I admit I had plenty of fear as we started classes six weeks ago. What exactly is a blog, I wondered with trepidation. Journals? That one I could handle as it was private between myself and our professor. But blogging? Public? How do we start?
Over the last few weeks I have begun to realize the benefit of blogging. I have begun to read blogs from other teachers out there and can see the benefits of this technology. Teaching is not meant to be a solo activity. With this technology we can go beyond our schools, beyond our districts, beyond our cities, states, and even country to communicate with other teachers.
Technology is changing quickly. The kids know it. We need to know it too. Physicians have Doctors Without Borders to reach children in need. The new technology provides us Teachers Without Classroom Walls. Students have a desire for real-world school work. With technology they can get that. Would technology help keep teachers from burning out and settling for the status quo? It certainly could. So we need to embrace it and figure it out. No one knows it all but if we expect our students to learn then we as teachers should also be willing to learn.
On another note, the ability to collaborate on projects with team members from the couch in my pjs is awesome. Thank you Google Docs!
Good for you for jumping in and just playing with all of this. And, yes so much of this is about connecting with others. Even when we're in our jammies :)
ReplyDeleteI am proud of you for embracing technology. I too was daunted by the prospects of blogging, websites, etc. But when it came time to do things, I realize that it was much easier than I thought it would be! As future teachers I think that we should encourage using technology to our students. It is the way of the future and it has become more ingrained in our lives. When I observe classrooms I continue to be amazed at some kids and their grasp of technology. They can create power point presentation better than I can and they are in 4th grade!
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