WRITE a blog post on your Blogger blog in which you share your observations, feelings, questions and ideas of what "Web 2.0" and "Teaching & Learning in the 21st Century" means to you.
Reflection:
As I think back to when my family got its first computer, all I remember using it for was for research. I really don't recall anything else that we did on our computer. Then as time when on I remember my friends and I getting home from high school and going onto chat rooms and talking on yahoo or instant messenger. When college came around I remember getting my laptop, and as the years progressed I used my computer more and more. Now there is not a day that goes by when I am not on the computer, either for school or personal. Heck, I got my 1st blackberry for Christmas and lets just say that I love it! I love it because now I do not always have to sit at my computer and check my email or updates on facebook. My phone lets me know and I check it right away. Not to mention I love responding back to emails on my phone verses being on the computer.....I have no idea why.
So as I sit here and write about what I love about the technology in my life, I can't begin to imagine how my students must feel about it. I remember that my elementary school first got a computer room when I was in the 3rd grade. My students now have always grown up with this kind of technology and info at their finger tips. My niece who is 3 years old is constantly on the internet playing games........and let me mention again that she is 3. She knows how to start the computer and get onto the internet! WOW!!!
It is important that we, the teachers of today, continue to learn about what new technology is out there and then figure out a way in which to use/apply it within our classrooms. I want my students to enjoy learning, and what better way to reach them than to use what they know, are comfortable with, familiar with, and enjoy. The hardest part is teaching oneself to use it and then apply it. But as I have learned over my past year of teaching, an old dog can learn new tricks, you just have to be open to the experience. So here is my experience and yes I am listening!
Congratulations! You're a lifelong learner! That's what we want for our students, and yet teachers some times don't practice what they preach. Be sure to share with your students some of the cool things you've learned, either online, or in "real" life, whether it's a book you read, or a documentary you watched on TV... show them how excited YOU are about learning something new, and maybe, just maybe THEY'LL be excited about learning too. (OK, getting off my soap box now)
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