Over the course of this spring I know I have grown as a teacher, and I believe ECMP 355 really helped me to accomplish things (like my wiki) that otherwise I never would have done. This class has ade me realize the endless possiblities of useing technology in the classroom, and given me the opportunity to become comfortable using some technology. I’ve always been one to try new things, and now I have been introduced to so many new things that I want to try in my own classroom….animoto, epals, skype, radiohead, twitter, picasa, and the list goes on. Through ECMP I worked with and became comfortable with a number of programs, such as: scribd, jing, screencast, wikispaces, windows movie maker, audacity, smartboard, blip.tv, photostory3, flickr, skreemr, and of course google reader, docs, and calendar. It’s amasing how much has been accomplished in such a short time, especially when thinking back to the beginning when I was completely clueless about anything to do with computers.
I have to admit, on the first day of ECMP when Alec said we had to create a blog as a class requirement, I thought blogs were dumb. I thought blogs were pointless, and only gossipy teenagers used them to fill time. But now…I have to say, I am actually quit happy that Alec made me keep a blog. My blog shows how I’ve grown as a digital immigrant and one day will serve as a professional portfolio. Through this blog I can make posts about school, technology, my personal interests, and know that someone somewhere might be thinking the same things, or be able to help me out. I’m also beginning to see the benifits of twitter, even though I am not a member, it may be useful one day to have a network of people with similar interests in mind around to chat and brainstorm with…especailly as a teacher. Two heads are better than one…how about 100 heads?!
If you read through my blog posts, you’ll see my progression. This is not a journal, but I’m becomming more and more comfortable writing about my personal thoughts and experiences. One of my favorite blog posts would have to be Axe vs. Dove, even though the post is very simple and includes barely any text, it had quit a few responses and challenged others to think critically. Some of my best responses were to Sarah’s blog posts, some of which turned into my own blog posts. Just as In Schools Today was a response to one of April’s posts, that I just had to copy and paste into my own post.
Just as we did in ECMP 355, I think student blogs would be useful in the classroom. Students could submit homework and assignments as blog posts, they would be able to view eachothers work, and I as the teacher would subscribe to all my students’ blogs. This would also be a great way to keep up to date and in touch with my students. I would learn a lot about my students from reading their blogs, and the fact that I would be keeping current with technology would also give me a common ground, something in common, with my students, creating positive relationships for in the classroom. And anyone who knows me, knows that building relationships is a huge part of my philosophy as a teacher.
Thank you to everyone in ECMP 355 this spring for all your supportive comments. This has been a great spring session! 
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