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.