College Visits

I was listening to the radio on the way home from campus today and heard that less and less high school students are visiting colleges across the country. Researchers say this is due to the higher oil prices and the expenses of traveling. To get students to check out campuses, some schools are doing video interviews and tours of schools through the use of cameras. I thought this was really cool, especially for people who are tight on money. When I really got to thinking about it though, it really takes away the personal aspects of it. I know I came here because of how it felt to be on campus, this feeling is completely lost when tours are done online. 

More from FLA

One of the fathers on our team (Kali's dad) loves taking pictures of us when we are playing. He must take about 500 pictures a game, no joke. The pictures are posted to one of our team websites within days of the games being played. What is so cool about it, is that parents who are unable to travel get to check out the pictures and see their children without even being there. It is so awesome. These pictures also help us see how our mechanics are with our swings or with our fielding. I have noticed a few things that I need to change with my swing just from looking at these pictures. Digital cameras have become more and more useful through time and are definitely a positive advancement in technology. In the mean time, thanks for keeping your eye on us Ed, we appreciate your support!! (9 game winning streak and keepin' it going!!)

Technology on Trips

This past week we have been traveling all over the state of Florida. Without our GPS navigator, we probably would have never made it to any of our games. It has always got us to our locations, thankkkk god. Anyway, Kali probably already mentioned it, because she said she would, but in any case, the GPS took us in some crazy direction and took us on a dirt road. It may have gotten us to our destination, but this proves that there can be glitches in technology. Another thing I would like to point out is that wireless internet is a lifesaver. Without it, I would not be able to send this post. As a side note, we are currently on a seven game winning streak, so thats good! We watched the baseball team play down here today and there is a thing on our athletics website that allows us to see the game happen on our computers from home. This is ideal for parents who live too far away or can not travel to see their children play. Definitely a good thing to have.

Keeping in Touch from Afar...

This weekend, our softball team is away in South Carolina. Today we played two games and won them both...it was awesome!! We beat W. Carolina University in our first game, and then played Virginia Tech, for the second time this season. They got us the first time, but we came back ready to win. The game was scoreless through the seventh we went into extra innings. They scored, we score. In the top of the 9th, we were able to get out of the inning without giving up a run. Then in the bottom of the ninth with bases loaded, one of our girls lined a shot out to the third baseman who then tagged third base, leaving us with two outs with runners at first and second. Miss Alexis Souhlaris stepped up to the plate. Next thing we know, she smacks a three run, walk-off homerun giving us a 4-1 win. I did not know how else to react, I had tears in my eyes. To tie this to technology, we have 3 girls at home who are hurt or sick and they would have no connection to us without it. We use our computers and cell phones to keep quick contact with our other teammates.

Technology...

As we write more of these posts, I am actually finding it harder to keep trying to relate technology to my field of teaching. I guess it would help out in many ways, but none that I would need to keep up with like a high school teacher would. The preschoolers I work with for my Childhood Practicum class right now rarely use any form of technology, they do everything by hand and learn through play. Im sure I could use technology to keep track of attendance and observations, but that is nothing I don't already know how to do. In response to the comment left on my last post, isn't that class awesome? I totally agree with the story time and the almost magical feeling you are left with when you actually grasp the attention of all those children.

Hmmm...

This is the third blog on here and I actually forgot about it until now, so my apologies. Ed had posted on the last blog saying how much responsibility is involved in taking care of all those young children. I completely agree, but I love having a lot of responsibility. I got a cat recently just because I wanted more to take care of. I really really enjoy working with the children during my lab for childhood practicum, it is so much fun to watch them interact and play with each other. I don't really know what kind of computer education is needed for a preschool class, but I know it is a good tool to have.

Second Post

I think that it is very very important for teachers to be constantly learning about new technology so they always have a firm grasp on what to do. I feel like the younger generation is capable of learning about it faster than we are, and that goes for all generations. I know I am better with technologies than my mother is, and she is better at it than my grandmother. In our EDT 400 forums, we talked about this. People decided that teachers should have to go to mandatory classes to stay on top of the new technologies. I think this will be one of the hardest parts of teaching. That and the observation of the students.

I am going to be working with young children, K-3 graders and observation is the key to building good relationships. Jordan will agree, we learned it in our childhood practicum class this morning. I feel like that will seem very overwhelming to me at first, but when you think about it, all you have to do is observe and reflect. You can learn a lot about a child by just watching them and even interacting with them. You must always be excited to see them, it shows them that people care about them. I feel like this might be hard to do for me, especially if I happen to be in a bad mood that day, but I think I will be able to put my feelings aside for the education and care of my students. Another thing that really seems interesting to me now is that you never know what people are going through, or what happens in their home life. Some children have strong trust issues, and its the teachers job to overcome that, you might be the only stable person in their life at the current time. I am very excited to make an impact on children's lives and I hope to be a teacher they remember positively.

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