Blog#1

1. What do you hope to gain and learn by taking this class? 

I hope to become familiar with more types of technology and how I can implement them in my classroom. I would like to further engage the attention of my students in a variety of ways. There are topics that could be stronger with the addition of different types of technology. I've also been teaching for 15 years, and I realize there are many new advances in the field since I have begun.

2.  What experiences do you bring to the class from your own use of technology? 

I have a classroom website that I update weekly with newsletters, photos, and links for various things to practice.  I also use technology within various classroom projects.  One project is called Travelmates. My students send a small stuffed animal to various locations throughout a 6 month period. As they receive postcards, they use a map in class to track the mileage. When their animal travels outside the United States, there is an internet site I use to help calculate this.  I am also married to a systems administrator who helps me with any technological issues I may be having.  :) 

3. What kind of technology integration project would you like to work on in this class?

At this point, I have not completely decided what technology integration project I will be working on. I am either going to do curricular materials or a webquest. I am unfamiliar with webquest, however, I wish to expand my horizons so am leaning towards that at this point.  I plan on looking at the samples more closely and going from there.  

4. How will what you learn and do in this class connect to what you are doing in your own classroom?

Last summer, I had a projector installed in my classroom. I did not fully utilize it this past year. I hope to discover more technology tools that I can use in my classroom.  I plan on working on my Bible, writing, and social studies curriculum as the summer progresses. I think this class will give me more avenues for ways that I can enhance and add depth to these areas.