Thursday, February 16, 2012

The First

So, I am embarking on a whole new experience!  I never imagined myself a blogger, in fact I never had any kind of desire to write a blog. What would I write about and why would people follow my blog?   If I did write a blog, how would I make it insightful, meaningful or witty? I would put too much pressure on myself to make the perfect blog, and quite frankly I was never up for the challenge.  So, why now, you ask?  I would love to tell you it’s because I want to challenge myself or because I want to inspire the masses, but honestly it’s because I have to, that’s right, I have no choice, I am doing this for a Technology Class. That being said, I am glad I have to, because I am actually excited about this blog, and know it would have never been created if it was not a requirement. I am also finding that blogging is an excellent learning tool.

I am taking this technology class as part of a requirement for my masters/certificate program for elementary education.  I am currently in my final semester and feel that this class has opened my eyes to many new types of technology.  I am familiar with technology, and I am constantly “connected” with my IPHONE, IPAD and Laptop.   In my previous life (I used to work in corporate America) I was actually the “go to” technology person in my office. I did not really have any formal education in technology, yet I was much more versed then my older colleagues.  I was always trying to find new more efficient ways of doing things.  Google search was my best friend.   However, as I embark in career number two, I realized there is so much out there that I am just now being exposed to.  From Google Docs to online registration and classes, things sure have changed in academia.

In the few short months that I have been enrolled in this class, I have really seen the importance of technology in the classroom.  It is essential that we prepare our students for the 21st century. In order to do this, we need to integrate technology in a meaningful way in the classroom.   Although I am a little nervous about my technology assignments going forward, I am so excited to learn about all of these new things. and to eventually implement this in my own classroom.  I know that the students that I will be teaching are growing up in a much different world than I did, and therefore we need to alter our teaching methods to accommodate these children. 

 I will leave you with an example…here is my three year old daughter playing on HER IPAD.
















2 comments:

  1. Rebecca,
    I like your honesty about your reason for blogging. I too was only doing it because we had to for the course. But I can see the benefit of students blogging in education. It is so easy for them to share their ideas and to comment on other students' ideas, not to mention for the teacher, who can now see everyones ideas and truely can see if there is understanding.The big hurdle may end up being the school districts to get on board and not block the social networking sites.
    Your daughter is a cutie. I remember when my children were that age; however, they sat with a book, not an ipad. How things have changed!!!

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  2. Rebecca,

    Just like you, I wouldn't have created a blog either. Although, I always considered myself a "tech savvy" person, but after researching more and more online, I find that I haven't exposed myself to that much variety in technology. Blogs and wikis were foreign to me before this course and I often found myself asking the question, why do people blog? Honestly, who cares what other people have to say about this that and the other thing ya know. But it's more than just someones opinion, there is SO much more you can do with blogging, especially in education. Sure I have my iphone, i pad, and laptop, but there is SO much more technology out there that we teachers we can use in our classrooms to stay connected to our students growing up in this world!

    -Lisa

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