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This is my wiki of educational reflections through my masters program at UMF.
{102_5674.JPG} Abby reflecting looking out over the Potomic River
Links of my common life
MSAD 21
Brewster Academy
EDU 583

Once this puzzle is complete each student will leave my classroom. You will have learned that the puzzle completed is not that of a dead dude but the story of that person and the puzzle that is completed is your learning that has been guided by the boundaries that I have created for you but hope that you have pushed. It is your choice as the new puzzle expert of how to use the puzzle in the future but always remember that puzzle pieces are all different but they all fit together in some way.
Section 2 Reflection
it correctly.
In my classroom it is difficult to always make sure that students are citing their sources. This concept is a new concept to middle school students. The little experience that they have had citing sources is simply putting the website on the the last page of their project. They have never really had experience creating a proper bibliography. This program will make it a much smoother process to help students keep track of their sources and also creating bibliographies.
Section 3 Reflection
the classroom.
TPCK is the future of our schools I believe. Currently RSU 10 is working towards putting these ideas into action through out the district. The hope is to make teachers aware of these ideas but also to help them use the technology in the classroom. It is important to use this technology in daily lessons so that students are use to using it. When students use the technology they are using different thinking skills and high order thinking skills. I think it is easy to have this technology in daily lessons and students are usually excited for the most part to be given the opportunity to try new things.
Section 4 Reflection
This semester we worked a lot with the program Excel. I knew that this program had the ability to do a lot of great things that were helpful but I never knew just how easy it was to use and how many things it could do. Knowing how to use this program will be very helpful as I move forward in my degree program and also in my classroom. As with a lot of technology I think it has the ability to do a lot of things, it is just a matter of learning how to use the program. I think this is very true of me and Excel. I hope to use the program much more now in the future.
for them.
Another great aspect this semester of technology was when we had visitors come in and show us web 2.0 tools that they have discovered that can be use in the classroom in various ways. It was great to hear from some other students but it was even better to get my hands on more tools that can be used in the classroom.
Section 5 Reflection
Through this class I have once again realized how many leadership roles I already take part in but also how much more I have to learn. This semester I have learned a lot more about change and the change process when you are a leader. Before this semester I had never really thought about to work with people with different opinions. I usually just let them have their say and then move on not really considering their opinion. I knew this was wrong but it worked for the time being. I also had never thought about the fact that you had to go through disorder to regain order when making change. This idea of chaos makes a lot of sense and makes it much easier for me to manage the idea that I don’t always have control as the leader. This is an area that I will continue to focus on, as I like to be in control of the situation. I can see the value though of things not being under my control at times as long as in the end there is a final solution or change. As the new school year begins I am excited for new leadership roles I am taking on such as teaching technology classes and working on a new technology curriculum for middle school social studies. I am also excited to use my new knowledge about the change process in the leadership roles I have had from past years.
Another change this semester that I had thought about doing but had never gotten around to completing was an e-portfolio. I had played with the idea of creating an e-portfolio when I graduated UMF 4 years ago but at that time the idea was just starting to become understood and it was not generally accepted for a final portfolio. When I started the process I thought it would be much harder to create than it was. I have spent a lot of time trying out different web publishing software and have found many of them to not be user friendly. This was my first time using Weebly. I found it very easy to learn and to use. It is something that I plan on using with my students this coming school year to create a database of their work. It is also a program I plan to share with the staff during some of our technology training mornings. I think it would be a great idea to use e-portfolios with my students but I need to find a way to develop them so that they are in a secure location and cannot be accessed by anyone on the Internet. I have found that the school frowns upon student work being published on the Internet open for anyone to see.
The technology that we used this summer I plan to continue to use in the future. I am going to further develop my e-portfolio to use for job interviews in the future and plan on using Weebly in my classroom and school. This semester using the software program Weebly was new for me but I found it really easy to learn by playing with it. This is how I learn most technology programs that I encounter. The help section is there when I get really stuck but I find it more interesting and thought provoking to learn by exploring.
As I was exploring Weebly I was also thinking of better ways to help staff integrate technology into their classrooms. Next year I will have an hour a month to share with staff of my school Web 2.0 Tools and other technology tools that can be used in helping students learn. I know that I can’t just give them the web address and let them go, many people do not learn this way. I believe though that I can provide a little instruction and then allow them to play with the programs providing assistance as needed. When I work with my 8th graders they are usually showing me new things before I have a chance to say, “go”. With them it is usually easier to just let them go and then help when there are questions. In this way they learn a lot like I do. Through making my e-portfolio and using Weebly I have once again had the fact that it is important to allow time to play with the program before you start using it enforced. Not taking this time leads to frustration and in the end takes longer than if you had taken the time to explore in the beginning.

