Thing 1 & Thing 2

I am participating in 23 Things because I would like to integrate more technology into my teaching. I've always considered myself fairly tech savvy, but I realize that I have a lot to learn. My district is heading in the direction where every high school student will have a laptop in several years, and I would like to be able to use those laptops and the technology available with them effectively. I took a "mini course" at the end of the school year to get a Moodle account with our ISD. While taking the course, I realized that there were all kinds of things out there that I had heard about (wikis, twitter, delicious, rss, etc...), but didn't really know what they were...not to mention how to use them. So, I am hoping to learn that this summer with 23 Things.

It makes me a little nervous to be publishing things on the Internet--especially writing. I've had several different "websites" for my classes in the past. One was an "open" website (hosted by my school), but mostly just had good links for students and copies of course documents in case they found themselves at home without their binder. The other site I had was a Blackboard site which I liked better since students needed a password to access. I knew then that only my students could access the site. "Open" blogging makes me a little more nervous. Some of that nervousness may come from imagining that I have a blog for my class, running out of time to post regularly, and having students and parents who are upset about my lack of posting. But I think that once I got into a routine about when and what to post, I could manage it.

Not only am I excited to learn some of these technologies for my teaching, I'm also looking forward to being able to use some of these in the upcoming year. My in-laws live several hours away, and my parents will be out of the country for the fall semester. So I think that some of these technologies may be helpful for keeping them informed of the exciting things that their little grandchildren are doing :)