Final Blog for CEP 416

     Although it was a hard adjustment to take an online class, I am so glad I had this course to encourage me in setting up resources for my future classroom. As I was taking TE 401, I would hear of great articles to read, websites to use, lesson plans to refer to and would develop ideas that I could use in education. While we were setting up online bookmarks such as Delicious, this blog, my website, and twitter, I had a place to store all these great resources. Also while I was writing lesson plans for 401 as were being encouraged to make it unique, up-to-date and engaging for the students, I could think about the latest technology we explored online and use them with my assignments.
      I have always really liked computers and have been interested in using the internet to not only simplify my life, but to get ideas and inspiration. This class really encouraged me to do such from a teaching aspect which has made me a little bit more confident in becoming a teacher. I have learned about some technologies like wiki spaces, Google Earth, Pandora, Google Docs, digital stories, online photos, and internet articles but only as a student or in the interest as an individual.  I have now had the chance to look at these technologies and think about how they can help me, my students, and their parents, and have some pretty awesome ideas!
     Working in a school, I see how much time the CT spends on preparing and planning lessons, double checking they meet with the curriculum, keeping in touch with parents, keeping up with each students progress, and trying to find a few minutes of fun for them. I would love to start of my teaching career being as technologically advanced and organized as I can to make my life a tad bit easier :) That's not to say she's unorganized at all, I just know everyone has their system and you have to find which system works best for you. Well I already use the calendar application on my Gmail, so why not incorporate my [future] classroom into the system that already works for me? I would love to keep interns, assisting students, volunteers, and parents involved by posting lessons on Google Docs, and even promote being green by sending out newsletters, schedules, memos, and notes home via online? That way I also wouldn't have to worry about papers being lost in book bags, eaten by dogs, or destroyed in any other way a five year old seems to come up with.
     Overall, I am very satisfied with the course and all the resources I have now acquired.

wiki!

Click here to view my Wiki!
     I have used wiki-spaces for many of my education classes, but this week I experienced this technology from a teachers prospective.  I have been skeptical of this resource because I have encountered so many problems in my TE courses with trying to find information, post things, and find when my instructor has updated pages.
     In one class, we were expected to post regarding a discussion question each week within the first five minutes of class. It was really unorganized with my instructor posting the question, then a some of the classmates commenting directly under the instructors post while other classmates would make a new post on their own to reply to the same question. Then if you wanted to go back and read your reply or add to it, it was such a hassle!
   In another class where the instructor used the wiki-space as a place for everyone to add and share ideas, it was a great intention, but the majority of the time we would end up canceling another person's addition trying to add our own.  If someone is editing the space and another person goes to edit the same space and page, the site won't accept both editing, so it will only add one to the page. So we would have to be really careful about going back and looking to see if our information was properly posted or not.
    However, it is a great way to post information for everyone in a class to see, and edit as needed. I really like how the discussion page is so accessible not only for students to post information, but for feedback as well.

Holiday Cheer!

This Holiday season has been a bit different for my family and friends for numerous reasons. Some of us are counting our blessings and are thankful those who are around our dinner tables, while others may be remembering those who once sat around the table. Some people might feel different this year for other reasons, but nonetheless, I'm feeling it too.
   I know there has been much debate throughout the last couple of years over how we refer to this time of year, whether it be calling it of CHRISTmas, Christmas, the Holidays, Hanukkah, Kwanza, or whatever else people celebrate, complain about or think of; but I like to think about this time of year as a spirit that lives in all of us, regardless of your race, religion, culture, hair color, etc.
   With the week of college finals leaving me little time to prepare all my Christmas shopping, baking, card writing, decorating, movie watching, and song listening, I began to stress out until of course it all ended up like a shaken up bottle of Coke, me upset, flustered, stressed, and ultimately cry, but this isn't doing anything to bring out the Christmas Spirit in me. So where else does a person of my generation turn to, but the Internet of course! Here I have listed a few sites that just might bring out the cheer within all of you. And even if you totally are in the Christmas spirit with your reindeer ears, red and green striped socks, jingle bells, and festive (maybe even ugly) Christmas sweaters, I hope you can enjoy this too!

