Scenario

My strongest attributes as an educator is that I care for the future of our youth. It is essential to push these students to their best of their ability and to have high expectations because they WILL succeed. I am willing to do whatever it takes to see that my students succeed and I think the passion I have for our youth is what makes me a strong candidate. I will have challenges throughout my entire career because there is never one day like another; that's the great thing about being a teacher! I think something that I will struggle with the most is discipline. As a pre-service teacher I am not sure what is the best way to discipline and what consequences are the best. I think this will come with time. I will be able to try different things and see what works best.
In three-five years I see myself teaching the fifth grade at a school of high diversity. I see myself teaching but also being enrolled in my Masters program and taking classes during this time. I plan to get there by finishing out my education at Kansas State University by graduating in the fall of 2012. During the spring semester I will be enrolled into either the Master's program or ESL classes to be certified in ESL. I will also job search during the spring semester and market myself out to the schools so they can see that I will be a perfect fit for the job. I am willing to take mostly any age to teach so if was not teaching the fifth grade it would be no surprise to me. I will also have taken the test to get certified for middle school as well.
As a person of this generation I am pretty good at exploring new technologies and understanding them. However, there is no guarantee that I will understand every program out there. I will be sure to look for tutorials on the internet, take classes if they are available, and read the instructions that come with it. It is important to explore the options out there and usually there will be classes or workshops that will teach you how to use the program.
In my opinion, technology can help out with learning in many ways! I am a tactile and visual learner so using a computer is GREAT to help me learn the best. I will keep this in mind for my students. There are so many resources out there on the internet to aid in learning. It can be used as a teaching tool, a practice tool, or even a testing tool. It is amazing the different type of resources out there! For example, I found a website that will help students learn more about photosynthesis, the food chain, producers, consumers, and decomposers. It allows students to play games, to study, and numerous other things. It is called The Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers Game. Having resources on the internet is also great for students with special needs , its not just for those students in the general classroom.
Technology has had a HUGE impact on my education. A majority of my grades, quizzes, and notices about class are on the internet so it is vital to know how to work technology and the internet. I have also discovered many resources that have helped with my homework, taught me different ways of studying, and helped me learn more about a certain subject. We use technology in all of our classes whether it is using iclickers, a computer, ipads, or even cellphones to study.
I think one thing that alarms adminstrators and teachers is that using technology may give students the chance to cheat but what they do not know is how it can actually make their lives easier! To convince the administration and my coworkers I will show them a number of websites that can be used in the classroom and show them on a number of different tools or technology. I will make sure to show them that students will love it and it is so engaging. It can help they in learning as well.
There are so many resources that I am not sure that I could list them all!  I will try different technologies and resources and see which ones work best for my students on an individual level. I am excited to use Animoto, Prezi, VoiceThread and a number of other resources that I think my students will love and respond well to.

My Wow Moment

My wow moment....well I'd say I had three this semester. First being I had no idea there were that many resources out there! I was speechless when we had class the first week and we discussed what all we were going to do during the semester. It is important as educators to have resources to use and to continue to find new resources and this class helped me do this. I have so many resources that I will most definitely be using in my classroom. Second, I had NO idea that there were technology standards that had to be met! It is a good thing we had this class because it has never been mentioned in any of my other education classes that there are technology standards that have to be met. Lastly, my third wow moment was how much work we did for just one credit. I am glad we did all the projects and discovered all the resources that we did but I think this class is worth WAY more than one credit. I have taken three credit hour classes and did not do one-tenth of the work that I did in this class. However, I will say that I learned much more so it really does not matter the credit.

Podcast Favorites

When I heard we had to listen to podcast I was not too excited about it. I felt like it was pointless but boy was I wrong. I have learned so much from these podcast and I am glad I was proven wrong. I really enjoyed all the resources they talked about. I was really intrigued at how much there is for teachers out there! I LOVED listening to the Tech Chiks. I thought they were really enjoyable to listen to, they were funny, and they had lost of resources that I have tagged in my Delicious. They discussed a lot of resources and what their features were which is nice to get a small description of what they are. They also discussed how teachers have used them or how they could be used in the classroom. I did listen/watch one that talked about a charter school that was my favorite one that I did. I liked to have a visual so because it was video was nice. I learned so much about a charter school that I never knew and I didn't realize what they really were exactly until after the podcast. It was an Agricultural based charter school which interests me because I live on a farm and am from a rural area. They did so many things in the school that was really neat and could be done in a regular public school as well. I will continue to listen to the Tech Chiks but I doubt I listen to the others much.

Semester Favorites

I have enjoyed most of the things we have done this semester but there are two things that I enjoyed the most. The first being Animoto because it is so easy, free, and you can be so creative with it. I have made Animoto videos for fun when I have free time even if I am not using them for anything. It is also useful because it can be used for a number of things, one being in the classroom. With the current budget cuts within the education program it is always nice to have a resource that is free. The students can use these as well as myself being able to use them to teach content. I really like Animoto and I know I will be using it in the future!

The second thing we used that I would say is in my top five of favorite resources on the internet is Delicious. This resource can be used for anyone and their job career or schooling. I have used this for many of my projects this semester. I have tagged so many resources so if I am working on a lesson plan or a project of some kind I bet I could find everything I need within my Delicious account. It is also very useful that it is available as long as there is internet connection. It can also be shared with other educators or people which is nice for everyone.
Animoto and Delicious are two resources that I will continue to use in education and in my life in general. I have already shared these resources with many family members, friends, and other educators that do not have them!