Future Plans of a Rural Educator With Big Ideas

I want to teach close to where I grew up, in a very rural part of South Alabama.I would like to be close to my hometown of Jackson. I want to teach literature, grammar, and creative writing. I want to utilize the things I learn from this class and others to help me make learning fun for my students. If I can't teach in or around Jackson, I would like to try another school system within a 200 mile radius. I think that staying close to home and raising my son near or where I grew up will help him appreciate small town life and a small school system. But, I do not want to sacrifice the technology and and innovations in learning that a larger school system could offer. I want to advocate for small schools and rural areas. I want to do my part to make sure I utilize every advancement and opportunity I can to benefit the lives of the children I teach, as well as my own child.

Making English Interesting While Using Technology

If you ask most students about English, most will probably tell you it is a boring subject.I want to make learning as fun and interesting as possible. According to most middle and high school kids, English is a very boring subject. I want to use technology to make the brunt of this seemingly tedious work seem interesting. I want each student to have an email address that can be shared with the rest of the class and myself. I want each student to keep an electronic journal that must have a message posted to either an individual student blog, or a class blog. I want be able to get in-class work to students that are absent via email or blog. Every one of my students must be on board and ready to learn using technology.

iGoogle Will Help Me Communicate With My Students

IGoogle is my favorite new technology tool. It offers a little bit of everything. It allows the user to download different themes to make their page their own. When you sign up for an iGoogle page, you have access to gmail, the weather, games, quotes of the day, google talk, and many other "gadgets" available from Google. I would insist my students have an iGoogle page because it gives the students the ability to communicate with me as well as other classmates in a safe and secure environment. IGoogle also allows the user to set links to different web sites or blogs. I would utilize this feature and link my students' igoogle page with a class blog. I just love technology!! You can sign up now for your very own igoogle page anytime at no cost. Just visit Google.com and type in igoogle and it will prompt you to set up an account.

Pod Casts Help Students Learn

Pod Casts are a new creature to me. I had absolutely no experience with pod casts until Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. It was fun and interesting to complete my very first pod cast with the help of classmates Daniel and Amanda. We discussed "The Last Lecture of Randy Pausche which you can watch right now on uTube. It was a great experience, even though I was apprehensive and nervous in the beginning. Daniel, Amanda, and I made it fun while we were having a good time. I want my students to be able to feel that same excitement after they complete a pod cast.

Using Blogs In the Classroom

Using blogs in a classroom setting will be a step a a positive direction. Not only will it enhance the technological capabilities of my students, it will enhance their use of grammar and spelling. I would like to have a classroom blog in my classroom. I want each class to have a blog that students rotate making posts to the class blog. I would also want my students to make presentations and post them to the class blog. Blogs are a great way for a teacher and students to keep abreast of what is going on in class, assignments, missed classes, and so on. You can create your own blog whenever you like. Simply click onblog and it will take you to a website designed to help set up blogs. What an innovative way to interact with your students!