As we end the school year, I am wondering how much technology I should integrate into my summer school class.  Another teacher and I teach pre-school students who will be entering kindergarten next year.  I think it might be beneficial to introduce them to the tablets that they will be using the second semester.  When I get my tablet and become acclimated to it I might begin allowing the summer school students to use it for certain activities.  These might include videoing them as they act out a story and letting them watch or using certain letter recognition aps while working in small groups.  This coming year will bring a lot of exciting changes and, I am sure,  a few challenges.  But as my pastor said this morning, we don't want to take away any of the obstacles we might have to encounter for they help us to grow as much if not more as our successes.  We will just embrace each day and each student that we have and start them on their way to becoming

responsible digital citizens.

My oldest son knows how much I love (am addicted to) children's books.  For Christmas and Mother's Day he has given me a children's book.  The one he got me for Christmas is especially relevant to the topic of technology and goes along with my thoughts that too much technology can take away from experiences and opportunities.  I found this book plus another shared on YouTube.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3nVxt6_lAc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ouOwpYQqic

If you have read any of my other blogs you might realize that I am not a tech fanatic.  Don't get me wrong, I appreciate catching up with friends and family on Facebook and getting ideas from Pinterest.  I am not sure how I ever survived my teenage years without a cellphone. Filling out forms and composing letters and papers has been made so much easier with Word Document programs.  However, I feel that some of these (not all) technological "upgrades" are taking away from face to face conversation and social etiquette.   I have found a slideshare presentation that shares how technology can hinder social skills.  http://www.slideshare.net/MichelleJCouperthwaite/technology-affecting-social-skills

I have several milestones coming up in the next month.  In three weeks my mischievous, fun loving baby boy will graduate from high school.  In four weeks, my male mini me will turn 21 and the next day will be my 30th class reunion.  It seems like yesterday that I was graduating from high school.  I can't believe it has been 30 years.  The change in technology from 1985 until now has been unbelievable.

An Organized Wanna Be...

Time is so important to all of us.  Sometimes I would rather pay a little more and go into a store with a smaller crowd than to save $1.00 and stand in a long line.  Every year I tell myself that I am going to use my precious time more wisely and not have to be at school on the weekends.  I remember this on Saturdays and Sundays as I sit in my classroom working and see the sun shining outside.  I am terrible about going from one thing to another and getting nothing done.  I also do not like to do the same thing year after year.  I like to change it up a bit,  so I find myself trying to reinvent the wheel every year only to find myself running on thin tread!

Technology is the thing of the future.  Unfortunately, I admire the Amish, love the Little House on the Prairie days and remember reading My Side of the Mountain and thinking how I would love to live in a tree. Not much technology there.  Of course, I also love all of the ideas I can get from Pinterest and other online sources, so I guess I will trudge ahead into this post.

This is my first blog post.  I have to say,  I am a bit nervous putting my thoughts out for the Internet world to see.  I am normally a private person with a lot of self doubt.  I don't like to post my opinions for fear of being wrong or for fear of conflict.  I don't like either of the two.  
However, I am being told that I must move into the world of technology which includes blog posts and web pages.  Hopefully, it will be like riding a bike and the more I do it the easier it will be.