Blog Journal 10

     Overall, I enjoyed Assignment 5: PowerPoint Interaction. I was able to apply many of the skills I learned throughout the course, like how to hyperlink to other slides and how to make a "home" button on each slide. I especially like that these last assignments, with this one in particular, I have been able to see that I have learned new skills from this course! Before, I would not have been able to create my own layouts in a PowerPoint, or hyperlink slides to take you to other slides. There wasn't anything that I did not like about Assignment 5.

    Data collection will be helpful for me as a teacher for many reasons. One of the reasons is that I will be able to track grades to see how students are doing in the class. As an elementary school teacher, if I teach a younger grade like 1st or 2nd grade, then grades are more completion-based. These are still important to make sure that students are retaining information they are given - especially since it is so important for young kids to learn their baseline knowledge.

    In reviewing my classmates' blogs, I found that seeing how everyone used the new skills we learned was most interesting. It seems like everyone learned a lot of new skills through the assignments and participation portfolios. It is comforting to see that some of my peers had some of the same struggles as I did, like how to use Diigo, and that they found the skills they learned to be just as helpful as I did. I liked being able to see how my classmates' have said they will use these new skills in their own classrooms because there are so many different ways to apply them.

    I have not completed any tech-flex or digital badges this semester. However, I do like having the option to complete them. They are available to apply new skills for extra practice, and I like having the opportunity to be able to practice my new skills. It is also nice to be able to earn badges because it provokes a feeling of accomplishment, and I like to be able to successfully complete a task. Plus, who doesn't like earning badges?! (:

    One technology-related skill I'd like to learn is how to calculate mean, median, and mode directly in Excel. I want to learn this for assignments I may have to complete in the future, and it is useful to know if I wanted to create a chart for something like finances. I could also use this to calculate these numbers for test and assignment scores, as a teacher. I will learn how to do this by watching tutorial videos on how to do this in Excel, and I could even take a technology course that teaches this skill. Another option is to find a tutor that can walk me through the skill and teach me how, face-to-face.