OTEN Conference

      On Saturday February 20, 2016 I was able to attend the OTEN conference. I must admit I was a little skeptical at first, but by the end of the day I was impressed by the insight I had gained as a future teacher.  I was humbled by how much I really didn’t know and how much technology we actually have in our education system today. The sessions I attended were truly informing and much of the information was useful.

      The first session I attended was presented by Ryan Hoxie on Google Apps and Extensions. Mr. Hoxie is a Future Ready Strategist for the Beaverton School District. In his session, he had us look at several Google Chrome Apps that would be very useful in the classroom. Apps such as Ad Blocker for YouTube, and One Tab are invaluable with Future ready classes. Ad Blocker does just that, it blocks ads on YouTube videos. One Tab lets you condense all of your tabs down to one and provides you with a history of your tabs if you are researching information. Some of the Extensions will prove their worth too. Google sheets and Google tone are powerful tools. I could see Google tone as a great tool in the class room to engage students in lectures by enriching the students with visual content.

Introductory Post

My experience to the world of blogging is somewhere between zero and none. I have never used a blog before. In Fact, keeping a journal is something totally new to me. Writing has never been my strong suit and I feel intimidated by writing my thoughts for others to see. This will be a great tool for me to practice writing and I intend to use this to my full advantage. I imagine a blog as more of a professional to gain knowledge and understanding of ways in which people teach. I would like to express thoughts and practices of my teaching experience to my peers and colleagues in the teaching world and have feedback to what I am doing. I think reviewing other instructors' blogs as a means of gaining knowledge and insight to different methods of teaching. Even with my insecurities of writing, I know this will be a resource to which I can use to my benefit. I look forward to being able to use this technology in a more efficient manner.