class review

I love Jing. I think it's a very useful tool that I will most likely keep forever because you can do so many resourceful things with it. Smart board was absolutely wonderful. I really liked this because you have so many options on what you can do with various lesson plans and you can make a boring subject or topic a little more exciting. Glogster was very cool because I am a huge fan of poster boards and visuals, and this was like an online or digital poster board! Lastly, I really like these google site portfolios we're working with. It seems like a very useful tool and you can definitely dress them up to however you want to make them professional for when you're applying for jobs.
If a teacher hadn't yet heard about smart board for some reason, I would definitely recommend this to them and maybe even jing if they had some sort of blog where students can go and look up assignments and other educational things.
I really like the grading rubric site and I think that could be a fun and useful tool for them, for say oral speeches or papers. I just think this is better than the "standard" grading rubric, it also gives the teacher some room to be unique or different in a good way.
I might decide to keep up with the blog, maybe to stay in contact with some people, or give them updates on what I'm up to. I'm not sure if I would update my blog weekly but I think it would be a fun thing to stay in touch with. Also, when the time of getting a job gets closer I can look at various teacher blogs to get some ideas for different activities.
My opinion on technology in the classroom had changed drastically since the beginning of the term. I used to think that I would use it occasionally, but not often, but now since I've taken this class I feel like it broadened my horizons a bit and showed me different sites and ways I can be creative with using technology. Smart Board is a prime example of what I would like to bring to my classroom.
Students are very different today then 20 years ago, because 20 years ago technology was not even close to advanced as it is now and students have changed even since 10 years ago. Just in a general sensed example, the definition of "fun" had changed from playing outdoors or various activities alike, to now playing video games or watching television.
I don't think I'm a digital native because I am still learning things about technology and I would not consider myself "tech savvy". I believe that there is no true digital native because technology is constantly changing and people have to keep catching up with the advances. I definitely consider myself to be more "tech savvy" than say my grandmother, but then again she is more so than her mother or grandmother.
I think that everything is good in moderation. It's just like candy. If a child gets a piece of candy every single day, and all of the sudden they start to get candy every other day or once a week even, then they almost seem dependent on candy, and unable to function without it. I think that is a perfect example of what technology can do to students if nothing is ever taught by hand. Just like in math where kids are taught how to do mental math before picking up a calculator. Technology can be great, but in moderation.
I think that I will create some lesson plans using technology and maybe some in class activities will involve technology. Smart board will be a phenomenal tool to use for various things. I may create newsletters for parents online and maybe even send interactive things telling parents how their child is doing in my class.