1. A few Songs and Dances by the Big man in Red, and his surprisingly talented reindeer:
- http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=20967
- http://www.icq.com/img/friendship/static/card_7944_rs.swf

2. For you Pet lovers!
-Hire these dogs :) http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=36590
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-0WVfj76bo&feature=player_embedded

3. This one is cute and pretty
- http://ak.imgag.com/imgag/product/preview/flash/bws8Shell_fps24.swf?ihost=http%3A%2F%2Fak.imgag.com%2Fimgag&brandldrPath=%2Fproduct%2Ffull%2Fel%2F&cardNum=%2Fproduct%2Ffull%2Fap%2F3166187%2Fgraphic1

4. Here's a little Christmas Joke I heard from an online lecture.
*~* A preschool was putting on a Christmas play and all the parts were set for the Nativity scene. All the 4 year olds knew their lines, were dressed, and the crowd of parents anxiously waited for the play to begin.The characters of Joseph and Mary were on stage when the three wise men walked in. The first said "I am a wise man and I have brought gold", so he placed the gift at the foot of the cradle. The second said "I am a wise man and I brought mir" as he too sat the gift on the floor. The third boy walked up and said "I am a wise man and Frank sent this" as he shrugged and walked off stage. *~*

School Spirit

     This video caught my attention on a friend's facebook which really got me thinking about how school spirit effects classrooms and schools overall. Not only is this video about my alma matter, Owosso High School, but it really shows a school with a lot of spirit and drive to win this particular food drive and new station competition. I am so proud that the band was showcased, as I was a member and current majorette coach, the dance team was featured, the student council, cheerleaders, and students, but was a bit disappointed about how briefly the food they have collected was shown. From my understanding as I participated in this competition five years ago, the goal of this competition is to award a prize to the school who collects the most canned goods to donate to charity. But along with the competition, the news station encourages the schools to be united and spirited in their ways of collecting the food to encourage school pride.
      As I reflected upon this video, I thought of again the days when I participated and how the teachers would award extra credit points to students who brought in canned goods, or who would set up smaller class competitions with in the school to see which homeroom could collect the most cans. I thought this was great fun as a student, and it really did work in bringing unity to the classrooms as we all strategized ways to beat other classes, and organized plans on how we could win.
     But the main reason in doing such competitions was to gather food to donate to charities and organizations to help provide to those in need. At Owosso High, I feel as though this message was given a few times, but the main concern I had was how we were going to be Mrs. Whoever's class, not that I was doing good in and for my community. And this isn't to say the students should be reminded about the importance of helping people over being encouraged to contribute, I just hope the media, schools, and people don't get caught up in the winning and losing aspect of it since any one who brings in a canned good is a winner (I know it sounds cheesy but it's true!).
    Which then makes me think about how I, as a future teacher, can merge the competitiveness and fun with the good citizenship and kind characteristics of such charity work. I really think it depends on the students, the school, the overall competitiveness nature of the individual students, and their experience with participating in charity work. My hope though, is to encourage students to participate in volunteering and the raising of goods for charities/organizations while encouraging them to do such in a fun and unique ways.

Exploring Further with Google Earth

    Ok, I admit it, I'm a Googler! I really like working with Google and all the various resources it has to offer such as maps, documents, e-mail, calendar, and earth. A few weeks ago, I wrote about Google Earth and how beneficial it was to use in a classroom, however, this was before I had the chance to explore this resource even more!
For educators, Google has set up a separate page dedicated to helping us in the classroom!! Click Here!

Helpful Resources!!

