#ndedchat Pretty Cool!

I recently participated in an #ndedchat on Twitter and felt it was useful, a great resource, and also inspiring. It was nice to collaborate with educators across the state about our passions (the topic of the night). During this chat, I learned how to participate in a Twitter chat, I learned of a new chat I am interested in and plan to attend later, and shared/received ideas from educators. Originally, I thought the chat would drag on, but it actually went really fast and I enjoyed reading other peoples ideas. This is a great way to network and a great thing to be a part of if you need to be uplifted or inspired! I plan to attend again!

If All Else Fails, You Can Always Teach...

I have heard this so many times before, "Well if this job doesn't work out, I can always teach." Let me let you in on a little secret, if that's your attitude; the students, your future colleagues, and the profession doesn't want you!

Anyone who has every taught a day in their life understands the intensity and sometimes insanity of teaching. It truly takes a special kind of person to continue this profession as a career. It is not a back up plan if something else doesn't work out. It a career just like any other that should be taken seriously and given as much credit socially as a doctor.

Throughout the day a teacher must wear multiple hats to ensure their students are not only learning but feel safe, important, and wanted. As teachers, we do not choose our students. There is not an option to send them back or exchange them. Each time a student walks into my room, I am responsible for each of their success in my classroom. Now granted all teachers know that the students have to pull their weight too, but if a student doesn't want to do something, then the teacher is responsible for creating the motivation to complete the task.

There are so many misconceptions about teaching. And I admit, before ever teaching a day in my life I thought most of them were true. Change will happen in education when educators are making the decisions for the future of education. Not people who have a high status or who have money. They should not be making those decisions for our kids. They are the future, why would we not set them up with the very best?

So what does it mean to be a teacher? It means that we have been entrusted with every student sitting before us in our classroom to foster their learning, provide a safe and welcoming environment, be a mini cheerleader, and also be that person any student would feel comfortable confiding in. No student wants a back up plan teacher and no student deserves that.

Changing Your Mind About Twitter in the Classroom

Teacher A: "Twitter is only social media, it has no educational value."

Teacher B: "Why should we care about what everyone had to eat last night?"

Teacher C: "How will we control what students tweet?"

Twitter can be used for so much more than just a constant feed to find out what everyone ate last night or what concert they are at. Twitter can be a an educational tool for both students and teachers.

Twitters value has so many possibilities:

• Search hashtags on research topics
• Collaborate using the same hashtag to talk about different subjects
• Share links and resources using the same hashtag
• Communicate with peers or people who have the same interests
• Teachers can post reminders about assignments due
• Follow communities of interest
• Ask questions to a world wide audience
• Participate or facilitate a live tweet discussion session
• Engage parents by having them follow a class hashtag
• Teachers can use information for Professional Development
• Use Tweet Deck to organize and filter data

*Bonus: Students do not need a Twitter account to search twitter!
Twitter has education value and when filtered using Tweet Deck it will be obvious that students can use it as well as teachers for professional development.

Here are some #hashtags to get you started:
#educhat
#edchat
#mathchat
#engchat
#muscedchat
#sschat
#scichat
#elemchat
#kinderchat

FBLA Conference Map

FBLA Members:
This is a map to show where our hotel and where the rest of the conference is being held. Notice the mall is right in between the two hotels. There will be a shuttle going between our hotel and the Ramada.

The New Norm: Integrating Technology into the Classroom

When we integrate technology into teaching and learning we provide another way for our students to learn and understand material. We present so many more ways for students to learn and to interact with the world and other people. Our students are using technology daily in their personal lives and will more than likely use it in their work lives, so I believe we need to be using it in the classroom. That’s not to say that the technology we teach them they will be using that exact format or software but we are preparing our students to be digital learners and will be able to adapted and learn any new technology that is created. To not use technology in the classroom is not preparing our students for the real world. Education needs to stay with the times and be using technology in the classroom. The technology tools are there we just need to utilize them.

Cell phones in the classroom? Why not?

I do not mind students to have cell phones in class for high school students. The students are already carrying their cell phones on them and really have grown up with them. To most students it is an extension of their hand. With smart phones especially, there are a lot of functions that can be used for educational purposes. 

Like physical behavior there is a correct way to act and a wrong way to act. By allowing cell phones in the classroom it simply gives our students another resource to utilize, but we must teach them how to use them appropriately. When we teach our students how to use their cell phones appropriately, they will be able to use this knowledge at their future workplace. So we are not only teaching our students how to use their phones appropriately in school but teaching them what is appropriate in the workplace as well.