From+the+Heart



__**Why do I want to teach? **__

 The answer to this question is easy, it's because I love the joy students get on their faces when they finally grasp a concept they have been battling for days, weeks, or months. There is know greater joy in life than to see them succeed and for them to realize what they are capable of. This is one of the primary reasons I am inspired to become a teacher. I cannot wait and I am so excited to help children learn.

__Reflection of wikipage __  Technology has never been a strong suit of mine, however, after completing this wiki page I am flabbergasted and amazed at all the things I accomplished over the past five months. I went from not knowing what a wiki page was to having completed a fun, interactive and educational tool for my future students.

Thinking about everything, I relate the creation of my wiki page to the teaching field and my classroom. Developing my page was extremely taxing and frustrating at times but in then end it has all been worth it. Like I experienced while crafting my wiki, I know I will have similar experiences when I begin teaching. For example, I know there will be many, many times during my career when I will struggle and be discouraged, however, it will be my job to persevere because I know at the end of each day, week, month, and school year it will all be worth it. My students will grow with each special talent they bring to my classroom just like my wiki grew with each Web 2.0 Tool and widget. I understand there will be days when many of my students and myself will struggle and we may not present our best ability at the moment but working hard on future assignments with exemplary work will prove to us that we have the ability to create something wonderful. Again, the same can be said about my wiki page. There are certain components on my page that may not be my best work but there are other components that far exceeded my expectations. Furthermore, all the components on my wiki page such as the widgets, pictures, varying texts, and Web 2.0 Tools I relate to my students. Each component makes my page more special and unique. And all of these components put together create a wonderful result, an interactive, educational, and fun wiki page. The same can be said for my future students. Each student will bring something special to my classroom and the culmination of my students with all of their special gifts and talents will create one amazing project, a classroom.

To be honest, I am extremely proud of my wiki page because I had no idea I could create something like this. Not only do I enjoy looking at it and admiring all the work I put into but I hope others do as well. For instance, when I begin teaching in a one year, I would love to present this page as an example to my future employers as to what I could bring to the school and my classroom. The parents of my students could easily find out what their child is studying and the various activities that encompass each lesson. Also, the students can begin to broaden their technological horizons by examining the page and looking at all the different kinds of web tools and widgets that we will be using, hopefully inspiring them for future projects and assignments.

I feel very privileged to have been given the opportunity to create a wiki page. I have far exceeded my expectations and I am so proud of everything I have accomplished on this page. Looking at the overall structure of my page I only have one regret. Next time I would put all of my lessons on an individual page. By doing this I think my Unit Design: Lesson Plans & Activities page would not be as overwhelming and it would be easier to maneuver. There is a lot of information on the page now and it looks a bit cramped. I think I would have preferred to put an introductory link on the Unit Design: Lesson Plans & Activities page for each lesson and then by clicking on the link you would be directed to individual pages with each lesson. Otherwise, I am happy with the final outcome of Larson's Learners.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my hard work. I greatly appreciate it!

Sincerely,

Natalie Larson