Reflections from EDM310

I am going to have to say that I learned a lot in this class. Some of the things I learned are listed below:

1. The greatness of Google.
Previously I only used Google as a search engine. I knew it had numerous other programs but I was pretty happy to use Microsoft Office. I now think I prefer Google in many cases to office. It is nice to be able to access your information from any computer rather than having to carry around a thumb drive or worry about e-mailing it to yourself.

2. How to deal with loans and interest.
I had previously worked with spreadsheets but not in the way we used them. I do not like dealing with finances so I try to stay away from them if I can, especially things like interest and principle. My husband helped me study for the spreadsheet test (he uses them for everything) and he was embarrassed by how little I knew about dealing with loans. I feel like I now know a lot more (but I still refuse to deal with the finances).

3. I got to participate in a podcast.
I have listened to a ton of them but never actually got to experience doing one. I found that to be a fun project.

4. I learned to deal with difficult people.
Calling around to the ACCESS labs acquainted me with the rudeness that exists in our school system. I did not appreciate being spoken to in that way. Be forewarned though, I do write for the school paper and if you upset me it is highly likely I will write something about it (I did for the ACCESS Labs). I bet that is read by at least 2 or 3 people. So keep that in mind before you mess with me.

5. I learned how to do Foliotek.
I was lost on Foliotek prior to this class because no one explained it to me. I learned more clearly how to use it and Dr. Strange made sure we all had it done correctly before he let us go. I appreciated that he didn't just leave it up to us to figure that out.

6. I learned that there are a tremendous amount of search results for "pet rats". I think it is up to 200,000 now.

7. I learned that to understand how to do the things we did in class you have to practice on your own as well as in class.
These aren't techniques you can just do once and memorize. You will have a much easier time if you learn it and then apply it over and over.

8. I learned a ton from blogging.
I got more information that I can type about but doing one or two blogs every week usually led to me learning something I didn't know previously. I also really liked reading my classmates blogs.

9. Got to hear Randy Pauch's "Last Lecture"
I had heard about it but had never actually listened to it myself. Extremely motivational and inspiring. Would recommend it to anyone.

10. Learned some of my thoughts on being a teacher
We constructed a website based on our teaching philosophy so that really made me thing about who I want to be as a teacher.

These are just a few things. I really learned a lot in this class and I liked the way Dr. Strange conducted it. He focuses on helping you to learn rather than just giving you facts to memorize. It is a very experiential class and that is a nice change from the typical lecture class.

As far as things I would have like to learn and didn't, I can't really think of any. I am sure there are a ton of things I don't know but we learned so much this semester it is hard to complain. The only thing I might have liked to do more of is working with photos. We did it a little bi but I really enjoy taking pictures and trying different things with them. I know there are amazing things you can do with Photoshop but I don't really know how.

This was a great class and I enjoyed it immensely!