Day 4 of "The Journey"

Our last full day of classes and yes it was very full!  Our group left the library at about 8:00 tonight! Speaking of our group, I really enjoyed each one of them!  We all worked together so well!  We collaborated, gave positive criticism as needed, encouraged each other, helped each other on things we didn't understand and had some great laughs!  What a blessing they all were to me and a big part of encouraging me through a tough week!  My son was in a car accident on Tuesday night and it was hard to be so far away!  (He is fine, but the car is totaled.)   My group prayed for me and him and were such an encouragement!  Thanking the Lord for each of them!

I really like the Dove commercial that was shown at the end of class.  What a powerful message that is sent to women everywhere!  As Christians, we know in our head that we are created in God's image and He made us exactly the way He wants us to be but the world bombards us from every direction with false images of who they think we should be or how we should act!  It is so important for girls everywhere to keep their heart focused on the Lord Jesus and how special they are to Him!  They need to hear this over and over, like a broken record, to combat the many worldly messages that they will see or hear each day.

Day 3 of "The Journey"

Well, another day has come and gone in EDU 731!  I can't say that I am more confident in regard to technology and apps but I will say I have a list of things that I need to take time to learn about and become familiar with and talk to my staff about it.  I am thankful to classmates who helped me figure out the pixl thing!  I know I wasn't supposed to get stressed but that was stressful! Below you will see my picture!  I will have to play with this a little more!

In regard to the devotional that Dr. Holder gave this morning, it reminded me of my father's words when I would call and talk with him, upset or worried about something.  He would say, "REJOICE!" And then he would go on to say you may not be able to rejoice with what is going on but you CAN rejoice in the fact that God loves you and He is in control!  So as a Christian, or Believer as Dr. Holder likes to say, I can truly say, "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice!"

And this next picture I did all by myself!!!!

Intensive-Day 2 of "The Journey"

It was very enlightening to learn that Summons was not a very good database!  I wish I had known this earlier in my academic journey, however it sure is going to be helpful going forward (and has already been).  I appreciate that Dr. Holder took the time to explain how the database searches work.  I had not really used Google Scholar either so that was helpful as well.

Some thoughts on the group process and dynamics.  Our group learned that it is important that students including ourselves have prior knowledge of vocabulary used or a point of reference for vocabulary!  I am sure that my other group members will share their story about silos!

I did feel some frustration as I worked through our group project the last two days.  I felt like things were clear as mud!  But, today, I am seeing much clearer and things are starting to come together for our group project.

My final thoughts for the day deal with the vastness of technology and what can be done with it.  The 3 D printer truly is beyond my comprehension on how it came about!  In doing research for our project, it is amazing all of the different ways technology is used or could be used in education.  I think that we have only touched the surface when it comes to what we can do with technology and education.

Intensive-Day 1

I really liked what Dr. Holder said regarding the use of technology.  It doesn't make you learn better but it makes you learn more efficiently.  In our school we have a strong technology base with every student being given a laptop to use for the year.  I think the perception is that the students will learn more and "better" with this instead of looking at it as ONE tool of many that teachers can use to engage students in learning and also have it be done more efficiently as Dr. Holder shared.  Technology is not my strong suit and I have much to learn but each time I learn something new, I am amazed at how it makes my job more efficient!

By the way, I think I better introduce myself a little better!  My name is Kay York and I am from Northern Maine.  I drove over 1,000 miles to get here and decided if it was going to take me that long, I may as well stay for two weeks and two courses!  This is my first time at Liberty and it has been intense!  However I am enjoying being on campus and interacting with classmates and professors.  I have a husband of 31 years and 4 children and a daughter in law. :)  I have taught for 28 years and then became a high school principal last year.  I attended Cedarville University in Ohio for my undergrad and received my master's from University of Southern Maine.  I look forward to this week and am already learning a lot!

Stressed or Dessert?!

Well I just finished the 4 quizzes and I feel like I am definitely a newbie!  I read and reread the terms and could not keep them straight!  It was like trying to teach myself Chinese!  Here's hoping the class will enlighten me! Stressed spelled backwards is dessert!  That sounds good to me right now! :)

Technology Thoughts

Hmmm, my thoughts on technology.  Well right now I am very frustrated as I just typed out my thoughts and then promptly lost them and some numbers came up!!!!  So as you can tell I think technology is good when it works and I know what I am doing! :)  I can do basic things with technology but I am definitely not as savvy as the younger generation!  As far as education, I think it is good but I do think that students waste a lot of time in class or on work with a computer at their fingertips.  I think we as educators realize technology is here to stay so we need to learn how to maximize student learning with technology.