My Very First Blog

Welcome to my new blog page! I titled my blog, "Learning As I Go," because I am always learning new things in my classroom. Sometimes I learn things NOT to do, while other times I learn things that work really well! I want this blog to be about the things that can make my classroom a place where learning is fun and students can become successful.

I am currently working on my Masters degree in Education, specifically Integrating Technology in the Classroom. I am learning new ways to use technology in the classroom to accomplish things that could not be accomplished before the new technology. I am learning that any time I try to incorporate technology in my lessons, the students are excited and ready to learn. They are surrounded by technology in their lives, so naturally when we bring it into the classroom, they are willing to participate and see if they like it.

I just recently had a new smart board installed in my classroom; it is called a Promethean Board. I only have it for a 60 day trial, so I am trying to learn all I can about it in a short amount of time. My students and I are having fun using it. Last Thursday I introduced our new unit on the Roman Empire, and I used the interactive board in my lesson. We were able to use interactive maps to explore the geography of Italy and visit websites that gave us "tours" of some of the ancient ruins in Rome. The lesson was great because it allowed the students to learn visually and allowed for them to understand on a better level the area of the world we are about to study.

Well, that is all for my first post. If you have any experience using a smart board, or know great ideas for teaching with one, leave me a comment and let me know!