Technology Autobiography

Middle School is the beginning of my technology journey. At my school, we had a computer lab with thirty computers (not stoneaged typewriters that the Hayes household owned) and after handwriting class in the second, third, and fourth grades, we transitioned into an hour long computer class. In the computer lab, we learned typing though tutorials, such as Mavis Beacon. We played interactive games that contributed to instruction, such as the Oregon Trail. And, we took book tests on the computers through the Accelerated Reader program. When the Hayes household FINALLY bought a computer, I remember exploring the Internet to research interesting, historical places, such as the Vatican, Pyramids of Giza, Canterbury Cathedral, etc. As an avid lover of traveling, the Internet brought far away places close and alive for me! Not only did I use the Internet to research far away lands, but I, like millions of teens, became obsessed with "You've Got Mail", chat rooms, and instant messaging to communicate with friends and family.
In high school, I was required to take one computer class to graduate. During this introductory course, I learned the basics of Windows and the Microsoft Corporation. We designed powerpoint presentations, formulated graphs and tables that coordinated to math and science problems, and created pamplets and brochures.
In college, I had limited use of technology beyond Microsoft Word because I was an English major- reading and writing formed the basis of all instruction. But, two courses in the English department at the University of Kentucky attempted to incorporate student use of technology. In my Shakespeare course, I used the online Oxford English Dictionary to look up meanings of words from different periods thoughout history and locate the emergeance and origin of words. In my British Literature course, Doctor Rosenmann required students to blog responses to various readings on Blackboard and comment on other students responses. In my 5th and 6th grade Language Arts classes next year, I hope to have students blog homework assignments and respond to other students responses in order to create an authentic classroom community as Doctor Rosenmann did in her college course.
During student teaching, I acquanited myself with a variety of technologies I had never experienced before into everyday instruction: SmartBoard, document camera, PowerPoint, overhead, and the microphone. One area of technology I would like to acquaint myself more with is the use of webquests and interactive games during classroom instruction. I have learned during student teaching that technology makes classroom instruction and learning more meaningful for students as it appeals to a variety of learning types and intelligences.
I believe every class should have one computer for teacher use, one computer for projection use, and at least 3-4 computers for student use, but a classroom set of student computers would be most beneficial. As a language arts teacher, I rely on students being able to use computers weekly, if not daily, to compose various forms of writings. Computers are absolutely invaluable.
I have learned many new technologies that I can easily incorporate in weekly and daily lesson planning. Of all the technologies I have been introduced to, I plan on immediately including blogging and wikis in my classroom. I also want to start bookmarking favorite sites on Diigo. I enjoyed MovieMaker, but need more practice with it before incorporating it into my classroom. MovieMaker is such a time intensive project that it would be nice to collaborate with another content to create movies across disciplines. Flickr is easy to use and I will definitly include this sometime throughout instruction in my 6th grade class next year.
And the technology journey continues..... making learning real and fun.