My first wiki creation

Overall, the wiki assignment was relatively simple, nothing too complicated involved. I am very glad that I did not encounter any difficulties with adding my pictures to my wiki. I thought that my pictures looked a little odd formatting-wise, but the process of adjusting and cropping my pictures weren't that hard.

The things I found that went well with creating my wiki was the ease of adding pictures. However, I feel like there could be a better way to format them in the actual wikis. Another thing I found went well was the ease of being able to go back into my wiki and edit any further content I felt needed fixing.

I noticed that when I edited my wiki page, the paragraphs in my blank space looked different from the actual link posted on the homepage. However, I have seen this difference before so it doesn't bother me that much. Still, if I had monitored the discrepancy between the actual text amount I would have added some more information. In the future, I would probably add more text on my page. Also, I would add more pictures and also do a better job of editing my pictures.

As a teacher, I plan to use the wiki tool as a way of posting information about myself to my students. Like what was stated in class, I think the wiki would be a good way to learn who everyone in your classroom is, so I would probably use this tool for introductory purposes.

At the same time, I would like to use a wiki for more classroom assignments, such as posting study guides and listing vocabulary and reading assignments. Further, I would like to use wikis in a way that would promote collaboration between student groups. To that same effect, I would like to use wikis as a means of communication between colleagues for different assignments or school events that are being planned. Another cool option would be to use wikis for virtual field trips in the event that a live fieldtrip could not be done.

More about me

I am from Knoxville, Tennessee. For the first few years of my life, my family and I traveled around the country for my mom's work. When I was three, I moved to Knoxville and have grown up here since.

I went Gibbs High School in Corryton and partcipated in Link-Up, a mentoring program to help freshmen, and the National Honor Society. My first year of college, I attended Southern Adventist University before transferring to UT fall of 2009.

The best explanation I can give for wanting to teach is that I enjoy working with kids, and I would love to see them thrive both inside and outside the classroom. My minor is in elementary education, and I am scheduled to intern fall of 2014 in the Urban/Multicultural program. I have now decided that I absolutely love working with younger kids than I do with older ones, and what I would really love to do is work as an esl teacher in the elementary grades. If I can, I would really love to gain experience in the literacy field and use my experience in literacy to help esl learners.

In my spare time, I enjoy brisk walks and spending time with my family and dog. I'm an English nerd, so I love to write and love to write even more. I enjoy doing service projects, such as helping at the Salvation Army. I'm involved with my church and also with our collegiate ministry we have on campus, Advent House.

The beginning is always the hardest...until you get the hang of things

I'm quite excited about my first post on this blog. Truthfully, I've been trying to get into the habit of blogging again. I'm afraid the last time I blogged was during the summer on a separate account. When I entered TPTE 486, I was a little apprehensive about the technological challenges I might face. So far though, everything's been pretty accessible. I'm really looking forward to this class and expanding my technological capabilities. 

As far as class expectations go, I don't really have that many. One expectation I have for the class is communication between the students and the instructor, which doesn't seem to be a problem. I guess an obvious expectation would be to improve my use of technology. Really though, on a more detailed note, I don't want to just learn the basics to get by; I want to really immerse myself with technology.

At the same time, it would be nice if we, as a class, were to effectively collaborate on projects. In almost every subject, everyone has to participate in a group project. I've had my share of both pleasant and frustrating group project experiences. With this class, the bar seems to be set higher. Every person in the class is looking towards a career in education or an area similar to that. Consequently, it helps to know that your classmates are invested in their assignments and projects. If we can all learn to work together, that would be great.

Feedback is another expectation for this class, and that goes both ways. I think constructive feedback from the instructor can really show everyone where our weaknesses lie and how we can best enhance our strengths. In return, it's only fair that students voice their feedback regarding the instructor's teaching style, whether that be in the form of face-to-face conversations, emails, or surveys.

Overall, I think the most important expectation for this class is that I'm able to really challenge and push myself outside my comfort zone. If I say I want to learn something, I can't be afraid of the challenge that's given to me. Someone told me that everything worth anything in life requires a little hard work, and this class isn't an exception. It doesn't hurt that our instructor is willing to give us an extra push, so I think we're all in good hands.