October 29, 2008 Class

Presentation Night

Stress! Am I ready? Who wants to go first? Put it off as long as possible? It is the same thoughts that our own students have. Especially those who fear failure, ridicule, negativism and those who are extremely critical on themselves with regards to no matter what you do you will never be good enough or do work good enough to be satisfying. Looking back on my presentation and what I did not say and do I feel that I could have done much better and that is extremely disheartening. We were responsible for placing material that we would use in our classes into a Kurzweil document and structure it around students that we work with and how we would present it to our students to maximize their learning experiences. It definitely is a learning experience. Am I an expert on Kurzweil now, NO, not by a long shot; however, I do know more now that I did before and with practice and guidance I will become comfortable and more knowledgeable and be able to present it to students who need this program.

October 15, 2008

Kurzweil Programming

This evening we were working on Kurzweil for the entire evening. We are expected to complete our first assignment focusing on how best to present a package of information to a student using the different components of the program. It sounds easier than it appears. Having no technological background things can get complicated and overwhelming very easily. However, when you compare it to book learning and the structure of a regular course where everything focuses on listening and reading from a text then this course will appear easier. I am definitely learning something from this course, the question is how soon will it go from short term memory to long term memory and how soon it will become second nature or easy to complete without the frustrtion and feelings of being overwhelmed.

Wednesday, Oct. 8

Kurzweil: the ins and outs. Learning how to use Kurzweil, how we are able to use the different aspects of the program, how the program would benefit our students was the structure of the night. It is very interesting and different to learn how to use a new computer program. I am very weary when it comes to technology because I am not the technological inclined. Therefore with my learning style I need to be a hands on learner in order to discover the ins and outs of it and store it in long term memory. Seeing something, like a lot of students that I have dealt with just will not cut it. We need to be hands on learners to do the best that we can. Listening to someone, like our students often tell us is that this does not make sense, it is not interesting, and the students have a tendency to tune out. However, when we make it interesting, get the students involved and work hands on with what we give them we provide them with a maximum learning opportunity.