Lesson 3

Lesson 3
This Vacation Bible School at our church (Woodstock Baptist, Somerset) was the first year I had the honor to assist our pastor in the role of coordinator.  One of the things that I had to make in Microsoft Word is a class student list.  The form was pretty simple to make for teachers/assistants to track the children enrolled and if they were able to attend each of the five days.  One of the things I neglected to do on that sheet, which I soon realized was add a section for the teacher and assistants to be counted.  Our pastor needed a daily count of our students and volunteers.  I will include that image on this blog with the addition of the teacher/assistant name section so they may add names and check next to each day they attend.  I initially tried to make the form as simple as possible since it's an attendance sheet.  I did include a VBS clipart of the year's motto.  I have kept this file to use next year and I'll just have to change out the motto image. 


When I read this week's assignment I was comforted by the fact I've used word processor many times and can't imagine life without it whether in a job or as a student.  As the above example I've had to compile a sign up sheet quickly or make a flyer.  It's nice to have the resources at your fingertips.  I'm sure as a future educator I will continue to find these programs invaluable if not even more.  Especially with the DTP which I haven't used as much as WP. 

It's not been too long since I had looked at the revised Bloom's Taxonomy Pyramid.  I hadn't, though looked at the digital version.  I think once you see all the technology resources that encompasses the pyramid, you realize the essential statement it makes in our student's learning process.  We should then come to the conclusion that technology has to be incorporated into 21st century learning. 

The Technology Explorations provided some useful information on assistive technology, which I was somewhat familiar with after my work as a Nutrition Services Provider with First Steps.  There were also some online tools for educators and students on the 4teachers.org site.  That looked to be one of the explorations that I'll keep as a reference for when I'm in the classroom.  There were a few text to speech sites which were interesting to read more about and the fact that they can be used not necessarily for those with a special need, but also to enhance learning in other students as well.  I thought the librarian that used the text to speech for convenience since she looked at the computer so much and it provided the information without having to read it.  That's a great way to take advantage of the resources provided to us.  Webquest is a site I would like to become more familiar with and hopefully I'll have the opportunity in my upcoming teaching career.  As mentioned previously I feel passionate in these first few weeks about how we much integrate technology into our classes and this seems like a great way to do that.  The fact that it's in other parts of the world as well makes a clear statement of its success.