Blog Post #14

I must say that Mr. Picardo's blog is one that I will have bookmarked for my entire teaching career. The title, "Box of Tricks" is really very fitting. His entire blog, besides being filled with stimulating posts, is loaded with different tools that are easily available to educators. The resources provided (not only in the list given to us)are mostly compatible with Mac and PCs and come with a brief description of the tool. This description was very helpful to me because I have a painfully slow computer so it was convenient for me to read which ones I wanted to take the time to open. It is a true talent the way Mr. Picardo has made using technology in the classroom seem like such a breeze. He comments in one of his posts that gaining support is one of the most difficult tasks. I can imagine that is the real struggle in integrating technology into education. I was so impressed with his long list of resources that I e-mailed them to my mother (who I am desperately trying to talk into using more technology in her last three years of teaching), her teacher friends, as well as classmates of mine, and education graduates.
I love the way Mr. Picardo has broken down his "Top 10 tips for using Teachnology in the classroom." Once this daunting task is divided into 10 ideas, it becomes a lot less overwhelming. This video would be very helpful to those trying to incorporate technology more effectively into their curriculum. Each step can be researched if the educator needs to know editing software to start using streaming video, for example. A list of internet resources is found on Mr. Picardo's blog if a teacher is looking to adopt tip 9 into their lesson plans (using internet tools). All of his tips seems like no brainers to the EDM310 students. We all know that video is effective in motivating students vs. lecture, and we are also aware that students, teachers, parents, and administrators greatly benefit from sharing their ideas all over the world and receiving feedback. However, we don't know all there is to know about any of these tips, so let's use this video as an inspiration to FIND OUT! For example, my husband and I are huge music enthusiasts. I would love to learn the many different ways to effectively integrate music into my curriculum. I know that some children take a very strong interest in music as well, and perhaps using that concept in teaching would enhance their comprehension, as well as inspire them to want to learn. Mr. Picardo intends for this video to be a starting point for teachers so that they will expand their knowledge of the various ways technology can be useful to their students. I believe he also wants each educator to figure out what using technology in the classroom means to them. He is giving us several intriguing tools that he hopes will spark our interest. However, we cannot let him do all the work for us!