Two More for The Roll!

Hey everyone, here are two blogs I found and really liked!

Girl with a Lesson Plan - High school English teacher shares her thoughts, concerns, and what she has learned over the years.  Also includes links to relevant articles, quotes, and photos.

Hey, Miss At... - Third year, eighth grade teachers shares what she loves and loathes about her job. Humorous, good read for a bad day!

As you can see I am a bit partial to tumblr.  It is a blogging site that I have worked with before.  If you have never heard of it, I highly suggest checking it out!  I have recently started a new blog on there dedicated to education.  The is not much on my page yet, but fell free to check me out as well!

My Beliefs About Technology and Learning

I find technology fascinating, especially when I think about how much has changed just within my lifetime.  When it come to technology in the classroom, I feel as though I right on the cusp of a now rapidly growing movement.  What I mean by this is when I was in elementary and middle school, we had a single computer lab, I cannot recall any actual classrooms with computers in them.  The teachers wrote on chalkboards or used overhead projectors, research was done through books at the library, and the biggest thing that anyone seemed to use the internet for at home was AOL Instant Messaging.  Although it doesn't seem like that long ago, a lot has changed since then, and a lot will continue to change.  I think it is wonderful that students and teachers alike now have an increasing amount of access to technology and the resources that technology has to offer, but this does not come without concern.  What worries me the most about advancing technology and it's use within an educational setting, is the potential for students to forget or not even learn some critical thinking skills such as reading and being able to understand and summarize the information.  It seems as though technology can do almost anything for us now, which can be very helpful to those students who do struggle with certain aspects of learning, but also can be detrimental to those who do not use it properly.  That being said, technology is something that needs constant attention, teachers and students must understand the pros and cons associated with it, and it must be used properly both in and out of the classroom.

Using Technology in Education (YouTube)

What is Important to Me...

To me, one of the most important aspects of education is that my students become life-long learners.  I want my students to recognize and understand that learning doesn't just take place in the classroom.

Learning Outside the Classroom (YouTube)