    In my TE 401 course, we talked about various resources available to teachers online. One that I found very helpful and explored a bit was through the Smithsonian Institution. By clicking on Educators at the left, typing in the state you are in, grade level, and subject area, one can find lesson plans and suggestions that line up exactly with the grade level content expectations!
   With the Smithsonian Institute resource, you can take virtual tours of some of the galleries they showcase which change every few weeks. I would feel very confident introducing this website to upper elementary students or even college students to aid them in learning about history, social studies, researching, or data collecting. Because this Smithsonian is such a well known institution with many credible historians contributing to the institution, I would also feel confident in giving students this resource so they can get scholarly information.
   I have been to the link (above) a few times this week, and every time I notice something different that I hadn't before! I just noticed the links to art/design, science, and the encyclopedia. This is like an all-in-one resource for teachers!

Also, a helpful video for how Google can help educators: Here!

Pandora... In the Classroom! (Choice)

    I have heard friends talk about Pandora, the Online radio station that you can personalize and hear any style, artist, new, or old song on. So, feeling in the music mood, I decided to create an account tonight. It was quite a bit to work through and try to think of my favorite artists to search and begin a station for myself. However, one of the great things about Pandora is since you create your own station, you can always adapt it or add to it!

     Also, being in my classroom, hearing all the students sing their hearts out every day regardless if they are in music class or not, I thought maybe having a classroom Pandora in my future class would be neat! I remember some of my favorite teachers (elementary through college) would play music for inspiration, for a mood changer, or just for fun at free time. The first graders have been singing holiday songs, gearing up for their upcoming Holiday Concert, so setting up a Pandora station of not only the songs they are preparing for the concert, but maybe other holiday and classroom favorites would be neat to add to a station.

Reflection of Powerpoint Presentation

     Last week, I conducted the Family lesson plan I had prepared for my first grade students. Since the curriculum included learning from artifacts such as photographs, written documents, and objects, I chose to prepare a power-point presentation. Not only would this prevent little fingerprints all over my pictures, but I thought that though viewing the photos and documents on the big screen, every one could see, the whole class would be viewing the same thing, and would be more focused than if i would have just passed everything around. I posted earlier about the beginning process of the power-point presentation, but have included the final product at the end of this blog.
     Prior to the lesson as I was preparing the power-point on the computer, the students were very curious and excited to see I was using the computer. Once I began the lesson, they were intently listening and very interested in what they were about to learn! I guess I hadn't realized they haven't had much experience learning through technology presentations. Even though they use the classroom computers every day, learn lessons from the art/sketch program on the smart board, and use interactive websites in computers, they haven't had the chance to see and learn from a power-point. One of the things I have taken for granite and use all the time was something so new and interesting to the students. And honestly, it really didn't take me long to put together the lesson using the power-point! After teaching the lesson, my CT complimented the use of technology and the overall lesson since it was engaging and educational!

First Grade Family Lesson Plan

My Resume

Here is my current rough draft of a resume!
I hope to add other drafts to this as I update them.

Resume

    For the MSU college of education and this CEP class, we have been asked to complete a resume for our future intern work in education. I think it is very interesting that although I have a job resume, a pageant resume, we are making education resumes as well. I supposed I never really thought about all the different purposes a resume can serve and the importance of tailoring each resume for it's specific purpose. Curious, I began searching around for various types of resumes and resources online that best help one create a resume.
    I began by searching Google for "resume" and about 110,000,000 results came up within a quarter of a second. This says a few things about Googling resumes, first that there are a lot of resources on the web to help and or use. Second, since there are so many, it's easy to get overwhelmed or even find resources that aren't scholarly and that's the last quality you want, especially for a resume. Thirdly, because there are so many different types and templates of resumes, you really must think about how your resume will be used, who your target audience is, and how can it best showcase you and your talents.
     Suprisingly, the resume template that Google has wasn't one of the first findings listed. A friend told me she was really pleased with the Google Doc resume template, so I decided to give it a try. I found it to be much like using Microsoft Office's Word 2007 templates in that you look through a list of resume samples, select the template you would like, and plug and chug your information. By plug and chug, I mean simply type in you own information into the suggested areas provided, and they even give suggestions! This is very easy and makes for a professional looking resume. However, in a country and state where jobs are scarce, who's to say the employer reading your resume hasn't already read that same template resume hundreds of times.
     Which brings me to my ambiguous questions of, What will your resume say about you? How will you make your resume stand out over the other resumes?

