Teaching with Technology

I have really enjoyed taking this class and all I have learned through it. The best part has been learning about and actually using tools like this blog and del.icio.us. Usually in these classes we get a chance to be introduced to tools, but not use them in-depth. I have already started a blog for my classroom and many del.icio.us links for my school resources. Thanks Matt! It has been great!

Going back to school was always a hard thing to do, but after this summer that seemed like it really wasn’t a vacation, I don’t know if I am ready to go back yet. Too much has happened and I have been too busy to just chill and not think for a few days. We have been having in service and start with the kids tomorrow. Thinking about what to do with the kids on the first day is always a challenge, but it seems to be harder this year!

As with many of you, I attended a workshop this week that is somehow supposed to improve my teaching. Although I can say this time that I did learn something, usually these days are long, drawn out, and pointless. You would think for how much our districts pay for these people to come in and teach us, they would have some quality. Unfortunately, they forget exactly what they are teaching us. What I mean is they forget how to teach us. Instead of teaching us, they feed us information so “we can maybe get out of here early” which never happens anyway. Even though we are adults, the same teaching principles we use in our classroom apply. I also understand that sometimes teachers are the worst students. However, engaging us in the topic, using hands on activities, showing us how something works instead of talking about it. These are all ways in which these presenters could improve their presentations. Aside from the corny jokes they throw in here and there most don’t keep my attention, but if they think back to when they were in the classroom they could help us learn. That in turn will help our students learn as well.

It seems as if I have been waiting forever for vacation to finally get here. We had to push vacation back to August so my family wouldn’t miss the birth of our son. Needless to say, now we are going one week before school starts! The 27 of us who are going spend the week water skiing at a lake in North Carolina. My wife and mom are driving me crazy trying to pack and get all the details ironed out. Vacation is supposed to be a relaxing time, but these women make it difficult (I apologize to those of you reading!). I am excited though because it will give me a chance to get away from these classes, the house project, getting ready for school, and society in general. The lake is a very tranquil place where the rest of the world just goes away. It’s great!

From reading through everyone’s blogs, I feel as if we all have something in common (well this is probably something EVERYONE has in common). We are all checking things off the list. What I mean is we work towards one thing, finish it, and then move on right away to the next. It goes for everything in life. Today I finished drywalling my living room and feel like I accomplished a lot and can relax. Until, that is, I sit down at my computer and see how much work I have to do. Once I get that done, I’ll probably be good until tomorrow when my wife wants me to take her shopping for a new car (yikes!). I feel as if I live deadline to deadline and fit life in between those. Maybe this is me realizing what life is going to be like for awhile with a new baby, renovating a house, taking classes, teaching, and coaching wrestling in the winter.

As the summer keeps going by very quickly, I am starting to think about next year and what I want to change in my classroom. I have made trips back and forth to school to gather materials, thought about how everything I have learned this summer could be included somehow, and now just have to do something about it. I’m sure the rest of you feel as I do that motivation is just not coming easily!

This is going to sound very random, but things change when you have kids I guess. Beyond not getting enough sleep for the past 4 days, I have started to think about my little one’s future already. Not college expenses or car loans, but what technology and education will be like once he gets old enough to be in school. (You need to realize there are not many good shows on the TV in the middle of the night.) For our APA paper I am researching videoconferencing and its impact/use in the classroom. When I think back to school that seemed like something out of the Jetsons! So I pose the question…in 5 to 10 years, where will technology have led our school system and what will our students be able to accomplish that they cannot do right now?

I have had few comments from my relatives and friends about the sheer amount of stuff available for babies today. It is very true…our nursery is so full there is hardly room for the baby! Between this swing and that swing, the diaper genie, and every outfit ever made for a 0-3 month old boy it is unbelieveable. When my wife and I were packing our bag to go to the hospital it was filled with more technology equipment than anything else. Our camera, video camera, laptop, games, mp3 player, etc. were all things we “needed” for the long stay at the hospital. These devices bring us closer together and make the world a smaller place. We actually got to Skype with my grandparents in South Carolina while still at the hospital so they could see the baby. Very cool.

On Friday evening my wife and I welcomed our first son, Ezra Orion Henning into the world. He was 7 lbs. 7 oz. and 19 1/2 inches long. Mom and baby are doing well. We just got back from the hospital Sunday evening and now have to get back to reality!

This summer seems to be slipping by very quickly already. It’s hard to believe that this week is the 4th of July. Between finishing our house, taking these classes, and expecting a baby I feel busier now than during school! The great thing about all of this stuff we are learning is that it is making it easier to communicate with classmates at times that are good for all of us. Thank goodness we don’t actually “meet” or this summer would be going a lot worse.

These tools we have been learning about…RSS Feeds and Del.icio.us…and how to use them is very intriguing to me. I always knew there were lots of resources/information on the Internet that deals with just about anything. Being able to find them all in one place quickly and easily is such a time saver. I have gotten so many ideas on how I could utilize these tools in my classroom with my students to offer them a more meaningful and appropriate search of the Internet. 5th graders often get their eyes where they don’t need to be! After using these tools myself for the last few weeks, I am getting comfortable with them and look forward to creating some great resource pages for students and teachers in my district.