Bio in Math and Technology:
In elementary school and my freshman year in High School I was a great math student. I always earned A's in my classes and had no trouble with any of the content. However, my sophomore year, much like everyone else, I had geometry, and everything changed for me. I almost failed the class, I had no idea what was going on and what I was suppose to be doing. If it weren't for my life long friend, Leslie, I would still be sitting in that class trying desperatly to pass. This bump in the road caused a chain of events that would follow me until I graduated from Community College in Wichita, KS. My college entrance exams showed that I needed to start at a basic algebra level and work my way up to the required math courses. Even though I was a great student in all my algebra classes I had to start again at the beginning, having had my confidence shaken by a poor performance in my high school geometry class. Looking back I realize that this is what happens when one REALLY bad teacher enters the picture. I have since, obviously, overcome all this. However, my experience all those years ago is what led me to choose Math as my concentration during my graduate studies.
My technology expereince is not vast, but it is not limited either. I never considered myself a "gadget" person until my husband got me the HTC Sprint EVO phone for Christmas. I seriously love that thing and wonder how life went on without it. I am curious to see what life will be like once I am back in the classroom. I have never used a smartboard or an ELMO. All of these things weren't around when I was in the classroom from 2003-2006. There are other programs out there that I will need to learn as well. Grade programs, report card programs, etc. have all been updated or changed since I left.
In my teaching absence I have since had two daughters. They both love to play computer games and I am slowly learning how to decipher which ones are truly helpful and which ones are just junk. The most important aspect of my daughters playing on the computer is that I see how almost naturally savvy children are with technology. This often makes me daydream about what it would be like to have a classroom full of tech savvy 4th graders with ample supplies to support them!
This semester I am really interested in learning from my classmates what technologies are out there and how to intergrate it into every aspect of my classroom. I feel very strongly about children knowing about computers and thier function in life, so that means I need to learn more as well. I just plan to soak up everything I can and to investigate every question I have to the fullest. I cannot learn enough from this class and I am excited to see what the semester holds.
