Day 6 (Thursday, February 16)

Today I participated in an inservice (grading papers for the district office).

My substitute used some technology with my students, however. They listened to exerpts of To Kill a Mockingbird on a CD recording that I checked out from the local public library. They also watched a quick video clip of Martin Luther King using the television/VCR cart that is available for check out to the teachers.

I used the LAN system from the district office to access my e-mail account and to check my students attendance. I also used it to look up phone numbers of some students who's parents I needed to call.

Day 5 of 5 (Wednesday, February 15)

I hope this will not be a problem. I know I am supposed to post five consecutive days in a row, but I was not able to post yesterday. My husband had to take my computer with him on travel for his job, so I knew I would not be able to post at home. When I tried to "blog" from my high school campus on Wednesday afternoon, this site was "denied access". I found that very interesting, but yet frustrating at the same time. I sent a set up a "blog" at www.blogspirit.com as that site (for whatever reason) is not blocked, but I don't want to loose points for this assignment.

My computer (and my husband) are both back safe at home again... and thus, I am now posting my blog for my fifth day (in retrospect). I will post a blog for today (day 6) as well.

Anyway, yesterday was pretty much exactly like Tuesday. With the block scheduling, I have the same lesson plans two days in a row. The one difference is my sixth period senior class. I did inform them about my new "blog" experience and assigned them the option of creating a blog, as well (like I had my freshmen). I will be taking these students to the library next Wednesday to actually set up a blog account, although I will not be able to recommend "blogspot". Like I mentioned earlier, www.blogspirit.com will be my recommendation.

Day 4 of 5 (Tuesday, February 14)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today I tried something new and I'm excited about it. A week ago, I had no idea how to blog or even where I could find blogs. This assignment has opened a whole new world of ideas for me and I'm excited to see how they pan out.

This morning, as I was driving to work, I thought "Why not try that blogging stuff with your classes?" A revelation! My students love the internet and are really motivated to complete assignments when they are related to the computer... so... I decided to give blogging a try.

My students are currently reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" and they have to create a "memory book" for one of the characters. For the past five years I have assigned this project and the students who enjoy "artsy" things do well, and students who enjoy writing diary entries do well. This year, though, I hope my computer-geared kids will get into it.

This year (as of this morning) I opened up the opportunity for the students to create a BLOG for one of the characters. They will be journaling (creating Blogs) for the character, as well as loading pictures and internet links related to that character.

I typed up the directions for this assignment today after school and will distribute them tomorrow. Hopefully they will be as excited about this new opportunity as I am!

Along with this new assignment, I also spent my prep period today in front of the computer (using Word), typing up my lesson plans. I need to update my grades soon too. I am using Grade Machine to conquer that task. Other than that... nothing else that was tech oriented.

Day 3 of 5 (Friday, February 10)

Since I work in a block schedule school, today was very much like yesterday. Two of my classes were identical to yesterday. I used the overhead to communicate and clarify and I used the television and VCR to play a little video clip. I also had one student who wanted to show a powerpoint for his presentation, so I had to check out the LCD machine from the library and wheel it down to my classroom (which is abou 1/2 mile away... no lie!) Anyway, the kid was absent today! Grrrrh!

I made good use of the LCD machine anyway. I hooked the VCR up to the LCD machine. My little video clip went from 27 inches to about 78 inches on the white board! I wish I had a overhead screen so there wouldn't be any reflection, but the larger video is so much more intriguing to watch. My old school had a LCD machine in every classroom. Boy, I was spoiled back then! What I would do just for a television that was my own (I currently share one TV/VCR combo on a wheeled cart with 20 other teachers!)

Day 2 of 5 (Thursday, February 9th)

Today, I planned to use more technology than I had time for. It seems my time management skills were a little off. I planned to show a video clip about the life of Rosa Parks, but we simply ran out of time. My students are giving presentations on different subjects related to the 1930s and 50s.

One of my students brought in a Power Point presentation on a disk. He, however had failed to imform me of his plan, and thus I had not checked out one of the three projectors that are available to the teachers at my school (student population 4,200 and we only have three projectors!)

I called to reserve it for him for Tuesday, but there was no one in the library workroom. I will have to try back tomorrow.

I also spent about and hour and 15 minutes today in front of one of the computers in the library setting up my new grading program on the LAN. My classrooms' computers are not hooked up to the LAN. You have to have internet access for that. Maybe tomorrow... or tomorrow... or tomorrow... Sorry. I must stop all the whining and go eat some dinner!

Day 1 of 5 (Wednesday, Feb 8th)

Today I was stuck in my "temporary" classroom all day (block schedule with NO breaks) and my computer is STILL not hooked up to the internet. The internet lines were cut over the holiday break and, although I have addressed the issue many times with my administrators, all I hear is "the district office knows about the problem and we are working on it as fast as we can". How frustrating!

Thus, in order to do all the simple housekeeping tasks, I have to walk the 1/4 mile to the teacher's workroom. There, today, I took attendance and checked my district e-mail. Nothing too important there today.

On my classroom computer however, I am still able to create Microsoft Word Documents and Publishing Documents. Currently, I am prepping for my seniors to begin a resume project on a writer from the English Canon. I created a Word Document with all the requirements and my grading scale.

Other than that... I used the overhead projector for part of my direct instruction on vocabulary writing. I also ran some copies on the duplo. That was all the technology used today, though.

As a prospective library media teacher, one focus area that I have for my personal growth is to learn a variety of ways to present information to students using the technologies available to a library media teacher. This may sound simple but since this is the first library science class in which I have ever enrolled, I am looking forward to learning the options that are available to a motivated up-and-coming librarian. Thus, learning how and what technology to purchase with one’s budget is a second issue in which I would like to focus.