, and honestly, our teacher is open and friendly and understands that we are all at different levels in our familiarity with technologythat is available for us to use in the classroom and also understands that some of our projects require us to do things we haven't done before - such as web site design - and does not expect perfection. That is a relief. So let's take a look at our assignments and see where,if any, there is cause for alarm.
1. Participation. YES! I can do this! I have never had a problem with being prepared for class or actively participating. I am a bit apprehensive about uploading assignments to MYTMC because of past problems with doingso before, but hopefully this time I can see whether my problems are something that I'm doing wrong.
2. Journal. Ok - this shouldn't be too bad. I'm an excellent writer, so worse case scenario I type my entries out by hand and then worry about entering them in once I have found a blog platformthat I can manage. I've always wanted to blog anyway, so this shouldn't be too intimidating.
3. Homework assignments - Nothing here looks like cause for alarm.
4. Opinion paper - We have done these before on other classes. I don't think it will be overly difficult to find an appropriate topic and write intelligently on same.
5. Lesson plan - been there, done that, piece of cake. But this will be the first time that I've really integrated technology into a lesson plan in a meaningful way, so I am sure this will take a lot of thought.
6. Website - O.M.G. We have to do a website????? A "high quality educator's website????" This is the thing that scares me worst of all. I have a friend who does websites for a living and she is always complaining about what a headache these are. And I have no idea what HTML programming is. This is going to cause a lot of anxiety.
7. Final project - A webquest? What in the world is a webquest? Does it involve slaying things once you get tothe end? This ad the website might just be the death of me.
But let's take a deep breath here. These are all things that I realize that I need to do as a teacher. It's better to do them now in a classroom and get the knowledge I need to accomplish these tasks as opposed to trying to do it out in the real world and not have a person to go to with questions. So.....with an open\ mind, here we go!
