January 31: Google Part 1

Google part 1 covered several Google tools. We will be creating and sharing a Google doc with a partner and then contributing this info to a larger collaborative doc.

I learned about some (new to me) google tools today. I really like the calendar and the fact that you can use it both publicly and privately; that feature will be super useful in the classroom. My favorite thing though is the google forms. Creating and sharing quizzes or surveys will be a cinch with this tool. I could use google forms before or after reading a book in class to give me some insight in to how interested my students are/were in the book and to help me as a pre-writing step for creating lesson plans. I could also teach my students to use it to create their own quizzes in lieu of traditional book reports--I think that would be pretty cool.

Google docs saved my life after I lost my flash drive last semester. I love that I can access my work from any computer without the hassle and worry of copying it to a flash drive first. Google docs will be a very useful tool for my students because some of them may not be able to afford a flash drive or even have access to a computer at home and it will give them a way to save their work and to organize assignments for my class and other classes as well.

January 17: Introduction

My mom is one of my educational heroes. She grew up in a Catholic orphanage in Buffalo New York, moved on to boarding school, and was finally placed in foster care. She never lived in a real "home". School can become a refuge for kids like my mom. I think the educational and personal experiences my mom and others have shared with me will help me to be better aware of my students' lives and the conditions they face outside of the classroom. A teacher's words and actions have a lasting impact--either positive or negative--and I always want to strive for the positive. An educational hero is someone who believes in and fights for each student. I will always remember the teachers who I felt did this for me; they are part of the motivation behind becoming a teacher myself.

I am a perfectionist and hate making mistakes. I am trying to learn to be less critical and to enjoy the journey of trying new things rather than fixating on how incompetent I feel. Technology is one of those things I struggle with, so my goal this semester is to be open to learning new technological skills and to let my anxiety go. I really like the idea of bringing and fostering a "Spirit of Discovery" to/in class. I also liked the metaphor of learning to ride a bike. I guess we aren't meant to just hop on and ride; it may take the semester for me to master the concepts we are learning, but I did learn how to ride a bike and I actually still love to ride, so if I give it a chance, maybe technology can be like that for me too.