Hello ICT!!!

From the time I received my schedule this summer I was so excited for my ICT course.  My familiarity with technology is very limited and I am so excited to learn about ways that I can incorporate technology into my classroom.

When my professors started talking to my class about our upcoming assignments, blogging caught my attention.  I had heard of blogging but never thought it was something for me.  As the week passed I could not get the idea of blogging out of my head.  I realized that blogging was the perfect way for me to keep track of what I was learning in class and a good way to go back and reflect on the material.  I find when I'm in classes I always have so many ideas going through my head and wish that there was a way to keep track of them.  All of this lead me to the decision to start my own blog.  I have begun my journey into the world of ICT.

This week was an introduction to the course and my professors.  My professors talked a lot about the importance of curation.  Making course material readily available to so important in this new age of technology.  As a current student I find it very beneficial to have access to course material and assignments online.  I believe this is something that I would want to incorporate into my classroom.  Students are constantly losing assignments.  If assignments are posted online all students have to do is print out another copy.

My professors also talked about Social Media and how it can be beneficial to ones classroom.  One site I personally love is Pinterest.  Pinterest, for those who are unfamiliar with the site, has everything from fashion to recipes to workouts to crafts to teaching ideas.  I have two boards for educational purposes: 1. Crafts for Teaching and 2. Teaching Tools.  Of the two boards Teaching Tools is my favourite.  This board has ideas for how to stay organized, motivational quotes I would like to hang-up in my classroom, ways to teach spelling patterns, activities for sight words, books lists, and more.  Pinterest is a great resource for teachers.

One site I am looking forward to learning more about is YouTube.  I know that not all school divisions allow teachers access to YouTube but I believe that it can be a very useful resource.  I learned that you can make your own page for YouTube where you can save videos you like.  What was really cool about this was when you save videos it allows you easy access to other videos by the same person who posted that video.  

I invite you to join me on my journey into the world of ICT.  I will keep you informed about everything I learn and how I want to incorporate what I have learned into my classroom. 

~ Miss Laing