Thing 3

As I was reading the EduBlog Insights, I really thought about how I can incorporate using a blog with my students.  Since I will be working with Middle School, I could use my blog as another tool to keep parents informed on what is going on within the classroom.  One of the ideas I found, was using it to post homework assignments, calenders, events, etc.  I really like that idea.  It seems like a great tool to keep the parents and students involved with what is going on in the classroom, along with extra curricular opportunities to get the children involved.  I could use the blog as a way to engage my children to want to learn more as well.  We could do weekly videos and post them online for parents to view.  The more I am doing these "things" the more fascinated I am getting with this whole blogging idea.

Thing 2

The name I chose for my blog, is the screen name I use for almost everything.  It is easy for me to remember, considering it is also a part of my APSU email.  I know it is probably bad to have the same username and password for almost everything, but I have so many accounts for education purposes right now I had to take the easy way. haha.  For the most part, the blog has been pretty easy.  It took me a little bit to get into it, but now that I have actually started, I am enjoying doing it. I honestly did not think that I would like doing this at all, because I am not a fan of social networks beyond facebook and pinterest.  In choosing my avatar, it did not really give me my hair options or eye color.  So at first I thought about making it commical, but then decided to match it as close as I could.  Unfortunately they did not have an option for hazel eyes, so I chose the color my eyes are most often which is green.  When trying to pick a skin tone, I can get really tan but I chose to keep my avatar white because tan was not really an option.  I wanted my avatar to represent what I would want to reflect as a teacher.  So, I made it look as professional as possible.

Thing 1

    As I was viewing these life long learning habits, I was trying to pay close attention as to what challenges me and what comes natural.  Habit number 4 caught my eye on the challenging part.  It was dealing with having confidence in yourself as a competent, and an effective learner.  I will be the first one to admit that I second guess myself all the time.  I have had teachers embarrass me infront of class if I have a problem wrong.  Since then, I have always found it challenging for me to volunteer to present any problems in class because I fear the teacher will embarrass me.


   When it comes to the easier end, habit number 6 was close down my alley.  My mom is a computer technician, so she knows everything there is practically when it comes to computers.  So, for the most part dealing with technology comes pretty natural.  I am fascinated with technology and the activities you can create with it, especially for education purposes.


   By using Web 2.0, I hope to be able to implement new ways to engage children to learn.  Teaching at the Middle School level, they are all about technology, so I hope to be able to set up an ideal learning environment using technology to help them learn.  I will admit though, if I did not have these guidelines on how to set things up I would be losing my mind.  As much as I love technology, I can become easily frustrated when I am unsure of what to do or how to operate things.  I am really excited about this blog network we have set up, hopefully it is something I will want to use in my future teaching career.