Ada and Bella riding the roller coaster at Chuck E. Cheese's! Yay!

use technology in the development of strategies for solving problems in the real world

A couple of weeks ago I got a GPS (global positioning system). I will tell you, that thing is amazing. It is a lifesaver, it will find you where ever you are and tell you how to get anywhere! Not only can you plug in addresses and get directions, you can search for pretty much any kind of business and find one nearest your location. If your hungry, look up restaurants; if you want a certain type of food, look up that type. If you are traveling and need a hotel, find a bunch of them as you drive. Whatever you need to find your GPS will kick into action and get you there ( you do however have to drive the car). I also want to mention Webmd.com. That website is highly effective. Anything health or beauty related, search it on webmd and find great results.

use technology tools to proccess data and report results

Using computer programs for gradebooking; I believe is essential to quick and accurate grading. The less time you spend grading and calculating percentages, the more time you have to spend on your students. I was surprised at how easy it was to calculate mock grades using Microsoft Excel. I worked as a teacher's assistant today and noticed the teacher I was working with was putting in the grades of papers I had just checked. I was curious as to what program she was using, so I asked her. She told me that her and the rest of the teachers in that school used Xanga to do their grading. She explained that it allowed for parents, teachers and students to view daily progress reports. Being that it's a Special Education specific school, I can see how helpful daily reports are for the students. I find it so interesting that it is now a regular thing for schools to use computers to grade; it was paper and pencil when I was in grade school.

use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of resources

I'm pretty sure my favorite thing in the world is internet search engines. You can find anything and everything with them. They are the most helpful things in the world. Seriously, what would we do without them? Oh yeah, look through books and books of info searching for information. I definitely do not miss doing that in grade school. I will take Ask.com over those heavy encyclopedias any day! Also, after you find websites that are especially helpful, you can save them to your favorites or bookmark them and go back to them whenever you feel the need.

Collaborate in constructing technology-enhanced models, preparing publications, and producing other creative works using productivity tools.

Technology is ever-changing and fast paced. Althou.gh it seems nearly impossible to keep up with all of the constant advancements; I believe it is extremely important for teachers to do the best they can to keep up with it. It can be very beneficial for teachers to stay current and keep the technology world present in their classrooms as these advances can be used as tools in education.

use technology resources to facilitate higher order and complex thinking skills

I thought the programs Kidspiration, Inspiration, and Mediablender were great for achieving this goal. They demand creativity and thinking outside the box while helping students gather information, organize thoughts and see their work come together. All three of those programs drove me nuts, however, I am grateful for learning them because I now see how beneficial they could be to students.

Use content specific tools to support learning and research.

When I started working on the Lesson Plan Assignment, I was quick to discover all of the technological opportunities there are available to help students of all ages learn. I can't decide decide what to use. It is nearly impossible to narrow down what I want to integrate into my lesson plan. There are so many great things to use. There are piggy bank games online to help children learn how to count money. There's the idea of using a search engine to research different topics. There's the paint program for younger children to be creative.... I think I'm going with that. I'm just amazed at all the ideas open to teachers in the area of technology. It is just awesome!