I kind of do this all the time
Professional Organizations!
These are some of the professional organizations that I have found. I feel the one that would be most beneficial to me is LEA. It is a local group, and I hope to be teaching for LPS. It was also fun to find out that I know some of the Board of Directors. First is Jenni Absalon, she used to teach at my elementary school and she is the President. Next is Linda Freye who is the At-Large Rep. She was my favorite teacher who taught me in Kindergarten. Next comes Marge Keep, she is the Senior High Rep, who was my culinary skills teacher in High School.
National
NAEYC http://www.naeyc.org/
Student discount? Yes, $40, regular is $50
When is conference? November 7-10 in Atlanta
How much is it? “rates will be available soon!”
What publications do they print? “extensive line of books, videos, brochures, and posters.”
What resources do they have? Law advice, ways to help in your future.
Regional
NSEA http://www.nsea.org/
Student discount? Not sure, you have to call a number to figure out pricing, it says it varies for each person.
When is its conference? Their site is hard to navigate, says it comes in news letters.
How much is it? n/a
What publications do they print? No signs of their publication. Has a Link for “hot topics” which include parent related links, news: hot topics, Politics: hot links, Members: Hot Links.
What resources do they have? Different bylaws to help protect teachers
Local
LEA http://www.lincolneducationassociation.org/
Student discount? Only for the professionals.
When is its conference? n/a
How much is it? n/a
What publications do they print? Books, “Harvest of Books”
What resources do they have? Liabilities, Relations with LPS
What I Learned…Tech Edge 2012
There are so many things that were going through my head when I saw that we were going to the Tech Edge conference. I just thought it was fun that I got to see my mom present for the first time! I went to the keynote, all three presenters, and the closing session.
The first session I attended was on SMART boards. It was very interesting to learn about, but I feel like as being so early in my career that it would be hard to retain the information, but also there will be so much more technology with SMART boards, that most of the process will probably be irrelevant. I really did enjoy seeing that he was just a teacher, he even said he had no idea how he got the spot to present. Which reassured me that anyone is able to succeed.
The second session I attended was my mom’s livebinders. I have to admit I was more distracted during the presentation because my dad kept texting me asking how she was doing. It was also hard I was looking more at what she was doing with her hand to comment later when she asked how her body movement was. I feel like as of now I would probably not use livebinders. But as I develop my future curriculum I see where it could come in handy.
The last session I went to was Web 2.0. I think this was one of my favorite sessions. It was something that I could use during my student career and teaching career. It would help out in so many ways. From showing us Glogster, Voki, Wordle, and talking QR codes. It was very interesting and I just wanted to hear him keep talking about different sites that I can use now and in my future! It was a great experience being being in his seminar.
I am so glad that I had the experience to go to my first Tech Conference!
Starting a new lesson? Have to look at a lot of boring documents? Copy and paste the document into Wordle and it will find the main points of your document to seek out what to look for!
A great way to teach elementary students about Math and Language arts. All in a fun way the kids may not even know that they are learning!
Putting QR Codes on the back of books to let your students what the book is about in a scentence or so
The Digital Divide!
In plain and simple terms the Digital Divide is a gap that appears when some people/students have access to the internet and the others who do not.
There are many things that teachers are able to do, to decrease the the divide. There are many times where there are computer labs in the library or around the school. Set up a time and make sure that everyone will have a sufficient amount of time to work on the assignment given. It is also important to let your students explore themselves, create a time where they are able to explore, nothing would be “wrong” but through this experience everyone would get the flow and be able to next time be confident with their computer skills, especially when you are only in elementary school.
For the future of the Digital Divide, especially in elementary school, I think the divide will see a drastic shift that there will not be as big as a gap. It is apparent that technology and computers are not going away any time soon. And kids now are growing up where everything is technology. Everything is on a blu-ray disc, not just a regular DVD, will they even know what a VHS tape is? So even if the family does not have money for their own computer, there will be one around that the child can explore on which will make it so there is not as much of a divide.
