Intro Blog

Hello Everyone, and welcome to my blog! Over the next few weeks, I plan on using my blog for a few different things; First and foremost, I'll be using the blog to record my thoughts on the new interweb technologies that I'll be learning, so that I can remember what works for me (and how it works exactly) as well as what doesn't. I also plan on looking at other teachers' blogs to see how they are using technology in the classroom, and comment on their usage here in my own personal forum. If over the next few weeks I come up with my own ways to use these technologies in the classroom, I will definitely be making mini-lesson plans and recording them here. And one day, if I ever get an interview to be a real teacher, I intend on using this blog as proof that I am proficient in using technology effectively in the classroom.

I am especially interested in Alternative Education (also known as adult ed), so over the next few weeks, I'll be trying to focus on how to use this sort of technology in schools that might not be well equipped with computers, or who serve a poorer student population that might not have access to technology out of the classroom. In addition to alt. ed., my teaching major is English and my minor ESL, so I'll be on the lookout for ways to incorporate computer applications into both of these areas. As a person who loves working with interactive technology to create fun and unique projects that incorporate a number of mediums, I really hope to gear my future lesson plans towards the utilization of interactive technologies.

The first useful teaching blog that I found called, ESL Thoughts off of the Teacherlingo blog space, had a ton of great ideas for a classroom of ESL students, and even for students that speak English as a native language at a lower level. One of his ideas was using the free web application, Skype, to connect students in different countries. I have used Skype to talk to a number of my friends overseas, and it is one of the most amazing applications ever. I would have never thought to use it in a classroom though! I'll be going back to this guy's site a lot.

The next teaching blog that I found was Mrs. Condra's Blog
There was a lot of useful information in this blog for this woman's class, which I thought was really great. However, I had a big problem with the layout of the blog, it was just too cluttered and it was sort of hard to get all the information out of it. This blog is a great example of what I'd like to do for my classes, which it to make everything available for them online (assignments, due dates, etc.) but it showed me the importance of a clear and understandable layout.