Photoshop!!

So, I just learned how to use photoshop. I love some of the awesome features that I learned. And it has already come in handy. I have this one wedding picture where I have some flaky skin on my nose. Photoshop fixed it and my nose looks perfect. :) True, photoshop could completely alter reality sometimes, but that can be beneficial, also!!

I would like using something like photoshop in my future classroom so that the kids could create cool collages of a class field trip, or make pictures of a book they've read, or perhaps make a journal/book about their year in school. Photoshop could help them enjoy doing these projects and give them lots of options to enhance their creativity.

I have always been interested in photography. Now I have more reasons to go out and take pictures. It makes me excited that I can alter and perfect different images. I'm ready to play around with it some more!

web pages

Wow. I learned how to make web pages by exporting something in 'Inspiration' to the web. You can see it here. It is pretty fascinating and amazing to learn all these things about how computers work. I like feeling a little more educated about technology. I might be able to use this technology in my future classroom if I was having kids do a book report....they could make a diagram of the main ideas of the book. Or they could brainstorm for a creative writing project, etc. Cool things to know!!

Blogs!!!

I am a big fan of blogs. I have not been using them for very long, but now that I have learned more about them I think that it is a great way to communicate with other people. I have been able to find a bunch of people in my family and in my ward and old college friends who have blogs as well and it is very fun to see updates on their lives. I think it will also be a fantastic way to keep the parents involved in what's going on in my classroom. I won't always want to send an e-mail out to every parent to tell them about the week, but if I publish a blog post, they'll be able to see what's happening.
I also like the feature to be able to comment on someones post. My family has been in a lot more contact with each other ever since we decided blogging. And if each of the parents in the classroom have access to my blog, they'll be able to comment with questions, concerns, ideas, suggestions, or just to say it was a great week their kid enjoyed it!
Having a classroom blog could also act as a journal area for me. I will be able to update on things we are doing in my classroom and I can look back to see what worked and what didn't. If I teach the same grade (or even different grades) I will be able to keep tabs on what was successful, and what I could work on more. It is not only for getting information out to the parents, but it can be useful for me as well!
I will definitely keep using blogs and keep figuring out new things (about blogs and other technologies) that I can do to make my communication with anyone more successful!!

Technology Yesterday and Today!

Technology is changing on a daily basis. Things today aren't what they were last year, or even last week in some cases. As technology advances, it is always entertaining for me to watch my grandparents try to grasp what is happening. My grandma lived back in the time when people made their own clothing and cooked from scratch. Modern life has become overly quickened and simplified. As far as my grandparents go, it is often hard to 'teach an old dog new tricks', but at the same time, they have benefited from the advances in technology as well.
I am only 20 years old, but even in my lifetime I have noticed so many things burst forth in front of my face. I feel like I am already falling behind. Just three days ago I had to ask my husband how to use my flash drive. Teenagers, pre-teen, and even elementary kids can do more than I can when it comes to computers. If I were to keep up with all this new and modern technology I would have no time to do anything else, but these kids are being brought up with it surrounding them day in and day out.
I wonder sometimes how I am going to be able to teach these elementary age students without using so much computer assistance. I realize that the reason they are so familiar with it is because they spend so much time in front of the computer when they are at home. I want to be able to give them a break from it when they are at school, but at the same time, that's what they are used to and feel comfortable with.
I'm torn between both sides. I think that technology is a great tool and can be used in so many positive and beneficial ways, but I also feel like it is being over used and is somewhat burdensome. I, myself, being a Junior in college, often hate how much of my homework is done through blackboard. I have to read a million articles posted to the library reserve site. I have to take quizzes and submit them on blackboard. I have to write papers and turn them in on the internet. Yes it saves paper and sometimes saves class time, but it gets to be too much. I'm sorry, but staring at a computer screen for 5 hours a night is not fun. I'd appreciate a real textbook every once in a while. Give me a quiz on paper. Let me hand write a paper every so often. I swear, technology is going to be the death of me someday. Staring at a computer screen can't be good for our eyesight, texting has caused arthritis, and the energy to run a computer could be saved by reading a book instead.
I don't know. It has always been a big pet peeve of mine. Let technology be used to benefit a learning environment, but in moderation. Old dogs can learn new tricks, so computers should be used to teach these kids who have grown up with them, but help them understand the benefits of 'old fashioned' learning as well!!
I'm sure there is a way to keep all generations happy. Lets learn from each other and stop worrying about it so much!

Welcome to my blog

Hello!! I just created a blog for my INST 4010 class. I will be posting various assignments for this class throughout the semester. Enjoy!