Student Comparison

     This week in one of my TE classes, part of our assignment was to think about two students learning habits in the classroom. I find this very interesting, so rather than just thinking about it, I decided to write a detailed description so I could refer back to it throughout other lesson plans I prepare. This will help me keep in mind that each student learns and interacts with education differently.
     For a full description of the students I observed and how I used these observations into a lesson plan, feel free to read the science talk my partner and I created.  Google Doc Science Talk

Presentation

This upcoming week, I will be teaching a social studies lesson to my first grade class about family history. The Michigan Grade Level Content Expectation is: 1 – H2.0.5 Use historical records and artifacts (e.g., photos, diaries, oral histories, and videos) to draw possible conclusions about family or school life in the past. My objective is that students should be able to draw conclusions about the past by looking at artifacts. Students should also be able to share an artifact or story about their own past and explain how that has or hasn’t affected their life today. The lesson abstract is that students will learn how to assess the past through photos, artifacts, written documents, and stories.

The lesson plan write up can be found under the MSU Senior Work on my Weebly.  

This is the powerpoint presentation I plan to use. Currently it is a rough outline, but I will try to post the actual presentation as I continue to work and prefect it!

Digital Story

     For TE 401, we were to create a digital story based on students conceptions and or misconceptions about a topic they were either learning about or about to learn about in class. My first graders had just done a lesson about magnets, so I asked a few of them to tell me what they learned, so I could get an idea of their thinking at that point. I really enjoyed this assignment because it not only got me thinking about how the students learn, but it also gave the students a chance to tell me what they learned in their words, without having to write it on a paper. We have been discussing in many of my classes the pros and cons of work sheets, so this is a great alternative! This video could also be used to introduce this same lesson for next year. Students might get excited about an introduction done by students their age, or that they may know, rather than always hearing it from their teacher.
  To view the lesson plan, please visit: lisadexter.weebly.com

Also, I have created a Social Studies Presentation/Lesson Plan.
Click HERE for the Lesson Plan

Click HERE for the Presentation

Halloween Party!!

     One Friday, I knew the classroom placement I am in was having a Halloween party as well as half-day so the teachers could have a planning day the other half. What I didn't know however that EVERYONE was supposed to be dressed up, including the MSU interns, seniors, parents, volunteers, staff and students. The students did a Halloween Parade which was all new to me! We were not allowed to wear costumes to school at any grade where I'm from. The Kindergartners paraded into the first grade classrooms, then the first graders added onto the Kindergarten line and they traveled into the second grade classroom. This pattern repeated until all the students, teachers, staff, parents, and volunteers were in the line. They ventured outside in their parade to walk around the school before returning to their classrooms to have a party.
      My CT really enjoys doing centers, so while they were parading around the school, a few parents and I set up the centers. One center was where all the food was set up, along with the apple cider and candy. Next the students painted little wooden fall and Halloween shapes. At the third table, they could chose to make either a pumpkin magnet or a pumpkin necklace. They had just learned about magnets in their science unit, so that tied in nicely. And at the last center, there were over forty rolls of toilet paper. With the help of an adult, we wrapped each student up with the toilet paper so they looked like Mummies! Their teacher was able to catch everyone's picture and then posted it on their classroom facebook so their parents could see.
     Overall, it was a good time had by all.

More blogging!

     Now that I am starting to get into the blogging scene, I have searched for some other blogs to read and or follow.
     One I found was THIS website this weekend which I found very interesting. This blog is intended for those who are interested in the history of education and history in education. My freshman year, I was a history and English double major at Central Michigan University because history is my favorite subject. Not only did I find it interesting to read the latest blog about Halloween, but it was certainly educational and could be incorporated into a classroom easily.

