Technology in Life and in The Classroom

I love the new digital age.  I think it is amazing how fast we can connect and share information with the simple touch of our fingertips.  I use devices every day, pretty much from the time I wake up until the time that I fall asleep.  Technology is the one means that keeps my family connected.  Let me go over some of the things that keeps me busy.

My iPad

I am not going to lie, I LOVE my iPad.  I have everything on there.  When I eat my breakfast in the morning, I check my Facebook, emails, the News, the weather, my schedule (personal and school), and maybe even play a game or two.  I keep my life organized with this amazing tool.  I keep all of my appointments in my personal calendar.  I keep a "to-do" list, and it reminds me if I need to do something.  I receive and send emails on all of my accounts with one simple app.  It has all of my contacts on here so I can easily look up an email, address, or phone number.  It even has it's own phone number that can call, but I mainly use this to text my wife while I am sitting in class.  I also read in bed before I go to bed at night.

I take and edit pictures and videos with my iPad.  In a couple of hours I shot, edited, posted and shared this trailer all from this tablet:

I use this iPad in class and at work.  I can read my text books on it, I can download and mark up PDF files from Canvas.  I can take notes and even write papers.  Online clouds enable me to seamlessly transfer all of my papers and projects between devices like my phone and home computer.  I can access the paper from any computer that has the internet and print it from there.  At work, I can down load the PDF for my time card, fill it out, then have my supervisor sign it directly on the iPad, then I submit it.  I can even create my own PDF files by taking pictures of pages in a book.

I put all of my school papers and personal finance spreadsheets on my 7 GB SkyDrive.

I have over 50 GB of free space on my Dropbox where I store my pictures.

My 5 GB Google Drive is used for school projects where I need to collaborate with other students.

Everything that I write on my iPad is uploaded to the 5 GB iCloud.  

This are just some of the online cloud drives that I use to store all of my information.      

My family stays connected through digital text.  Phone calls are extremely awkward in my family, so we stay in communication over the internet.  Facebook and Words With Friends let me know that my family is still alive.  If I ever want to contact my Mom, all I have to do is send her a message on Facebook.  In fact, yesterday I wanted to thank my mom for some baby clothes that she send up for us.  I sent her a message on Facebook, and I said to my wife, "Let's see how long it takes her to see this message."  She had seen it before I could even finish my sentence.

I love being able to work with students and teachers via Google Drive.  I think this is the way that technology is going these days.  Students know how to work a smart phone or tablet before they are in Kindergarten.  I see this as a pro and a con.  

Pros:

I think it is extremely important for children to know how to run technology.  Technology moves SO fast these days and kids need to stay up-to-date to be able to survive in the competitive world.  It is a basic requirement for nearly every job to be able to operate a computer.  Students need to know how to navigate the internet to find information and connect with others.  They also need to know how to type on computers and read digital text.

Cons:

I HATE short hand text writing:  "Hey, U goin 2 da party? Yer invited 4 sur :) !"  I think it will be very difficult for students to write and spell correctly when they are writing papers if they learn to read and write in short hand.  Another con is that giving a device that has unlimited access to things to a student can be a recipe for disaster.  Kids also don't take care of stuff.  They will drop, break, throw, spill-on, jump-on, spin and any other inane thing you can think of to stuff.

As a teacher, I think it would be awesome to have an interactive PowerPoint pulled up while I am teaching and have the students follow along on their own devices.  Textbooks can be on iPads, saving the school money.  Papers can be submitted on line, so real paper doesn't have to be used.  Real time instruction and help is available.  Feedback is a breeze.  Technology is the way to go, you just have to be careful how you do it.

The Secret World of Clark's Reading History

As a parent-to-be I want to get my daughter started off right.  That is why I read to her.  Though she is still snuggled tight in the nice, warm cocoon of my wife's womb, my personal believe is that she can hear us as we read to her.  (Unless she is deaf...)  I believe that intelligence is linked to literacy.  I want my child to be as smart as she has the capability of being.  So, as we read Disney storybooks to my wife's stomach the hope is that her listening and reading habits are being formed.

I don't remember being read to as a child.  I believe this hindered my intellectual growth as an adolescent.  In fact, this had lasting effects on me.  I struggled to read up through high school.  I would have "ADD" moments where I would read and my mind would be off thinking about the Jazz game or what was for lunch that day.  I couldn't focus and it would give me headaches to read.  I would read a page and absorb absolutely nothing.  I even avoided long comic strips in the Sunday paper.

I HATED reading out loud in class (which is still a phobia of mine) because I would frequently come across words that I didn't know.  To this day when I read in public my anxiety level and heart rate skyrocket.  For some reason I replace words from the text with words of my own.  I will omit and add words at random. One day I was reading a paper with a friend, as I read he would constantly correct my reading mistakes.  Finally he stopped and quite bluntly exclaimed, "You really need to learn how to read."  I think that was a defining moment in my life.

The total number of books that I read in grade school can be counted on my hands.  Reading is still not my most favorite pass time.  I will say that I have read more now that I ever have before.  I am proud to say that I read the whole Hunger Games trilogy.  It may be a small task for some (my wife) but it was a big one for me.

I actually do like to read, the subject matter is just a little different.  I LOVE to read in foreign languages.  I will read grammar books, text books, and even shampoo bottles.  I have the Bible in 4 languages and will read any one of them on any given day.  I think I read better in other languages because I have to focus to understand.  I retain more when I read in another language.

My efforts to read to my child are focused on putting her in a better state than I am in now.  I want her to love reading so that she can be as smart as she is fully capable of being.  I also want to implement this in my teaching.  I want my students to be able to read in a foreign language and to comprehend it.  This includes reading out loud, something that I was never really taught how to do in French.