The presentation by George Couros was fantastic.  It was such a great reminder about how important our digital identity is and how it can both help and harm us in our professional lives.  Our society now looks to digital formats when thinking about how to hire and how that person may fit into their program or building.  It is important as teachers that we start to think about what our digital identity looks like now before we start to look for jobs.  It was a great reminder of the balance and how digital identities are formed :)

Thanks George Couros!

When I googled my name there were many different things that came up.

I had the standard Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.  I also have my tutoring profile.  There are other things that pop up like my involvement with the Briercrest college women's volleyball team and the stats that are linked to that team.  Other things that I found were a couple pictures, YouTube videos that I have uploaded and my Teachers Pay Teachers account.  When I got to the second page I found links to my blog and other things that I am mentioned in.  It was interesting to see what popped up.  I was happy to see that things such as my blog, tutoring profile and different profiles were at the top of the pages.  Some things that I would like to see in the future are links that are for my classroom or what I am doing in the field of education. 

My new About Me page!

My new Vizify page!

For this post I explored what it meant to actually share my posts.  In the past I have not actually shared my posts because I felt like I didn't need or want to but in order to attract more readers you actually need to share!

For this post I have linked it to my twitter account and for the rest of the semester my challenge is to share all of my posts on twitter!

Yay for sharing!
Carlee

Even since I started elementary school in 1995 things have changed so much.  When I started school we didn't have computers in our classrooms, there was a scheduled time once a week where we were able to go to the computer lab.  Our assignments were to be hand written instead of typed.  There was an emphasis on exploring our world and going being okay with being uncomfortable with what we were learning.  We had spelling tests weekly and when we did not have spelling tests it was a week off.  We went to music, gym and library class which were some of my favorite subjects.  By the time I hit high school (2005) school had already changed so much.  Teachers were using computers, powerpoints, and different types of multimedia in order to present the information to us.  The thing I remember most about my grade school experience was that the teachers cared.  They were excited to have us in their classrooms and they let us learn in a way that is most suited to us.

One thing that I would want to change about schooling is allowing students to learn in a way that is best suited for them.  Some students learn best by using a computer or iPad, looking up words as the class is going on or typing up their essays.  There are other students who would rather write out assignment or cannot pay attention when they have devices in front of them so they need another way of taking down notes or information so that they get the most out of it.  There are so many different ways that students can learn, it is not just about a blackboard and paper any more.  There are many different devices, programs and sites that can HELP students learn.  Many teachers believe that technology is going to ruin the classroom.  I can see where they come from.  Bringing technology into the classroom is a difficult thing for me because I have grown up in a era that did not have this in the classroom.  I think although technology plays a crucial role in the classroom.  There are so many different things that you can do in the classroom because of technology and it is necessary to allow students and yourself to explore those options.

I want to be a teacher that provides the best possible learning space for my students as they are the reason why I am going to be a teacher.  It may be a space where technology is really present for many student but it may be a space where there is other sources of things for students to learn from.  There are so many different sites, programs, apps and information due to technology that it is necessary to have it in your classroom.  It is the world we are living in now and sometimes you just have to jump on the train and learn how it can make you a better teacher and how it can help students learn more effectively. 

Books books and more books! I love books, I love reading them for classes, for pleasure and I am so excited to have my own classroom library one day! The Google component or tool that I am going to be exploring is Google books.  I knew that you could look for books through the search engine.  Mostly I used it for finding a author name or for different things like that when I need it for a bibliography.  BUT there are so many other things that you can do with it that I never knew about.  For one things there are FREE e-books. Yahoo! I don't know if any of them are good but I am sure that there are a couple that are okay.  I think that I would use this tool to books for books that I may want to read or for getting resources for papers or if I need for information for another reasons. 

Another feature that I would love to use in my classroom is the library aspect of Google books.  I don't know how to work it all yet but I think it would be so cool to build up a library and have the students be able to see the different books that they are able to check out or read when they are in the classroom.  I think that it could also be a way of keeping track of the books that I have in the classroom and even potentially which ones the students have out.  I have seen different sites where the students can check out different books and you can see which students have which books out.  I would like to use Google books because it would be convenient and because I would be able to keep track of everything on one account. 

Yay for Google!
Carlee

When I was in elementary school teachers sent home notes and papers through an agenda if they needed to contact a parent.  If the teacher REALLY needed to get a hold of the parent they would call.  Now it seems that everything is done through technology.  Parents are expected to check the teacher's website or blog in order to learn about what the students are doing in school, what homework they have or notes that need to be communicated with the parents.  Parents get emails, texts or phone calls about upcoming events and what the child needs to have in order to be successful in the classroom. 

I want to be a teacher who communicates through all types of media but still have an agenda as a important part of our daily routine.  I want to be able to incorporate technology with old school.  I don't really know how I would do that.  I realize that it is not necessary to be sending notes home every week or day when it is possible to update a website and have all the students and parents able to access it.  The things that I am concerned about is that not all parents and students are going to have access to the technology that most of us are used to today.  There may be students who do not have access to a computer or internet on a daily or weekly basis.  What happens then? We don't want a student or two to be left out because they are not able to gain access to the technology.  How do you balance the two? Wanting to be in a technological advanced world while still trying to include everyone. 

My hope is I am able to have a blog or a class website so that parents can follow along with what we are doing as a class and what is coming up in the classroom.  I want to be able to provide the students and parents who wish to have updates sent to them through email the ability to do so.  If there are parents who would rather have updates through paper I would like to provide that option as well.  This is my greatest wish that there can be a balance between the two so that all my students are able to access the information that they need to be successful in the classroom. 

Does anyone else have any other ideas on how to incorporate a blog or a website effectively while still including all students and parents including those who do not have access to internet or a computer?

My name is Carlee Quiring and I am originally from Winnipeg, MB but moved to Saskatchewan in 2008 to go to Briercrest College to play volleyball.  Last April I graduated from Briercrest with my bachelor of arts in humanities and now I am going into my third year of Education! In 2011 I got married to a wonderful guy and we currently live in Caronport with our 6 month old puppy :)
   
Some things I really enjoy doing are being outside, being active, scrapbooking, knitting and anything volleyball.  My favorite subjects in school are English and History which is what I majored in throughout my arts degree.

I am really nervous about this course because I am not really good with technology but I am really looking forward to learning more about what is out there and how it can be used in the classroom!

Have a wonderful day!
Carlee