Tech Savvy

The Facts:

• 73% of college students in a recent study said they cannot study without technology
• 70% of students use keyboards to take notes instead of paper
• 38% said they could not go 10 minutes without checking their email, laptop, or smartphone.
• 91% use email to communicate with professors and teachers
• 65% use digital devices to create presentations
• Students spent $13 Billion on electronics in 2009
• Digital textbooks cost approximately 40% less than printed textbooks

As we look over these stats, we can get a feel for the future of our classrooms. I think these advancements are exciting and open new doors to help us achieve more and get more efficient in our classrooms.

I love technology! I am not the most savvy person on the planet, but I can admit my life changed when I got my iphone, and it is rare to find me without my ipod...still holdin' out on the macbook though, I'm currently a PC girl :) Whether my future students are computer wizards, or more recreational-technology-users like me, I can't wait to incorporate technology into my classroom.

I want to assign online homework, a forum for questions and discussion, a blog where students can go for supplementary resources, or fun articles that will foster curiosity and enthusiasm for the subject. When doing online quizzes, I will most likely design them to be informal, formative, or affective assessments, and make sure to word questions in ways that will require student thinking and not just a quick google search.

I think some other exciting possibilities for the digital generation is to collaborate or compete with other Psychology teachers and students in the surrounding area or even across the world. How fun would it be to have learning activities and games online and be able to compare your scores with students all over the world? How exciting to hear perspectives and opinions from a wide variety or people and cultures. These kinds of possibilities are revolutionary and I'm excited to try and utilize these awesome opportunities.

ps. guys, check out this website: http://www.scoop.it/t/ischoolleader, 100 different apps for 'tech savvy' teachers :)

A Writer....?

I was hesitant to ever start a blog. The whole idea of having a blog begs the idea that I actually believe my own thoughts and writing are good enough to publish to the whole world wide web. I know they aren't.
But that's what is great about blogs, it lets amateurs like me on center stage, and even though my writing is not spectacular, I'm still happy to have a voice and pretend it matters to people.

For some people, writing just comes naturally, it flows from their pen (or fingertips) and it is entertaining and easy to read, and it effectively communicates exactly what they intended. The greatest compliment I've ever received about my own writing is,

 "Christy, I love to read what you write....you write JUST like you talk!" 

Looking back on it, I'm not even sure it was a compliment?  However, that is how I like to write best, I like writing when it is recreational and informal and just expressive in nature. Taking the time to sit down and organize my thoughts is extremely beneficial for me, it helps me anchor down and really examine some of the thoughts swirling around inside my head. I once heard a quote that said something to the effect that a man never really understands something until he's able to articulate it. I believe that's true.

Writing forces us to slow down and really explore information. It's taking these previously unknowable concepts off the shelf and really handling them and practicing with them and getting more comfortable and acquainted with them. Everyone needs to write, because everyone needs that chance to think. In my classroom I hope to give students ample opportunities to articulate whatever it is that's inside their heads.

I will do my best to make it interactive by utilizing technology and giving them a chance to receive feedback from their peers. I will make it informal and more about having a conversation than receiving a grade. I will make sure there is variation in my writing assignments and do my best to push kids outside their comfort zones with more and more practice until they begin to perceive themselves as something more than just  'amateur writers.'

Introducing....Ms. Brian

Hello All,

My name is Christy Brian. I'm a twenty-something year old kid, going to school and wandering my way into adulthood at Utah State University. I love being a student. I love being an Aggie.
I am double majoring in Psychology Teaching and School Health.
In my spare time I enjoy playing and coaching soccer, learning the guitar, and hanging out with the residents at Williamsburg Retirement home.

I can't wait to be a teacher. I can't remember a time when I didn't know that's what I wanted to do with my life. I am passionate about learning and growing and becoming. I like Psychology and Health because of their focus on human behavior. I love to learn content that will immediately improve my life as I understand and apply it. The study of the mind and body is applicable to everyone at such an intimate, individual level--that's exciting to me, and I think that is exciting for students as well. Maybe I'm a dreamer--but someday I would really like to teach students who are excited about what we are learning together.

Literacy in the fields of Psychology and Health means being able to take the information and apply it to your immediate experience. It is not merely understanding but doing. What good is information is we don't do anything with it? Can we really call ourselves literate? T.S. Eliot once asked, "Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?" There is a LOT to be learned out there and literate students know how to be selective and find choice bits of information that they can really use to  better themselves and their lives.

Someday, as an educator I hope  to play a small part in bettering the lives of individuals.