*~Number 10 Post~*

We are finally done. Yay! Not that I did not enjoy this class. I actually believe that it has been one of the only classes at Florida State that I feel will benefit me in so many ways. I can actually apply the information that I learn into every aspect of my life. Technology is a big deal. I learned this through the many times when I just wanted to give up. My friend Margaret was a LIFESAVER in this class for me. She is going to make a great teacher because of her patience and understanding. SAM was absolutely insane. Whoever came up with that program is really smart, but really crazy. I realized that the SAM tests and skill checks actually helped understand the programs better. The wording was a little confusing, but I do believe that it will benefit me in the future. I was just accepted into the Early Childhood Education major and I could not be happier. With this I feel that I am on my way to becoming something I have always wanted to do. I love children with a passion and I feel that The Lord has blessed me with patience that sometimes even I do not understand. I love to be creative and I am just so excited.

Alright, now back to what I am supposed to be talking about..hehe! I feel that the program I will be using most will be Microsoft Power Point. That is the best way to give a linear or non-linear presentation and I feel that for giving instructions to a bunch of young children, you can make it exciting and get them involved with what they are learning. The other program that I enjoyed was the Imagination concept maps. That was just a very fun program that made making charts and diagrams fun and easy. Technology is such a wonderful thing. I cannot imagine the programs and various other things that will be out by the time that I have my classroom. While reading everyone's blog entries, I realized something that made me feel A LOT better. Each person struggled with many of the concepts just like me and it gave me great relief.

At first, I was getting very nervous about what my future was going to bring. I knew that I just needed to give it to The Lord, but I could not stop being anxious. When I got that letter of acceptance, I knew that was the door He had opened for me. Thank you Mr. Gentile for your support and willingness to help with all the many questions. I hope all you guys have a very successful future and maybe we can keep in touch on this blogger thing.....well maybe not! :)

*~Number 9 Post~*

This class has for sure been an experience. One thing that makes me really glad is the fact that the material in this class is actually going to help me in my future career. Every class that I have taken, besides my education courses drives me crazy because I feel like I am wasting time away. In this class we learned many programs that I know are going to help me. I now know how to fly through Microsoft Power Point and I know how to do Excel pretty well. How great is that?!? The length of the class was one factor that I would have wanted to change. I felt very drained by the time the class was through and wanted to forget about the class for a while.

Mr. Gentile was probably the best teacher I have had in a while. He worked with every students schedule and never made anyone feel dumb. I felt very comfortable to ask any question that I needed to. The small classroom was very helpful, because he was able to take more individual time with us. He explained each topic very thoroughly and I really enjoyed his personality.

This class has reshaped my view of the teaching career in a positive way. I am so ready to become a teacher for my own classroom and make up new assignments and activities for my future classroom. This was a wonderful class, like I said earlier and I feel much more prepared for my future career and students. WooHoo! :)

*~Chapter 8 Post~*

I found Chapter 8 to be interesting, but kind of boring all at the same time. The fact that it explained the signs of viruses on your computer and the various security issues and ethics was a very helpful tool for people who know little about technology. On page 471, there is a table that I found to be very informative, because it displayed the many signs of virus infection on your computer. This was good to me, because one time at my Aunt Jan's house, a virus took over her computer and she had to stay on the phone for 4 hours trying to figure out how to fix the problem. A virus is a very serious matter, because it can not only be a frustration, it can wipe out your entire database, with all your documents and programs. What a bummer!!!

I suggest all of you guys to go look at page 473, because there is an awesome table that displays Safe Computing Tips. We all need to learn more about that I am sure. There are so many ways in which a haker can break into your computer and destroy everything that you possess. The computer can be a very time saving devise, but it is scary just how fast things can be lost or destroyed. This chapter not only taught me what to look for when a virus or haker has messed with your computer, but it also taught the ways in which to be safe.

As a future educator, this chapter was very helpful because in the future, I am sure that most of the students information will be in the computer, instead of in hard copy. Learning these techniques will help me to prevent any possible problems and make my career that much less of a stress. I hope you guys learned some things, so that we can discuss and help each other out. I also hope everyone had a great Spring Break. See you Wednesday! :)

*~Chapter 6 Blog~*

Hey Everybody! Chapter 6 was mainly about how to make technology work in your classroom. In the book it said that integrating technology is not always the easiest thing to do. To be honest with all of you, it made me a little nervous. My favorite quote in the whole chapter was how technology should not drive the curriculum, but the curriculum should drive the technology. This made so much sense, because in order for the technology to be understandable, the curriculum must work side by side. The wonderful thing about technology is you can never have too much or too little. Regardless of what the subject or problem, you can find something with technology to aid you. The information on page 332 helped me tremendously to understand the steps it takes to integrate technology into your classroom, without it being overwhelming. It is the Wellivers Instructional Transformation Model. On page 339 it discussed planning for technology in the classroom and how to go about doing it. This section was really great because I believe it can aid all of us with technology in our future classrooms. KWL charts I found to be very interesting. To see more on that subject go to page 342. The ASSURE model was another aid in delivering instruction that integrates technologies and media into the teaching process. To get a better look at what I am talking about, I suggest you guys take a look at page 344, because there is a great ASSURE model table.

