Blog Post #2: With Regard to Chapter 9, Among Other Things

As a student, I have primarily used Word to write papers. As such, I have only ever viewed Word as fitting for writing papers and the occasional excessively long letter. However, this class has changed that greatly for me. At the same time, I have never before considered how my teachers have used Word and now I’m realizing that they must be pros at it because it seems to be in every corner of teaching. It has been very eye-opening.
I think the idea that I liked best that I saw in Chapter Nine was the newspaper. I even told my best friend about it. I’m really excited about discovering a way to incorporate that in to my teaching. I haven’t really thought too extensively about the ways that I could use computers in the classroom. I mean, I have in terms of games and databases but since having started this class, everything has changed.
As such, I feel like that is the main thing I have learned in this class. Though I recognize the practical aspects of what I am learning – how to write a test and a newsletter, that Twitter can be used in the classroom too – I think more than that, I’m discovering that my fears about using computers with my students are dissolving. And though I recognize that things like Sparknotes will never go away, I hope that I can use computers to help encourage the feeling of fun that I believe should go with learning. And hopefully that fun will lead to students wanting to do reading and other activities that are generally thought of with dread.