Blog #1 To Be Continued

This assignment is the most eye opening experience and I have already learned so much!  As a teacher I went to many workshops on blogging and wanted to blog with my students so much and now I am actually learning how to make that possible.  I am a history major and I have always felt students and the general public would or could become passionate about history if they could find some magic opening and blogging may just be that magic.  I see this exercise leading to a history project full of exciting history information or my dream would be a history project that helps students prep for the TEXES HISTORY EXAM!

I must say writing my philosophy down (actually it is just a good start to my philosophy) helped me remember everything that makes me so passionate about education. I really want success to be possible for all,  I really want everyone to feel like they are so important to me when they are in my classroom,  and building relationships is the best tool to engage students and blogging is a great way to build relationships. 

While reading Stephen Downes article I can not help but feel excited about the direction that classrooms are going, but it is also very frustrating to read what is going on in some areas and almost impossible in others.  The reason I feel we are not meeting this potential is based from my own experience.  Not all students have computers at home, not all schools have enough computers to serve an entire class or too many classes to meet all the needs.  I also believe this potential is not completely possible due to the fact that we have become a society that requires teachers to protect their students at all times and though blogging with the community would be a great lifelong learning and very engaging experience students realistically are reduced to just blogging with the teacher which Downes mentions in his article. 

In November's article the area that stood out the most for me was number four and his focus on relationships.  My favorite part of the article was when he mentions that technology planning should not be the focus and that what was flowing through the boxes was more important than the wires and the boxes.  November states that an information communication plan should replace the technology planning and that we should focus on the quality of the information and the quality of the relationships. 

My expectations for this class are to learn how to better serve students with a more modern approach.  Downes and November both mention how kids can blow adults out of the water with their technology knowledge and skills and I want to get as close as possible to their level.