When I registered for this class my initials thoughts were of trepidation because I was not comfortable with using technology at all.  I was really hoping that I would be able to change that and be more helpful to students after completing this class.  As it has turns out I have learned a great deal about how to use technology with and for my students in ways that will be more helpful to them in their academic ventures. There were particular assignments that I found very helpful in advancing my technological abilities. 
    In particular I did not know how to create drop down menu's in word and after learning this function I was able to make a test for a student to take in which he could click on the answers from drop boxes in which he said he found "more fun".  I also created a survey for parents in which I was able to put in check boxes for them to fill out online about extracurricular activities they wanted to see implemented in their children's class. 
    While I was somewhat familiar with power point I found learning about how to include a video and link very helpful.  I assisted another teacher on her power point in inserting links and video's for her presentation on Classroom Management.    
    Another helpful assignment was reviewing AT software as I had not really used any learning software for students.  I found it helpful to review different ones using students as the testers because they are the best at gaging whether a site was useful to them.  I  found that I could use BoardMaker in particular for a variety of activities for students for both academic games and icons for autistic students.   While I found the graphic organizer assignment tedious it did give me a lot more insight into how difficult it might be for students with disabilities to make a graphic organizer in word.  I was able to research some other options in publisher that I found more user friendly. 
    I did struggle with building a website to the point of tears but do understand how it can be a helpful tool for parents to connect with their children's learning. I think if there would have been more broken down instruction on how to create a website in addition to more resources to use it would have been helpful.  I did speak to my principal about getting support from IT to build better websites and she is considering the idea.  
    For me, a digital immigrant, I wish that this class could have met at least once a month to have more of a hands on approach to learning how to use technology.  I had to rely a lot on emailing the instructor and other my cohorts to really understand the assignments and would have preferred to have someone in person.  Overall this class was very useful in developing my technological abilities, thank you.