Welcome to my blog for Integrating Tech II class

Hello,

I feel like I am embarking on a journey, but one I have made before. Although, like all journeys, I hope to see and learn new things to add to my technology integration knowledge.  I am starting my second year in this program, working on my Masters in Education in Technology Integration. This will be my third technology class, and I am looking forward to it..

A little about me... I am a sped certified technology teacher and integrator at a private K-12 school in NH for special needs kids.  I have been doing the technology integrator job for the past year.  Prior to that I was the computer and office skills teacher, as well as the economics teacher.  But my first love is technology so I am enjoying this new job. We use a lot of alternative technology there as well.  

This summer, I participated in an online workshop to learn programming with Scratch and also got to attend my first Google Hangout as part of that workshop.  I am teaching Scratch to a few of my tech students now.  I am trying to find a way to include robotics with programming and computer engineering (via a Maker/Hacker space) sometime later this year.  I even bought a Raspberry Pi computer already, and am reading up on it.

 To me, technology is a way of life.  I use technology every day, at work and at home. I communicate with friends on Facebook and via email and texting. I play Words with Friends. I belong to several activity groups on Meetup.com and help organize about 5-6 of them.  I even went to a meetup where I got to try on Google Glass!  I interface and collaborate with other teachers in Twitter and Google+. I read several educational blogs regularly.

Prior to getting back into teaching 10 years ago, I worked in the technology industry in the 80's and 90's. I learned a lot in those early years about using computers to do business. I also dabbled in basic programming and database development. So, although I am not a digital native, I feel comfortable speaking the language.

Tech I can't live without includes my iPhone and laptop, the Internet and Facebook for now.  I also had a valve replacement in my heart several years ago, so I guess the ultrasound technology they use to check out my heart annually is important too.  Tech I can live without... hmm, that's a hard one... TV is all I can think of for now.