Thing #3

     I think it is a great idea for teachers to write about their classrooms in a blog.  Blogging gives a teacher an excuse to talk about all the activities that she is doing inside her classrooms.  They also allow parents, fellow teachers, principals, and others to feel apart and to see some of the neat things that teachers and students get to learn about.  A teacher could also use a blog to instruct her students in a different way.  By maybe posting assignments on a blog, or asking her students to blog about new things that they are learning.  I think the way I want to use blogging in my future classroom is to improve my students writing skills.   I could ask them to work on creative writing assignments and post them on their blogger.  This would also help my students  to feel comfortable and have confidence while using the Internet.  This is something that I wish I had learned in school.
     I skimmed over some of the 50 must see teacher blogs and the one that caught my attention the most was  happy hooligans by Jackie Currie.  She posted a post that showed her students using acrylic paint and paint brushes to paint pictures in the snow!  I thought that looked like such a fun and festive idea.  I think I will want to try it with my future students.

Thing #2

     Creating my blog was so much fun! It literally has to be my favorite homework assignment so far at Austin Peay.  I was a little overwhelmed at first with the idea of having to make a blog, but I warmed up to it as soon as I began to explore blogger. I really appreciate how simple it is to use.  I enjoyed decorating my page with pink polka dots and my avatar.  I got to bring some of my personality into my page.  I think I tried out every background option that was available.  I didn't get super creative with my posting name or the name of my blog. I just decided to use my real name and to title each post with a thing number. 
      I decided to try and make my avatar look like me, so I gave her blonde curly hair, blue eyes, and a yellow shirt because that is my favorite color.  I thought that creating my blog and avatar was pretty simple and didn't have any big issues.  The only part that  I had a little bit of trouble with was transferring my avatar from the DoppleMe website to my blog.  I could't find the layout page where I needed to paste the code, but with some trial and error I finally figured it out.
     I do not have any past experience on blogger or creating any other type of blog, but I am really excited to start. I have always liked writing in journals and I feel like blogger is very similar.  It is just like an online interactive journal.  The only difference is that since my blogs are on the blog sphere anyone can read them.
    

      

Thing #1

     Learning how to learn is a concept that is much more complex than just memorizing facts. Since not everyone learns in the same way, each person has to find ways that help them learn successfully. I personally learn best from hands on activities.  I read the 71/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners, and found the habits to very helpful.  I really would like to one day show it to my precious future elementary students, to show them positive habits that will help them learn successfully.  

     The habit that is the easiest for me that I actually do use is "viewing problems as challenges".  I am a very optimistic person and I do not give up very easily.  So when I am having a problem, I just triple-dog-dare myself to figure it out and I don't stop until I am done.  The hardest habit for me to form is "using technology to my advantage".  My last resort is always opening up my computer.  Usually it frustrates me so badly.  There is not a day that goes by that I don't feel like bashing my laptop up against a wall!  But I really need to work on becoming more familiar with technology. I believe it will take that frustration away. 

      That being said I think playing with these new 2.0 tools will be very beneficial to me.  Technology plays a huge role in schools today, so I believe this class will help me be the best teacher that I can be.  Setting up this blog wasn't even too bad at all.  Especially since we did it in class.  I feel like that is a good start to handling all the technology stuff pretty well.