Blog Post #10

Little Kids BIG Potential-Interviews with Kathy Cassidy

I really enjoyed watching Ms. Cassidy's class have a fun time making their video First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class. It's so encouraging to see young students engaging in technology and loving to learn! Ms. Cassidy has definitely found a successful way to connect her students to technology.

One of the techniques that I will definitely be stealing from Ms. Cassidy is the fact that her students blog at least once every week, according to her Q + A in the last video Interview with Cassidy Part 3.
She also stated that the students sometimes blog when they are at home. This means that the students love blogging so much that they take their own time away from school to blog without even being assigned to. Another thing I really liked about Ms. Cassidy's approach is the fact that she doesn't try to "force" anything on herself. She encouraged her audience to start their technology journey with something that they specifically enjoy doing. For example, if you like to write (like me), you should start with blogging. The same goes for anyone who likes to share pictures, start with Flickr. Using technology because you love doing it makes it easier for you to get into other types of social media/technology.

I think that by taking Ms. Cassidy's techniques and her approach to technology it will help encourage my students to become more engaged in technology and learning through it. Her students were so excited that other students were reading their work and that they were able to communicate with people and classrooms thousands of miles away. It will be my job to make it fun for the students and beneficial.

When the students were using their DS's in the classroom to play Nintendogs, it was helpful for  first graders because it helped them learn to share. But in addition to that, for my high school students, it increases collaboration within groups. In high school, this would mean that the students would be gathered around one computer working together on projects that I assign in my PBL lesson plans.

A negative impediment I might encounter in my technological journey in a high school classroom might be keeping the students' attentions. First graders are pretty fascinated with computers in general and do not need much to keep them interested. High school students, on the other hand, have had access to technology their whole lives. So, this just means that my jobs becomes a little bit harder. I have to be willing to research and discover advanced methods of teaching through technology for my older students. It has to be interesting, new, and appropriate for my grade level. But that's the fun part! I can't wait to begin applying technology to my classroom!