So this is blogging!
I never thought I would be a
blogger but I guess you never know what life will throw at you. So, I was
thinking from my narrow understanding of what it means to blog, that blogging
would be like a cool inner monologue from a good movie. I could envision
blogging as an ultra smooth outpouring of my deepest thoughts. Then, I had the
sudden realization that no one would be interested in a blog about obscure
medical facts and food. So……I was glad that this weeks reading and text
explorations gave me a better understanding of blogging.
This week’s assignments also
introduced me to a number of technological applications that I will be able to
use in my classroom that will help me to enhance student learning and make my
job as teacher easier. It is good to see that there are so many resources
available that I will be able to use in my classroom in the future. Of course,
if I were teaching now I would not have to wait for the “future”. However,
being a social worker I will not have the privilege of applying what I’ve
learned for at least a little while longer.
The discussion on the ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS *T)
and Performance Indicators for Teachers was interesting as I was unaware that
standards for integrating technology in the classroom had been established or
put in place. I believe that it is really important to use technology in the
classroom as students need to have experiences that are relevant to the world
in which they live. It is important to
make sure that students obtain a level of technological literacy that will
allow them to thrive in our digital world. I think that the Youtube video “A
Vision of Today’s Students” made a poignant statement about the need to adjust
curriculum delivery to suit the students of a digital world.
The technology
explorations were particularly informative as they introduced me to several new
resources that will be easy to utilize within my classroom when I start
teaching. The PB Works site will be very helpful for setting up a classroom workspace
for students and parents to utilize. The Tikatok and Tumblebooks websites also
appeared to be useful resources for using in my classroom. It will be fun to
allow students to place themselves with in their own story books. I think it
will increase student interest and make reading more fun for them.
Overall this weeks
reading and assignments were very informative and provided lots of useful
information that I will be able to easily apply within my classroom. I really
cannot recognize any challenges for implementing the resources in my classroom.
All and all I think it will just be a matter of staying motivated and actively
seek out new/useful technologies and applying them in the classroom.
