Loss

Knowing that I will never be able to spend time with my grandma again, puts a crack on my heart that can never be put back together.

Almost everyday my father tells me that I am just like her. He tells me how I have the same features as her and how my personality is exactly like her.  She had blonde hair and brilliant brown eyes, just like mine. She had a brightening personality that would light up the room, and everyone would just want to listen to her talk. It has always been a dream for me to be able to just spend one more day with her so I can get to know her better and be able to just learn from all her knowledge. My grandma was someone that my father was always close to, but I am never going to have the chance to have that closeness that he had with her. 

I remember my dad would tell me how she was a good listener and I saw that for the short time that I knew her. Anytime he had a problem with work or anything general in life, she was there to listen and give him advice. She was known for having big elephant like ears and sat with great standing up posture that assured you that she was going to listen to everything that you said.  He also remembers how she would make my dad his favorite kook-aid. It was always grape or orange flavored. She would sneak in sugar with out telling her husband for my dad since it was so expensive during that time, just because my dad loved to drink it that way.

She would also wear the same clothing all the time and never changed the way she dressed. She did not care what people thought of her. She wanted people to see her for what she truly was and not how she looked. 

If I could spend just one more day with my grandma, I would plan many things. First, I would wake up early on the beach with her and watch the sun rise. I remember the stories my dad told me of how she loved to wake up early and go to the lake just to watch the sun and hear all the boat engines roar throughout the sky. She never got the chance to do this by the actual ocean. I thought it would be neat to bring her out into the waves and watch as the sun set across the blue water. 

If I still had time left in the day, I would show my grandma the passion I have of playing the sport of volleyball. It's my life and I would love for her to see me play in just one game and show how I play it and work hard all for her. My dad always told me how she loved seeing him play football and how it made her proud. I want to give her that same feeling about me playing volleyball just like it makes my dad proud to watch me play. To be able to spend one more day with her, it would mean the world to me and would be the best day of my life. 

My grandma died on my sixth birthday. I remember that day clearly in my head even though I was just a toddler. I was waiting for her to come to the barbecue at my house to celebrate and Tumble Gym and to see her bursting smile in the room and her wearing her favorite magenta moo-moo dress, but she never showed up. That was when my dad got the call that she passed away from a medical accident. I didn’t understand what my mother was telling me about what happened. I didn’t believe it. She was gone. My favorite person was away and she wouldn’t wake up. 

Technology Wednesday

1. When thinking about if I am a native, visitor, or resident, I would have to say that I am a visitor. For the majority of these tools, the only one I recognize is Weebly. The rest of the tools I have never seen or heard of it. It makes me want to learn about each and every one of them in order to have a more technological classroom. I live my tech life mostly with using Microsoft software and a few apps. I feel that its important for teachers to be exposed to different technological tools. This will allow them to be more successful with students and create a native technological aspect into students. 

2. Kahoot is one website that I absolutely adore when it comes to using tech tools to enhance student learning. I feel that students love to use their phones and this app allows them to do so. It does it in a way that the teacher can still keep track on how is participating and who is not. This app would be fun tool for a teacher to use before a test as a way to review with the student. This lets the students take some of the edge of nerves they might have and just review for a test in a fun way. I was only exposed to this app when I saw a student used it over the summer. I think teachers need to be brought up to speed and exposed to more useful apps like this one. 

3. I think I will always continue learning outside of school by being with other colleagues and in the actual teaching environment. I think more and more experience is what will benefit me most. I also think participating in NCTE and keeping up to date with the website will be super useful. I am actually going to the conference this November in Minneapolis :). I have actually also participated in the ed chats on twitter in the past. It was very enjoyable and I learned from other educators on their intake of what education is and should be. Finally, I will be sure to keep up with my Pinterest account with all of my teaching stuff and ideas in my folders. I think I will never out grow using this website. I plan almost everything on it. 

4. Having students write virtually will prepare them for the real world and in jobs. You never know what career path the student might take and writing virtually can only benefit them. I think using Prezi and Survey Monkey are extremely popular and should continued to be used in the classroom. These can be used for the rest of their life so having the knowledge now can help them expand more into it. I think that all of these websites listed can be good for students. Its important to expose them to numerous of websites because everyone has a different preference or personality that might get them to love that particular website. We learn as teachers that no student is the same, therefore we should not expect all students to love the same website. Giving them options can only be a positive, not a negative. 

5. I love the review that Jane Hart did on todays technology websites in the world. I felt that it was very on point into what we use today. This is one website that I will for sure bookmark because I was exposed to websites that I have never seen before. These are all tools that can only benefit the classroom and make it more diverse.

6. I have never seen this digital Bloom’s Taxonomy before. I feel that when a teacher is trying to implement one of the taxonomy’s, a teacher can look at this chart and can be able to implement technology with it too. It gives a better range of creativity for the teacher for their students. All of these are useful tools that can be used across the curriculum. 

7. I think that I will try all of these tools that I was exposed to. This is my goal because I want to be a teacher that exposes students to new ways of learning every day. I think thats important to keep students engaged and versatile. You want them to continue to grow and learn throughout their education and in their future life. I will be saving this document of all the tools for future reference and hope to continue to use them throughout my life in education.