This chapter helped me to see that it is okay if I do not fully understand integrating technology and media into my classroom just yet. I would like to learn more and more, because it was made very clear that the information on this subject is a vast amount. The more and more that I see of each subject we read about, the more and more I realize just how much I have to learn. The thing that has helped me to not get so overwhelmed, is the fact that I have plenty of time to further my knowledge, and that most everyone else is in the same boat as me.

*~Chapter 5 Post~*

Hey everybody! I am so glad to be back on blogger. I really liked the Wiki, but I am just much more comfortable with the blogger program. Chapter 5 was pretty interesting this time. The Digital Media applications were neat because it showed you everyone of the applications on a chart on page 279. I suggest that everyone go take a look at that. This chart helped me to understand each application a little better. It took something that could have been very long and summed up what each application did in a small summary. It talked about Wikipedia and the cool thing about that was I already knew what Wiki was all about.

When teaching my class, I think that I am going to use the electronic reference text. I thought this was incredible, because I feel that it will help students who have a hard time focusing to understand the material a little easier. It takes fun images and interesting videos to make the learning material more vivid and understandable. For more information on this specific topic you can go look on page 278.

There are also many digital newspapers, magazines and articles on every kind of topic. I thought this was great because all of the materials that you need to comprehend a subject, you can find right at the tip of your finger. This will definitlely be an application that I will use in my classroom. Technology has come so far. I can only imagine just how much further it will go by the time we all have our own classrooms. It is really exciting and I hoping for only the best.

In class, I want to learn more about each one of these subjects, and how I will be able to use them in my future classroom. I am so filled with new ideas because of this class and I cannot wait to further my knowledge each and every class. I hope that you all enjoyed the information and the power point assignment. I am really proud of my power point. I could not figure out what to make my lesson, so it ended up being a bit cheesy. :) The colors, layouts and graphics are really nice though! I will see all of you in class.

*~Chapter 2 Post~*

Since beginning this class, I have noticed a tremendous amount of increased confidence in what I am doing with computers and technology.  I understand different applications on the computer that I never before understood, and I would feel ready to teach my elementary students some key terms on different programs such as Word and Inspiration.

One thing that I enjoyed in this Chapter was the fact that it discussed the topic of modems, and what each one helps with.  I have wireless internet at home, but I never fully understood how it all worked.  My mother is the brains of our home, so she puts together everything on our home technology.  The information about modems is talked about on page 63 in the text.  A Network Interface Card is really neat, because it connects certain computers to a particular schools network without using a modem.  The three different networks: local area, wide area and home are discussed on page 64.  I suggest that you guys take a look at this.  I love hearing about broadband, because that is the very reason why the internet is at such a high speed.

The history of the internet was something that I found to extremely interesting.  The internet plays a large part in most everyone's lives and to learn about the history is very neat.  To learn more about the Advanced Research Projects Agency,on page 71 discusses many important issues that help us understand where this comes from.  The next best part was The World Wide Web section starting on page 78.  This shows each piece of the puzzle in a way that is easy for anyone to understand.

Each day I feel more ready to take on a classroom.  I feel that since taking this class, my knowledge will continuously be increased and my confidence with computers will soar hi.  What an amazing feeling to have!  I hope that you all are feeling the same way. :)

*~Chapter 4 Post~*

Hey everybody! Chapter 4 was just as exciting as all the other one's. I am learning so much that I know is going to benefit me in my teaching career. I remember when I was in high school and it was always hard to do assignments on the computer at school and then transfer every detail to my computer at home. I strongly suggest that everyone look at page 210. This explains the removable memory device. It is a small device that you insert and remove from a slot in a computer or mobile device. I think it is so neat how you can have this small device and no matter where you are, just pop it in the computer and have all your information right there.

Another area in the chapter that I found to be pretty cool was on page 222 and 223. This shows all the many display devices that you could use in the classroom. My favorite display device would have to be the plasma monitor. The color is very good and the size of the screen makes every image seem that more real.

Storage and media devices are also a very good tool to make your classroom a success. I would encourage everyone to go look at that section in the chapter. Although this was not the most exciting section, we need this in order to keep every bit of information in order. Learning about each one of these devices is going to help us, as future educators, to be one step ahead of the game. When we walk into our classrooms for the first time, we will know many inside helpful tools to make our first experience a bit more easier.