Education News

     I have never been a news/media buff. I will occasionally glance through the news paper here or there, pick up a magazine in the doctors office, or I catch whatever news my homepage brings to my attention. However, I am learning how helpful being up on the news, especially news in education, and beneficial it will be when I apply for jobs. Decisions that are made, ideas that are developed, and people that are involved will affect me when I got a job, and are already affecting me as I work as an intern in a classroom. Especially with tomorrow's election, we will get a new governor who could play a role in education and it's policies.

Seeing Student thinking

     In my TE 401 classes, we have been looking at how to evaluate and see student thinking. Though the Michigan Grade Level Content Expectations, there is a expectation that the student learns the material that they have been taught. But how does one see thinking and or learning?
    It has been really interesting to conduct interviews with my students before lessons as well as after lessons to try to capture how their thinking changes after a lesson. 

Required Blog Topic 1

     For my digital story project, I chose to make a video of some Michigan State pictures. This week, I will be doing a small lesson with my first grade students, showing them a little bit about where I live, and my community. Since I am very passionate about MSU, as well as live near campus, I chose to search the Creative Commons web base and use some pictures of MSU.
     My plan is to show the students the photos without the captions first, since using Picasa, there is an option to hide the captions. Then I plan to go back to the first picture and read the caption to the students. I hope to tell the students a little bit about the photo, and relate a personal story to the picture. I hope the students will find this a bit more interesting than just listening to me talk, or than reading it in a book.
     Using Picasa was very easy to upload photos, write captions, and organize the photos, however trying to add music, edit the photos, or re-size each photo wasn't an option on this web album. 


Enjoy:

In the classroom

    After working with Google Earth on last weeks assignment, and having to write a social studies lesson plan in another class, I began doing a little more research. I found there is a resource page guided for educators and Google Earth. 
     The link above will take you to the site I am discussing mainly in this blog. Once there, the "classroom resources" link will explain some ways in which Google Earth can be beneficial in a classroom. Not only is the explaination of how Google Earth works and how it can be beneficial, but also ideas and suggestions of projects and lesson plans based around this technology are on that page. The "Talk Teacher-to-Teacher" link is really awesome, because just as its labeled, teachers can communicate with each other and share different ideas, lesson plans, experiences, or questions in either a large group, or smaller chat. "Student Work Showcase" illustrates various works students have done using Google Earth. It also has a link to the Google Earth Gallery as well as captions under the work visible explaining a bit more about the work, and it's creators. The last three links are very self explanatory, "Tutorials and Tips", "Google Earth Pro Grants Wizard", and "What Educators Are Saying".
     From a future educators standpoint, I really appreciate the resources and accessibility to this technology Google has given with classrooms in mind.

TPACK/ Google Earth!

     In my freshman year in college, one of my roommates introduced me to Google Earth. I thought it was a really cool tool, so I downloaded it onto my computer, but haven't touched in three and a half years later. So today was the day to explore it from a teachers perspective, and I am really inspired!
     In the case that you, the reader, hasn't used Google Earth before, you can click in the linked phrase "Google Earth" and are taken to the download page for PC, MAC, or Linux. Once you have it installed, you can type in anywhere in the world, and you manage how zoomed out or zoomed in you get to the desired location. 
     I could totally see a second grade classroom using this, since part of their Michigan grade level content expectations revolve around their community. This is a strength of Google Earth is that it can show detailed views of a broad area, or zoom in to a crack in the sidewalk! However, this could be a weakness as well, in that students can see anything from Google's pictures, that would be out in public. As the teacher, one would have to do a check of what the students might see, because I have seen in the news some of the inappropriate sights that have been captured on tape.
     The internet can be such a great learning tool in any classroom, but really should be  monitored closely, since anyone can find anything online. Using Google Earth for a lesson plan, I would personally have a detailed and specific area fro students to view and explore around, with a list of certain things to look for to keep them on task.
     For example, in teaching students about their community, I would have them type in "East Lansing, MI" (assuming they live in East Lansing) and then try to find the school they are in. They would use the school's address the pinpoint exactly where they are, then I would ask them to find the nearest gas station, or toy store, or barber shop. Then one could take this into a lot of different directions, such as having the students write out directions of how to get from their school to the nearest grocery store in a car, then by walking. Math can be linked by asking students to look up how far in miles the trip would take, or how many minutes it would take to drive. Social studies can be included by asking student to research how recent Google Earth is, and look up the history of the area. All of these ideas in using Google Earth along with TPACK learning in that content and technology are being fused together, with the teacher in the main leading role, but the students also in charge of their learning.  I would certainly classify this technology as a teacher tool/parent communication tool since as explained above, a teacher has countless ways to use this technology, but a parent and student could explore using this at home as well.

