Thing 2

Humming to Madonna's "material world"...We live in a technical world...and I am a te-technical girl.  
I remember when the internet first became big. I remember when “windows” was something plural for a glass enclosed hole in the wall. I remember having to enter dos “codes” in my one semester computer class. My class was the first to have this class required. Most students know more about technology than I ever will. That does not mean that I do not enjoy the heck out of technology!  However, How do I incorporate something that seems to take me 100 times longer to learn than students in my class? I make them do it, of course!  I make it a game...the first person to "get it" (understand it) before Ms. Harris gets a prize.  LOL  It is great fun.   I am getting better but it sometimes seems to be a slow process. I am taking classes to become more familiar with fun new technology products we have been given and asking students to explain something that is unfamiliar to me. I am humming the tune of “I will survive” by Gloria Gaynor. :) When I went to college for the first time in 1991 we did not even HAVE internet and it was windows 3.1 on every brand new computer in the lab (as in one lab of 30 computers for the entire school). When I went back in 2002 it was so different! There was a computer lab in every single building! In the library you could “check out” a book from the internet, put it on this new thing called a “flash drive” and it would stay there for three weeks. The internet did not eliminate the need for books…just reduced the need for waste.  It was even better when I purchased my first laptop.  I could buy some of my books on cd's and not even have to lug around the book.  Technology seems to be created at an even faster pace than ever before!  Ten years ago I carried a cell phone for emergencies only.  Now I feel it is an emergency if I can't find my phone for 20 minutes.  Information is so readily available!  IT IS FABULOUS!!!  Forget about outdated books...look online for up-to-date information.  Need information for a lesson tomorrow?  No need to go to the library...just turn on the computer and information is at your fingertips.  I always laugh at the "bing" commercials that refer to the "bogged down" search engines filled with a smorgasbord of information that you do not need because some of the most interesting information I have found is found by stumbling on it on the web.  I do not think that the world wide web is better for teachers or students in today's world...it is just different.  There are good and bad points that could be made for both.  I do enjoy it though.  It makes (in my humble opinion) my job better.  NOT easier...but different.