This semester the technology was sprinkled through out the course instead of just having a technology block. I much prefer this because it makes it much easier to take the things I have learned into my classroom and other aspects of my job. Introduced this semester was the idea of TPCK. The idea of incorporating technology into everything that we do in the classroom makes a lot of sense. It also makes a lot of sense to use the web 2.0 tools that we all have access to in order to expand the thinking skills and 21st century skills of our students. It is just as important to incorporate technology into our lessons as it is to incorporate content and our pedagogy skills in the classroom.
TPCK is the future of our schools I believe. Currently RSU 10 is working towards putting these ideas into action through out the district. The hope is to make teachers aware of these ideas but also to help them use the technology in the classroom. It is important to use this technology in daily lessons so that students are use to using it. When students use the technology they are using different thinking skills and high order thinking skills. I think it is easy to have this technology in daily lessons and students are usually excited for the most part to be given the opportunity to try new things.
Section 4 Reflection
This semester we worked a lot with the program Excel. I knew that this program had the ability to do a lot of great things that were helpful but I never knew just how easy it was to use and how many things it could do. Knowing how to use this program will be very helpful as I move forward in my degree program and also in my classroom. As with a lot of technology I think it has the ability to do a lot of things, it is just a matter of learning how to use the program. I think this is very true of me and Excel. I hope to use the program much more now in the future.
This semester we also used a lot more web 2.0 resources including creating a resource wiki. At first I saw this as a lot of work that I would probably never use. As I worked more on it I realized how useful it could be. I created the one required for class but have since also creating another resource wiki to be used by the middle school of web 2.0 tools. This wiki is a collaboration effort by Sarah and myself. While I believe I will use the social studies resource I think I will use the web tools much more. There are so many web 2.0 tools out there that I am constantly discovering but it will be very nice to have a place to keep them stored so that it is always possible to find them when I am looking for them.
Another great aspect this semester of technology was when we had visitors come in and show us web 2.0 tools that they have discovered that can be use in the classroom in various ways. It was great to hear from some other students but it was even better to get my hands on more tools that can be used in the classroom.

This semester we used Zotero to keep track of sources when doing research. This program is a breath of fresh air and is a great help to stay organized. It is a program I can see using through out the rest of the graduate program and also use in my classroom. The one downside of the program is that it does have some flaws and needs to be checked to make sure that it is pulling the correct information. As with all technology programs it is necessary to know what it is doing to make sure it is doing it correctly.
In my classroom it is difficult to always make sure that students are citing their sources. This concept is a new concept to middle school students. The little experience that they have had citing sources is simply putting the website on the the last page of their project. They have never really had experience creating a proper bibliography. This program will make it a much smoother process to help students keep track of their sources and also creating bibliographies.
Section 3 Reflection
This semester the technology was sprinkled through out the course instead of just having a technology block. I much prefer this because it makes it much easier to take the things I have learned into my classroom and other aspects of my job. Introduced this semester was the idea of TPCK. The idea of incorporating technology into everything that we do in the classroom makes a lot of sense. It also makes a lot of sense to use the web 2.0 tools that we all have access to in order to expand the thinking skills and 21st century skills of our students. It is just as important to incorporate technology into our lessons as it is to incorporate content and our pedagogy skills in the classroom.
TPCK is the future of our schools I believe. Currently RSU 10 is working towards putting these ideas into action through out the district. The hope is to make teachers aware of these ideas but also to help them use the technology in the classroom. It is important to use this technology in daily lessons so that students are use to using it. When students use the technology they are using different thinking skills and high order thinking skills. I think it is easy to have this technology in daily lessons and students are usually excited for the most part to be given the opportunity to try new things.

Once this puzzle is complete each student will leave my classroom. You will have learned that the puzzle completed is not that of a dead dude but the story of that person and the puzzle that is completed is your learning that has been guided by the boundaries that I have created for you but hope that you have pushed. It is your choice as the new puzzle expert of how to use the puzzle in the future but always remember that puzzle pieces are all different but they all fit together in some way.
Section 2 Reflection
This semester we used Zotero to keep track of sources when doing research. This program is a breath of fresh air and is a great help to stay organized. It is a program I can see using through out the rest of the graduate program and also use in my classroom. The one downside of the program is that it does have some flaws and needs to be checked to make sure that it is pulling the correct information. As with all technology programs it is necessary to know what it is doing to make sure it is doing it correctly.
In my classroom it is difficult to always make sure that students are citing their sources. This concept is a new concept to middle school students. The little experience that they have had citing sources is simply putting the website on the the last page of their project. They have never really had experience creating a proper bibliography. This program will make it a much smoother process to help students keep track of their sources and also creating bibliographies.

Another part of this puzzle is the technology that enables you to find new ways to design and complete your puzzle. Each of you will use it differently and will show others the fascinating ways that you have discovered this technology can assist you in your process to complete the puzzle. In the end each of this pieces will form the picture that will be your future.
Once this puzzle is complete each student will leave my classroom. You will have learned that the puzzle completed is not that of a dead dude but the story of that person and the puzzle that is completed is your learning that has been guided by the boundaries that I have created for you but hope that you have pushed. It is your choice as the new puzzle expert of how to use the puzzle in the future but always remember that puzzle pieces are all different but they all fit together in some way.
Section 2 Reflection

Type in the content of your page here.Assignments from 583
{Chapter 1 TPCK Reflection.docx}
{Chapter 2 TPCK reflections.docx}