I am really wanting to learn more about how I can use certain devices, such as media devices, in order to aid my teaching career. I know certain topics when it comes to media, but I would like to further my knowledge! I have found that the good thing about this class, is that we are free to ask as many questions as we want, without being made to feel incompetent.

*~Chapter 3 Post~*

Wow! There is just so much to learn and it seems that my brain cannot seem to get everything in order. Chapter 3 was a very interesting chapter! It talked about the application software, how to work with that kind of software and how it can benefit the gradual process of your classroom. There was one section that I found extremely beneficial and that was on page 138. Laying out the different categories of application software helped me to more fully understand what areas use this the most. I would totally recommend people to look into that section because it may help you find where you can use it in your classroom as well.

There are so many great uses for this kind of software. My favorite would have to be how you can use it for your classroom organization. The grade book online is going to be wonderful, because that way every area of your students education can be logged right there. I also found the note taking to be very helpful, because for example, one day if you felt that you were not right on target with your lesson and your students did poorly on that part of a test, you could give your students some lee way and clarify that topic more clearly the next go around.

In the productivity software section, most everything we have learned about word processing is summed up right there. They have a table on page 147 that I found enlightening and I felt that would be a great place to check out. It put together most of the word processing features in one neat table and then it briefly gave a summary of that feature. I suggest going there if you are having trouble with the word processing. One thing that I would really love to become more familiar with, would have to be the spreadsheet feature. My mother is a fourth grade teacher and she uses that to keep a majority of her information in order.

The presentation graphics software is a for sure place to look into. It talked a lot about Power Point and if you are anything like me, I would love to understand that a little better.

I hope that all of the Section 13 people find this blog to be interesting. I would enjoy to hear some feedback on what you guys thought and also what you guys know that I could learn from you! I hope that everyone had a wonderful, blessed weekend and if you are struggling with some of this stuff, DO NOT get discouraged because we are going to be some great teachers because of this class! :)

*~Chapter 1 Post~*

When I first realized that we were going to have to read these chapters in order to write our blogs, I was bored already. After reading the first chapter, I realized just how fun this class might actually be if I just come in with a positive attitude.

While reading this chapter it was very easy for me to comprehend how computers work and what techniques should be used to teach a class. It talked about notebook computers, which are more commonly known as laptops, these were subjects that I was familiar with, so I decided that it might be interesting to learn more. It is so crazy how far technology has come. Even since I have been in elementary school, the computers have been upgraded by an extreme amount. How weird is it that we can access the Internet by using our cell phones?!?

The National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers, I thought was very interesting, because it defines the fundamentals for applying technology in K-12 educational studies. This is what most teachers need to have in order to teach efficiently to the students. This chapter in a few words, was trying to communicate just how vital it is for the students and the teachers to be well updated on the technological world. The reason for this is that as time goes on, most everything is going to require computer literate people. The whole basis for why we should understand technology was summed up in this one statement, "what students should know and be able to do to learn effectively and live productively in an increasingly digital world," which is the NETS-S emphasis. This whole chapter was very inviting, because it made me realize just how important it is for me to understand how to communicate through technology. It is a good way to communicate with parents, letting them be informed on their child's schedule. It is also a way in which we can teach our students vital material, and not bore them to death.

I feel that I have learned much more than I knew before, but I am very ready to learn a lot more. There is not much that I would like to share with my classmates just yet, but I am sure that eventaully I will have some kind of epiphany.

*~My First Post~*

I am very excited about starting this class and learning new information on technology. Although I spend a lot of time on the computer at home, and I am constantly on Facebook and texting on my cell phone, I am not very good at the technical aspects. My grandmother always comes to me when she needs help on the computer, so at least someone thinks that I know what I am doing! Throughout my educational career, I have learned about various programs, but they have never stayed with me. I would love to learn more about Power Point so that when I become a teacher I can use that program to assist me. I would also really love to learn about some various programs that can help me teach my students more efficiently and with more entertaining features.

I think that I have various learning styles. In some areas I learn better with hands on tools. With other areas I am much better working with examples over and over again until I can do that subject well. My brother, who is about two years younger than me has always struggled in class. He can never focus on his task and is given more time to take assessment tests. I feel that if his teachers had just been a little more patient and tried to work with him, than maybe he would have been able to do a little better. My brother would sometimes come home and tell me and my mom how mean his teachers were to him. My goal as a teacher is to help the student in all ways possible, never making them feel inferior to me or their peers. This class I believe is going to help me more thouroughly understand the ways in which I can teach my students. Every child has a different learning technique and as a teacher it will be my responsibility to figure out what that is.

During this class, I hope that I will be able to make many friends. These friends will be a helpful tool in giving me new and beneficial ideas. Two heads are always better than one.