Donors Choose!

    Last night, I learned about an online charity set up for the sole purpose of helping teachers, students and classrooms, that it brought tears to my eyes! The organization is called Donors Choose and has been made into national news by Stephen Colbert just this last week. By going to Donors Choose, teachers can post projects they need help funding, but also, people can go online to donate money and help fund those projects. If the donor completes the project funding, they get hand written letters from the teacher and students the project is benefiting.
     The projects teachers post online are under surveillance and are thoroughly checked for their validity to prevent this amazing idea and charity from getting out of hand. The idea that makes this organization relate-able to anyone and everyone is that the mass majority of Americans have gone to school. They have memories of activities they did, or inspirations they acquired in school, or teachers that made a difference in their lives. Education is something everyone can relate to and has been a part of. People can use their passion, memories, or plain old kindness to help out other schools and students through this charity.
     I encourage anyone who reads this to at least pass this website on to one friend. Let's make a change in a students life!

Digital Stories

     I am currently learning about digital stories in my TE 401 science and social studies classes. I have completed a digital story assignment for the social studies portion, and it is an awesome way to incorporate technology in the classroom. We attended a museum, right here in Lansing, and took pictures of a certain category with our group members. My group was assigned toys, so we snapped shots of toys from various time periods. Then we proceeded with the project by doing a little research on Michigan toys, the economic stand point of these toys at the time, and compared toys then, to today's toys. We put our pictures together in a slide show, recorded our voices talking about the research we found, and put a little Motown music with it. This is an awesome way to introduce a new unit to a class of students using technology.
     I am still figuring out the science digital assignment, since we have to incorporate a lesson plan, and interview students for the story. Luckily we get to work in pairs, so I'm hoping we'll have this figured out soon. As we progress, I'll try to post again about how we went about this task!

This Week's Assignment

     I think it is a great idea to actually teach students the vocabulary, outline, and actual rules when it comes to Copyright laws. As a student, I remember being harped on about how bad plagiarism and using copyright material was, but I think a lot of students benefit more when they have specific reasons and explanations as to why it's wrong. Media and technology are both so prevalent in classrooms, that this lesson is necessary to teach to avoid fraudulent work from students. I really like how this web page has so many resources for teachers and students, as well as a lesson plan already laid out for the convenience for teachers.
     Creative Commons is also a fantastic resource for students that may be in middle school or high school. Although they may have read copyright rules before and know what they are supposed to do, using this web site would be a great way to make sure they really do understand what's allowed and what's not. Especially before college, I think it's very important teachers expose their students to these sites.
     Here are a few pictures I worked with today, learning about copyrights, and editing pictures to post them online: click here!

My second first day of First Grade!

     Today I began working in Mt. Hope Elementary School, in Mrs, Arocha's First grade classroom. Although this is an urban school, they had quite a bit of technology right there in their own classroom. They have three fairly new Mac computers, that the students are allowed to use (with the teacher's permission of course). The teacher has an older desktop computer for record keeping. Mrs. Arocha brings her laptop to and from class with her lesson plans on it, and also has her own printer. Her business card has not only her personal e-mail address on it, but also her school address, the school's website, and her link on the school's website as well. She also told me the parents of the students have her personal cell phone number and she frequently text messages with them, and they call her cell phone before trying her room phone or the office phone. All of this technology in the classroom is great! As the school year progresses, I hope I will see the students taking advantage of it more and more!

