I LOVE A GOOD CHALLENGE!

This week has been filled with new adventures for me.  I am overcoming many of my "fears" of working with computers and learning to relax and enjoy these assignments.  Already I feel empowered as I am learning to use programs like "Microsoft Word" and excel spreadsheets.  I was a little bit stressed when a 20 minute assignment turned into a 1 1/2 hour assignment because the software was so unfamiliar to me, but in the end I have decided that I am going to purchase "Word" for Macintosh users.  Our instructor "Doc" Waters is a Mac fan like me, but she has all the programs that make it possible to do anything a PC user can do.  I have come to realize that there are many things that I am currently unable to do.  For example, I love the way I can create documents at just the click of the mouse,  or create fun and informative spreadsheets.   

One of our projects this week was to create a spreadsheet using information from the summer Olympics and how many gold medals were won by each country.  What used to look so hard and impressive became something I can actually do myself!  I can't wait to go home and turn my personal budget into a spreadsheet and do a pie chart that will show me how I'm actually using my money each month and where I need to cut back in order to increase my savings.

  

Another one of our assignments was to create our "Dream Computer".  In reality that's all it  is... a dream, but let me tell you, my dream computer was loaded with everything from a 30" monitor to enough memory to  last a lifetime. We had to find all of the parts on the internet and put pictures of each item with ALL of the details including a picture pasted underneath the price of the item.   (This was the project that took me an hour and a half, but it made me feel better when a student said it took her 3 hours, and several others said it was a challenge for them as well). 

 I am determined to learn everything I can about computers and what they have to offer while getting my education so that in a few years I will have the latest information and technology available in my classroom.  From just the few assignments we were given this week I am excited about my future students will be able to produce.  I look forward to watching them create some amazing projects and feel a sense of accomplishment as they use their creativity to make something that will inspire others to do the same.

It's a good thing I love a good challenge because I can tell already that this semester is going to be full of them.  I can't wait to see what we will be learning next week!