Thing 3

I chose the Facebook option to complete Thing 3.
My experiences with social media can be described as skeptical! I was very timid to join Facebook or any other social media organization simply because of security issues. I am slowly getting my feet wet and do have a Facebook account. I do not "blog" on it much, but am able to add pictures here and there and catch up on the gossip for each day! It makes me a little nervous knowing that anyone could be reading what I write, so I cannot do it freely and have to be so cautious in doing so.
On a positive note, I like the fact that you are able to reach so many people so quickly! Wow! I also like that you are able to connect with people who you might not be able to otherwise because of lost contacts. Facebook is very "user-friendly" as far as adding pictures, websites, etc.
Social media is definitely changing the way most of us communicate today. Who really picks up the telephone anymore? Not counting our iPhone to text, email or take pictures :O) I would probably be surprised at the percentage of communication that is done in person or via a real telephone conversation! It scares me when I think of my own kids and what kind of face-face communication skills they will have. How will relationships differ? I'm not sure that it will be such a negative thing to them because it will be what is "normal" to them and what they grew up knowing. It is just sort of bitter-sweet knowing that the "good old days" are exactly that.
Students rely heavily on social networking sites to learn and communicate. Any information they need for school or life in general is at the tips of their fingers. It will take smaller school districts a while longer to catch up to this social networking/learning trend, but I believe it is coming. Students will be using phones and laptops to connect to networks right from their desks. For teachers, this means staying on top of the learning curve with technology to keep our students interested in what we have to teach them.
I do not see myself using Twitter or Facebook professionally, but I am very interested in setting up a blog site to keep students and parents informed of all assignments. After all, this would be just one more tool to encourage active learning and parent involvement with the goal being to decrease late or missing assignments.

Thing 2

WOW! That is my immediate reaction to reading about Web 2.0! My head is spinning and I feel even further out of touch than I did before I began this journey. I feel as if I have been cheating my students out of an education that meets their learning needs and abilities. How bored they must be in my classroom!
Reading up on these articles in Discovery Resources makes me anxious to learn more so that I can do more for my students and in my classroom to make it an exciting learning environment.
As I said before, simply creating a blog to post classroom assignments and discussions would be a good start to incorporating Web 2.0.
After reading the articles in "Thing 2", I have a new goal of getting a blog set up for classroom use for the 2010/2011 school year. I am excited, yet overwhelmed at the idea all at once.
A huge obstacle in the way of this idea is the availability of computer access on our campus. We do have 3 computers being set up in core classrooms over the summer, but it becomes difficult to even rotate throughout a class period with classes of at least 20 students in each period while trying to get all tasks accomplished. My hopes are to set up a 10 minute blogging block every Friday to reflect on the weeks instruction with the focus on figuring out how to have enough computer access for all students to accomplish this in a timely manner.
Another obstacle is finding the time to keep up with a blog in the classroom. As teachers, we struggle to keep our heads above water on a daily basis and one more task on the agenda is usually not voluntary! Blogging in particular is not something that you can put off or skip if you have students and parents following, it has to be done on a regular basis no matter how full your plate becomes. I believe this pressure might be a definite deterrent for some.

Thing 1

I am participating in the 8 Things program to earn credit for a comp day with my district. I chose this program over any other because blogging is new to me and it can be done from home! I am excited to learn a new tool that will be beneficial to both myself and my students. I feel that I am constantly playing catch-up with technology and the knowledge my students have of it and this is a great opportunity.

During Thing 1, I realized that blogging provides many opportunities in education. It is a way to expose students to parts of the world that they might never have otherwise. It broadens knowledge and awareness of any topic of interest as well as gives students and teachers alike a chance to interact internationally. I also feel that it helps us all be more aware of the proper writing guidelines during this age of texting with an abbreviated language!

The blogs that were provided in Thing 1 were interesting and insightful! It was a great way to better understand the life of blogging and to get ideas of how to create my own. I liked the idea of creating a blog to inform students and parents of what's happening in the classroom and to provide an agenda of some sort for assignments.

Writing on the Internet definitely changes the ease of how I write, as far as being more cautious of typos and grammar etiquette. However, I do not feel limited in expression while writing on the Internet.