MSU Children's Garden!

     This week, I went on a field trip with my TE 401 science class to our very own MSU Children's Garden. What an awesome experience it was, not only because it is right here on campus, but because they have really put a lot of effort in making this field trip accessible to teachers online. Here is the website that is intended for classrooms, http://4hgarden.msu.edu/kidstour/flashnone.html.
     Once you are on the site, the garden calendar will show the upcoming events that are happening at the garden. The virtual tour link is a great way to introduce students to the garden as well as a educational unit about plants, gardens, etc. There is even a link on the page for those who want to learn more about gardening which is a helpful resource to give parents, students, and families since that is something they could do together at home, either on the computer, or even in their back yard.
     I really am enjoying finding out all the resources MSU has to offer educators. I hope to find more and share them with you all on here too!

A little teacher inspiration

This week, I had a very pleasant experience with all my professors during a very unpleasant time. My mom had a very serious surgery Monday and had a lot of complications throughout the week. Worried about her, I knew I wasn't going to be mentally prepared for my classes, so I e-mailed all of my professors and let them know what was going on. All five of my professors were more than willing to give me time off, as well as work with me to catch me back up. Compared to my freshman year when I went to Central Michigan University and had to have a surgery myself, all my professors demanded documentation before they would even consider being sympathetic. After the emotional and exhausting week I had, I came to really appreciate my MSU professors. I decided that when I have a class, I want to trust my students and take their word for it when they say they are having a rough week, or need a little extra help. If anything, I have a little more respect for my MSU professors who were so willing to work with me, as opposed to those who were so concerned about following common procedure so they wouldn't get "in trouble" by their boss or university. I am inspired to be a better teacher, just because of the care and time my professors put into my situation.

Blogging

     I have been on the fence for a long time with my feelings on blogging. I have read professional blogs, but I'm not quite a "professional" myself yet, so I couldn't picture myself creating a blog. My brother's rock band has a blog to keep friends, family, and fans up to date with things they are working on, upcoming shows, and so on. Well again, I haven't related to this idea of blogging. Then there's the stereotypical high school blogger... yeah, I'm not about to air all my thoughts, feelings, relationship statuses, drama, and song lyrics on a blog. However, I am open to this idea of networking through blogging. Posting ideas, news, and sharing sites about the realm of education is in fact something I can relate and contribute to.
     Through a blog, I think a person can have the time and space to be expressive and get all their thoughts down so colleagues, friends, and others interested can read, reflect, and learn a little more about education. One of the reasons I love to e-mail is because I can get everything shared with the recipient and I have a hard copy of what was discussed, what was settled, and their response. Through blogging, I will also have the hard copy of things I have said along with what others post, and we have the opportunity to use the comment feature. I see blogging as a public e-mail, and I like it!

--Lisa Dexter

Hello!

Hi! I'm Lisa Dexter! I am an elementary education major, specializing in language arts.
     As for my technology background, I would consider myself a fairly mainstreaming/adapting technology user. I am certainly not on the brink of all the latest and greatest technology, but after I see other people test new things out, I will typically jump on the band wagon if it is something that fits into my lifestyle. In working with the internet, I tend to stick to my daily routine of checking e-mail and facebook in the morning and at night, googling when I am in need of anything, and when I have lots of time, checking out anything I happen to stumble upon from friends sites, google suggestions, etc.
     My expectations for this course are to find new technologies to implement into a classroom setting that are not only easily accessible for students, parents, and colleagues, but that help me too. I love to be organized, so taking advantage of online calendars, e-mail, a classroom web page, are all technologies I could foresee being beneficial to others as well as me. Through this course, I hope to become better acquainted with useful resources for my classroom and my professional and personal life as well. 

--Lisa Dexter