Week 4 Reflection

(Posting early in anticipation of a crazy week with Easter break coming up and preparing to travel at the end of the week. Being proactive!) This week, I created an online scrapbook through smilebox.com. Since this is something that I have really wanted to do for awhile, I was very motivated to try this out. I was really happy with the outcome and plan to use this site again. How can I integrate this into my classroom? There are templates I can insert pictures into that could show the progress of our class through photos. For example, the students are workig on their state reports right now. We could do before and after pictures of their state boards and how they developed them. I could then link the scrapbook to my school website. I assume the legality of using student photos would be covered just through the permission forms that are sent out at the beginning of the school year. I could even just take pictures of the state boards without any students in them. In a few weeks we are hosting a fourth grade spring showcase. I could try to find a way to display the scrapbook for parents to see at that as well. Furthermore, I used pandora at school this week. We read a story about Gloria Estefan in reading and my students wanted to hear her music. I put her name in as the search and we were able to listen to "Conga." Oh, and of course we had a little dance party as we listened :) As for reading, I liked the articles we read for thread 4 this week because they seemed applicable and relevant. I have found that through this entire master's program, I have come to appreciate text that I can relate to and find I can actually use in my profession. I am still trying to plug through reading Hendron. I think this book will be a great reference in the future as I continue to expand my technology knowledge even when this class is over. I still sometimes get overwhelmed with the online reading and workload, and the textbook reading. It is all about balance. I am trying to take Patrick's advice and set aside a chunk of time on a regular basis that is master's time. I am only allowed to work during this time. This way, I force myself to be productive, and still try to find a balance between school, home life, and master's work. I guess I will know if it is working by keeping track if I am keeping up in the class. My goals for the upcoming week are to finish Hendron, begin reading our other book, look into Skype and try to find an opportunity to use through Classroom 2.0, and to sign up for a Twitter account.