Teaching Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

When I was in elementary school, our teachers used dittos and our research was done solely out of an encyclopedia.  We used national geographic if we wanted to see a good picture. Spelling and penmanship were important subjects. (I was not great at either.)  I am older so computers were not even a thought for the classroom or even the office staff. It was big news when our school received a Xerox machine. Teachers hand wrote their assignments, movies were shown on a large projector.  It was amazing to see the teacher use transparencies.  

Now students and teachers can Google something and see it immediately along with multiple sources.  Not only in a 2 dimensional picture but often 3 dimensional. With the use of computer few schools even teach cursive, and spell check makes spelling less important. Teachers can print worksheets in their classroom or better yet allow students to do the work on the computer. I doubt my children even know what a ditto is, or most of my college classmates for that matter. There are interactive large boards and Excel can average your grades for you.

There have been many complaints nowadays with all that teachers are held responsible for.  State standards, evaluations, health concerns to name a few.  As I wrote this I realized how in some ways teachers have more tools to save them time and enable them to be more efficient.  When I went to the fair this summer, there was an old school house that had a display of what was required of teachers early on.  They had to arrive to school early make sure there was wood or coal for heat. They also had to clean the schoolhouse themselves and they were not allowed to date in many cases. Not to mention teach children of varying ages, can you imagine the lesson plans.  So more and more I am coming to realize that a teacher’s job has never been easy.  It has just changed over the years.  Some things are easier and new things have come into play.  It will be interesting to see what is required in the next 40 years.  I decided to teach because I love children and I wanted to give back and invest in their lives.  I imagine that has been the case of most teachers for many years.

Digital Identity

Sept15, 2013

Digital identity

What is digital identity; well basically what we post digitally that is what the digital world knows us as.  Often times adults as well as children don’t think about that.  If it isn’t something you would want a parent, boss, or grandmother to see, don’t post it.

I feel oftentimes our digital identity is the identity we create for the world to see.  What I mean is we can recreate ourselves.  We can be the perfect parent, fun party girl, or world traveler.  The problem with this is it may not be who we really are.

When adolescence create this pretend world they open themselves up for bullying and worse predators.  What is posted can’t be deleted forever.  It can come back to haunt you in later years when applying to college or for a job.

I want children and adolescents to know the danger in getting caught up in having your identity in social media. “Likes” can falsely affect self-esteem.  It is so important to be yourself and only post what you wouldn’t mind ANYONE seeing. 

Creating on Excel

Creating on Excel, Oh the possiblities!

Well, after finishing the excel assignment my initial feeling is one of relief.  I didn’t know if I would be able to get it done in time. 

I’ve been asked to share what I learned new.  Everything was new with the exception of basic word functions.  I learned how to use /,+,-,* to create formulas.  I understood the concept of making formulas but learning how to plug it in and make it work on the spreadsheet was a different story. At times I thought I would never get it.  Thinking I may need to take a class just on how to use excel but, in the end being able to do it.

Playing around with the spreadsheet and graphs to make them easy and interesting to read was a challenge.  Experimenting with colors and a wide array of graph choices was fun.

The uses in the classroom are endless.  Students would use math, language, reading and art.  Once they learned how to plug in data the sky is the limit.  They would be able to graph everyday things, work on math skills, as well as make hypothesis and prove theories. They could also create tables of information comparing different countries on everything from health issues to population.  Perhaps the best skills would be cognitive, creative thinking and problem solving.

This class has been a challenge for me. Truly learning something new with every assignment, I am making the next right step.  

Blog, Who me?

In choosing to take the next right step, I am in school.  I appreciate the opportunity to go to school mare than I did the first time around.  I am actually blogging because of the digital learning class I am taking.  I have read many blogs and enjoy them, but never intended to have one myself. I learned from setting up the blog just how easy it really is.  I assumed it would be difficult and so didn’t want to.  That has been my approach to most technology…  Until I have to I won’t try!   This class has already pushed me out of my comfort zone.  I am glad, because my students will be using technology and I will be more effective if, I don’t shy away from it. I like creating so playing with backgrounds and set-ups has been fun. Writing down ideas and thoughts are not new to me. Writing is good for the mind and soul.  Sharing ideas and being open to another’s ideas enables us all to continually learn.   

Using a blog, is another way to communicate with students and families.  Posting pictures and explanations of why you, as the teacher, are doing activities is a way for parents to see and understand what their child is doing in class.  Families would have a glimpse into their child’s day. Enables teachers an opportunity to instruct students differently.  The more ways you present a concept the greater the opportunity for students to understand. Gives students the opportunity to create and share it with the world.  In the process they are writing and using technology skills they will need for life.

 My hope is that I will continue to learn the concepts and gain confidence in using technology.  I want to be able to create

multi-faced lesson plans to engage my students.  Not just teach about a place, but take them there.  I hope to learn other ways to use technology in the classroom and to view classrooms that are. I want to be able to show students how to use technology to keep learning and to integrate all subjects with the digital world. I want to learn how to keep students safe digitally. 

Technology is changing and growing everyday I can’t shy away from it.  Students are using it so what better way to engage them than to meet them where they already are.