Blog Post #A - Chapter 1

Blog Post #A

I am a 21st century student, and after reading Chapter 1 I hope to become a 21st century teacher. I’ve been playing with all things technological for as long as I can remember. A favorite family story at my house that we share is how I taught my grandparents how to use the VCR, way back in the 90’s when VCRs existed. My grandparents had been babysitting me, and I asked if we could watch a movie, my grandparents said that was fine, but they didn’t know how to work the VCR. I remember telling them I knew how to do it, but they wouldn’t let me. So they called my parents, who were at a friends house and asked how to work the VCR. My dad laughed and said let Alexis show you, she knows how to work it. At four years old I was using technology.

In Chapter 1 it talked about how 21st century students spend around 10 hours and 45 minutes on different technological devices when they’re not at school. At first that blew my mind, then I started to think how often I use my phone, laptop, and television, and the hours added up quickly. It also made me think about how income affects the technology that I have been able to familiarize myself with throughout the years. Growing up my family was in no ways rich, but we were comfortable. My family has always had a computer, television, and phone on hand. I’ve grown up with MP3 players,iPods, video games, robotic toys, and digital cameras.

This chapter made me think about the way I would like to incorporate technology into my future classroom one day, as well as how different teachers in my past have used technology to help us learn. When I was in third grade, my elementary school got its very first SmartBoard. I remember going to our science elective class and learning science with the aid of the board and just thinking how cool it was that it was a board and also a computer. I remember being so excited to go to science because I might have the chance to use the SmartBoard.

Another way teachers have used technology in my past has been to play games such as Jeopardy, so we could study, and have fun at the same time. We’ve watched educational videos, YouTube shows, and illustrations. One teacher uploaded her Sign Language videos to a website so we could continue to study at home, all of these aspects took teaching and learning to a new level.

I know that as the world and generations become more tech savvy I will want to incorporate as much tech as I can into my classroom. I don’t want to ban technology from my class, I want to teach students how they can use technology to better their education, and better themselves. My first goal to becoming a tech savvy teacher is to  understand my digital identity, although I believe that will come with time as I get a handle on what my future students interact with the best.

I found a website that lists different ways to use different types of technology in the classroom, especially through apps.

http://www.iheartliteracy.com/2014/06/technology-in-classroom.html




This video I included asks kids about the technology they use in their classes and what they imagine classrooms in the future will be like.