Before this semester I had never even thought about doing a blog before. I am not really the type of person to share my thoughts and opinions online where everyone can ready them. Through out this process I have learned that blogging is a great place to communicate with others, and also learn about others as well. It is a really great source of communication if that is something that you are interested in doing. I did however learn a lot about how blogs could be used in the teaching field. I learned that blogs can be very helpful in posting assignments or directions to a project. They can also be helpful in communicating with other professionals and learning different strategies to use in a classroom. Kids could also use blogs to ask questions and have comments made back from other students. There are many things that can be used with blogs, if you take the time to keep up with them. I have learned some through other bloggers and were able to get a better understanding of how other people in my profession or entering my profession feel. I was able to get great suggestions of things to try in a classroom and also learned that i wasnt the only one that gets nervous about intertwining technology into the classroom. I honestly probably wont keep my blog going after this class, but i did feel like it was good for me to get a feel of this approach so that i will become more comfortable with blogs if i choose to use them in my classroom. Advise for new bloggers would be to really try and get more involved. There are tons of people that you can follow and get great suggestions for. Try to keep up with your blog as much as possible, and also ask question. People might reply with a great suggestion.

My computer works, and now i no longer have to use a mac! I am very excited about this because I really did not like having to use a mac. I honestly like sticking to using something i know how to use and what i am comfortable with. I am not really up on my technology skills, and really dont mind using what i know as long as it works. I think that all the advanced technology is really cool and interesting, but i dont really use any of it because i never want to take the time to learn how to use something new. This really made me realize that i need to change this behavior when i am a teacher though, because it is really important to be new and fresh. The good thing is, i will still be able to incorporate what i do know some how into the new things that i need to learn.

Unfortunately over the weekend my computer has completely froze on me. It will turn on, but then just freezes and does not allow me to do ANYTHING on it! Of course this would happen right at the end of the year! Luckily my mother had an extra lap top that i could borrow but it is also very old and slow, but i guess at least it turns on. My only problem is that it is a mac, and i am so not used to doing things on a mac. So not only do i have to stress of getting all my assignments done at the end of the year, i am also learning how to use another computer that is extremely slow!

This weekend, one of my friends just got a GPS in her car. I have always seen other people have one, but have never really driven using the GPS's directions. I thought that this was an awesome experience and a great piece of technology that everybody should have. They are so easy to use, and are really accurate. I found that no matter how many wrong takes you make, it will still find a way to get you back on track. It just amazes me how fast technology is growing and the things that we are able to do now.

Listening to the big discussion that we had in class about whether lap tops should be allowed or not really made me start thinking about my own personal opinions. I think that there were great points brought up for both sides. I think that lap tops are something that really helps the technology out in school and gives the students an easy access to learn new things. However I do agree with the argument that was brought up about spending too much money on something that is not a necessity. I think that this is a really touchy subject to a lot of people and is something that has a lot of positives and negatives. This would be interesting to have another discussion on.

After writing my paper on cell phones in school it made me really think more about how i feel about this subject. In class i mentioned that I was for it, I just think that it will take a lot of work to be able to come up with an even balance to make it work effectively. The question that I have now is, should there be a certain age/grade level that cell phones are only allowed? Would this make the use more appropriate? I was thinking about the phone that someone had mentioned where children are only able to call three people and that is it. Should younger children just have those phones in school to ensure the safety aspect? If that was the case though would that defeat the purpose of teaching and learning new ways to use technology? Just some thoughts...

To go back to my previous post, I was able to learn how to burn my efolio to a cd and also a flashdrive. I was still not sure if it would work or not, but I just found out the other day that I had done it correctly! Now for a new post, I broke my digital camera the other day. I never really had realized how much i do use it until it was gone. On occasion I would forget to bring my camera when i really wished i had it, and it was almost a feeling of being lost without it. I knew that i had just left it at home though so it wasn't that big of a deal, i was able to still continue on. Now that it is broken and actually not usable it is a different feeling. I think that just the comfort of always knowing that i at least had a camera made me ok when i forgot it. Now i dont even have one and it made me realize how much i really did appreciate having one!

Before February first i had been working on my teacher candidacy. This allowed me to use a mac which i am not very familiar with, and also note share which i had never used before either. I think that this really helped me become very familiar with a mac, and all the different things that come with a mac. Also unfortunately through this process, when i submitted my final product they have been unable to open it. Due to this problem i have had to now try to burn it on to a cd, and a flashdrive to see if my advisor can open it that way. Through all the frustration, needless to say, i have been forced to try and use new technology. Hopefully this will all pay off for me in the end.

Thinking back to some discussions that we have had about kids leaving their computers open during class time has really made me think about how distracting it may be for other people and the teacher. I my self do not get distracted if someone around me is using their computer while the teacher is talking, but just because it doesn't bother me, doesn't mean that it doesn't bother someone else. I think that the rule for allowing kids to leave their computers open should be up to the classroom each year. Maybe have a vote and if any one is easily distracted by computers then come up with an alternative solution. If none of the students are bothered by it, then allow them to use their computers. As for the teachers perspective, i wouldn't know if it is distracting or not because i have not been in that situation yet. I think that maybe the teacher could set some rules, but allow some time for students to use their computers during class as well. As one person mentioned in one of our class discussions, sometimes using a computer keeps someone occupied to keep them from totally spacing out the class. I think that everybody is different and things will effect everyone differently, but sometimes there are somethings that are not going to make everybody in your classroom happy (including the teacher).

http://www.thisweekineducation.com/

http://kathyschrock.net/blog/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/07/AR2008040700387.html

From the few classes of EDT 400 that i have experienced i have realized how important technology is going to be in the future. I have been trying really hard to learn more about technology and become more comfortable about it, but i am afraid that I will never be able to keep myself updated. I fear that my students will know way more than I do, and that I will not have an idea on how to fix this problem. I keep reminding myself that i am only teaching K-2nd grade and that it shouldn't be that difficult. I still fear that i will not be able to update myself and learn more advanced ways to teach my children and to prepare them for the life of fast pace technology.

When thinking about becoming a teacher, one of my biggest concerns is that i will not be able to come up with an affective discipline strategy. At a ton of schools that i have observed I have noticed that almost every discipline strategy seems to not benefit for at least one child. For example, the strategies are rewarding the ones that do not need as much rewarding, and negativly affecting the ones that need it. I think that this is a very difficult thing to think about when it comes to teaching younger children. I am still trying to research and find an affective behavioral strategy that works for ALL chidren.

Education

As a future teacher, I have realized that adapting to, and incorporating technology into the classroom is going to be very difficult. There are going to be many situations to think about and really be able to test different strategies upon in order for technology to fit most appropriately into your classroom. I feel as though teaching younger students such as K-2, technology will not be as huge of an issue though. Even though there wont be as high advanced technology in the classroom there is still the issue that will arise from what technology is appropriate for that age level, how much technology do we teach students, and how do we teach them?