Software Skills

I have to admit that when I first started putting together the elements of the software assignment, I was a little bit weary. I've never been a computer wiz and I was afraid that simply learning the program skills once, might cause me alot of grief. However, when I actually returned to the programs to begin my project, it seemed to flow pretty naturally. It was like I had the computer skills all along, I just needed to read the manual.
I definitely believe that it was beneficial to learn how to manipulate the programs that were explored, i.e, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Publisher, and Inspiration. While I may have gotten slightly frustrated throughout the design process, it is more convienient to be frustrated as a college student than as a teacher with thirty impatient children waiting for you. The program that I will definitely use the most will be Microsoft Word. It is a simple tool that can help to create a variety of quick documents. Now that I know how to utilize all of the program tools, I will be able to save alot of time in the classroom. For this assignment, we were asked to design a quiz by using the program. After I learned how to safeguard my documents, to prevent deletion and format shifting, I felt a huge sign of relief. T-I-M-E- S-A-V-E-R!!!!
As an educator, I will use "Inspiration" to teach my students the idea of seperating concepts. I can use it to create a phone chain for parents, create print outs for story webs or even seperate the steps to challenging math problems. I will definitely allow my students to use the program whenever they deem it neccessary because it will help to keep them organized.
I actually never knew that programs like Microsoft Publisher existed. However, now that I am aware, I will use it to create newsletters, flyers, banners and the plethora of other things that it offered. No more frustration or tears about formatting.
It goes without saying that I absolutely love Microsoft Word. It will definitely be used in my classroom because for me as well as my students it will be easy to understand and navigate. Whenever my students write literary stories, they will be typed using the program. We will learn how to safeguard documents as well, because it is a safe and handy tip that should never ever be overlooked.