Using Technology in my classroom

     Many of the skills we are learning in this class are skills that I have worked on before or skills that I can figure out if I “play around” with the software.  The important thing that I am receiving from this class is the way that I am learning to think about the use of technology in my classroom and the exposure to each resource.  The more exposure and experience that I have the more I am digesting ways that I can use these resources and pieces of technology with my students.  I am also realizing the importance of using technology in the classroom, even in kindergarten.  In chapter 1 in our text it said that school may be the only opportunity for urban youth to use technology and that it is our responsibility as a teacher to give these experiences and opportunities.  These facts scared me a little because we do not have many resources in our school and how could I give them these opportunities.  It also made me realize that students will needs these skills in the workplace in the future and that it is our job as teachers to get them ready for the workplace.  The hope and encouragement in the situation of urban youth in my school is that just this year I was given three computers for the classroom.  I didn’t know how I was going to use these computers other than with the computer software Lexia and now I am getting new ideas everyday such as learning to use Word to publish writing work, using Starfall or Between the Lions in a systematic way to practice and reinforce our learning as well as using the teacher resources such as making rubric and graphic organizers.  I am very excited to use the technology that I now have in my room to its fullest potential!