Wrapping It Up!

I feel like all I have done this week is wrap things up! I met with parents for conferences to wrap up the 9 weeks; I am wrapping up my online technology class; I wrapped up the first quarter of the school year with my students; Fall sports are wrapping up for my kids...I even wrapped up a gift for my mom's 70th birthday! It's pretty exciting when things come to an end, because it means that we can look back on our accomplishments and forward to the future.

The final assignment for my Master's class was creating my own website on Google Sites. To be honest, I really thought this was going to be way over my head. But just like all the other assignments, I jumped in and gave it a whirl!  I began by viewing YouTube videos to help me know just what to do. Check this tutorial out to learn how to build your own website!

The expert I watched suggested using a template that was already created for a classroom site. So I thought, wow...this is going to be easier than I thought! I began by creating a site and choosing a template. As soon as I started editing, I became frustrated by all the formatting and was unable to edit some parts of the template. After about an hour and a half of messing with it, I deleted it and started over. I DO NOT recommend using a template, but maybe you'll try it and have better luck than I did! So on my second try, I simply added the pages myself. After looking at some examples and studying the rubric, I had a pretty good idea of what I would include on my classroom website. I began adding information, linking websites, embedding videos and inserting pictures. I was pretty proud of my final product when I wrapped things up! Check out Mrs. Birchfield's Classroom 5th Grade webpage!

What I have truly enjoyed about this class is that it has pushed me out of my comfort zone and reminded me that I can do ANYTHING I put my mind to! As a mom and a teacher, it is my responsibility to model this kind of perseverance if I expect my kids to do the same. I also know that I will use many of the Google tools I have learned in my everyday practice. When new technology is presented to me, I won't be intimidated anymore! 

Thanks for visiting my blog each week. I hope you have learned and been able to use many of the cool tools that I have presented.

That's a wrap!

-Sarah