Digital Literacy

Fact one:  I cannot live without my cell phone.  I use it everyday.  I need it!  I use my cell for everything...checking email, facebook, texting. talking to my family, youtube videos, listening to music and playing games.  It is the only way I communicate with my dad and my sisters.  I am the person who will get out my phone to google some random thing.  I am always using some random app like IMDb or TMZ.  I would be lost without my phone.  I panic every time I lose it in my purse or when it tries to die.  It is like a mini heart attack.  You might hear me yell at the phone. Do not panic, but it is out of love. 
Fact two:  I love my computer.  I watch a movie on it every night.  It is the best way to fall asleep.  There is nothing like the soothing sounds of Zoolander, Lloyd Christmas or Tommy Boy to put me to sleep.  It is one of my favorite things.  I plan each day what movie I get to watch.  The second most important thing I use my computer for is MUSIC.  I love to turn the volume all the way up and jam.  It makes cleaning and other boring things way more fun.  I also use my computer for school stuff, but that is not as great as movie time.  I also use my computer to check my hotmail account because my phone will not let me check hotmail...lame. 
Fact three:  I loooooooooooooove the internet!  It has changed my life.  Oh the things it can do...facebook, shopping, music, reading.  The internet is my source for random facts.  I have a new love thanks to the internet...Kindle.  I can use my phone to read thousands of books right on  my phone that I purchased from Amazon.  I use it a couple times a week.  I think the internet is great because of facebook.  I can see what is going on in lives of my sisters, cousins, friends from high school and any other random person.  The internet has also caused a few addicts in my life.  Most recently pinterest.  I can look at pinterest for hours and not get bored.  I have to give myself a time limit so that I don't go crazy!
I think technology is important in the classroom and I fully embrace it.  There are so many possible ways to teach through technology.  When I am a teacher I want to have a class blog with a post from each day or week and links to assignments, study guides, texts and any other information from class.  I also want to use text quizzes.  I think they are so much fun and students will enjoy it.  There is so much information on the web and I want to use it while teaching.  I can find so many primary and secondary sources that I didn't have when I was in junior high or high school.  I also think it is important to have students use technology to interact with each other.  I may set up a classroom facebook page. 
I have made a very fancy chart that documents my digital technology use....be prepared to be impressed!  It is kind of a lame digital use week.  I went home and I don't use much technology when I am at home. 

Day	Digital Activties
Thursday Oct. 20	Checked email Google on phone to check a random fact Watched T.V.-The Office of course! Watched a movie on computer…Corpse Bride
Friday Oct. 21	Texting sisters Watched T.V. for an hour or so
Saturday Oct. 22	Texting sisters Navigation on phone Watched a movie with family
Sunday Oct. 23	Watched T.V. for a couple hours Watched a movie on computer…Transformers 1
Monday Oct. 24	Texting sisters Checked email Got on the internet on my phone Watched T.V. for an hour or so Watched a movie on computer…Pink Panther
Tuesday Oct. 25	Checked email on computer & phone Got on the internet on my phone Watched T.V. for a couple of hours Read using my Kindle Watched a movie on computer…Pink Panther
Wednesday Oct. 26	Texting friends, family and roommates Update facebook status and read comments Got on the internet on my phone Logged on to Canvas Logged on to Livetext Watched movie on computer…Hairspray

Affective Dimensions of Writing

I think of myself as a writer of necessity.  My career as a student has to led to more writing for assignments and grades than writing for myself.  I usually have one or two writing assignments each week and I think that number is plenty.  I want to do more writing for myself.  I want to create a blog for myself.  I have been thinking of what I would want to write about and how I would write about myself. 

I am a list maker.  I love lists.  But more than just lists, I love to cross everything off my list and throw it away.  I sometimes find myself adding things that I have done just so I can cross them off.  I feel so accomplished when I finish a list.  I am just like my mom in this way.  She always had a list that she would add things.  I have a feature on my cell phone called "memo."  I always have at least eight memos.  I delete and add to the memos constantly.  I also use drawings to express my ideas or needs.  This comes in handy at work.  I plant decorative flowers pots for people.  I keep a journal of every pot I plant each season.  This journal includes both a drawing and a list of plants.  It is great because people will come back the next season and want pots the same or like certain plants and not know what plant they want.  I can refer back to my journal and give my customers exactly what they want.  It has made my job a thousand times easier.  Another type of writing I use every day is text messaging.  I text my friends and family.  It is so much easier than calling, especially when I just have a quick question or can't talk on the phone.  I use my facebook account to update my friends and family on my life or funny things that happen.  My little sister and I have conversations via facebook messages. 
Usually the reason why I liked or disliked the writing assignment was directly related to the relevance or the relevance I felt the assignment had to the class or the topic.  One assignment I remember disliking was a questionnaire for the book The Hiding Place.  The questions were more related to the dates of each event, like what day were the ten Booms discovered?  I didn't understand why the teacher was focusing on those facts when the bigger more important issues where being ignored.  I hated that assignment.  To this day I can't understand the point of that assignment. 
I want to make writing a part of my classes in a way that is cohesive and makes sense to my students.  I don't want my students to question the relevance of any assignment I give them.  On the same note, I want to use differentiation as a part of my instruction.  Every large assignment would be different and more tailored to each students needs and likes.  I wish I would have had more opportunity as a student to pick how I would show my knowledge.

Connecting School and Home Experiences

My parents have always been concerned with my education.  My dad still asks me what I do at school each day and I don't even live at home.  My parents took every opportunity to educate my siblings and me.  My mom was especially interested in history and I think that is where I got my love of history.  My earliest memories of my history education came from visiting museums.  Growing up in Utah County meant that my exposure to history, art and science came from the museums at BYU.  Two of the most memorable museum exhibits were the Etruscans and Chinese Tombs.  Even many, many, many years later I can still remember going to these exhibits with my family.  The Etruscan were a civilization that was formed in Italy and later assimilated into Roman Society.  The exhibit on China focused on the Imperial burial tombs including the terra cotta soldiers.  I can remember being fascinated by everything and wanting to know more about the people that made the objects in the exhibits.  In addition to these experiences at the museums, my mom also introduced me to history through historical fiction.  I loved reading as a kid (p.s I still do) and my mom would read books and then she would pass the books to me.  I was introduced to World War II, the Holocaust, The Revolutionary War by the books my mom would have me read.  I can use my experiences as a kid to help my future students develop an interest in history.  It is important to use unexpected techniques to help students appreciate what has happened in the past.  I gained a love of history through historical fiction.  I read a story about history and then I wanted to know what happened in reality.  I want my future students to want to know about history and take lessons to his/her life.  It will also be important to have the parents of my students reinforce the lessons we are learning at home.  I will probably use my students parents, grandparents and other family members to teach history.  An interview project would probably be the best way to implement this idea.