Blog Prompt 1

Blog 1 prompt:

(1) Describe the importance of the using a variety of instructional strategies and the value they add to education of students in the 21st Century. Evaluate the role technology plays in the implementation of various instructional strategies. How will this impact your teaching of students?
 
After reading this weeks materials I have come to the understanding that I have a lot to learn.  Education has drastically changed in the eleven years that I have been a stay at home mom.  I may find that I will have to start from the beginning just to catch up.  I do find it kind of frustrating to think that what I am learning right now will probably be out dated by the time I step back into the classroom.  I find it ironic that at the same time that I am taking this class and reading about the future in technology that I am reading the book "One Second After".  I am not normally an "end of the world is coming as we know it person" but realizing the very real possibility of what this book discusses, it scares the beegeezes out of me to think that what I am learning and what my children are being introduced to will be of no good to them and survival means knowing how to do the basics. 
This weeks discussion on instructional strategies took me back to my 8th grade science classroom.  I remember with struggling with the basic lecture and demonstration then without all of the wonderful technology.  How wonderful would it be now to incorportate my PRESENTATIONs with clips from you tube.  I can see it now>>> When introducing the lesson states of matter, I always used the demostration with cornsttarch and water.  Now before breaking out the demo I could show the very brief video of the Ellen DeGeneres show where she has a tub full of the goo and has sommeone in the audience walk across it.  Then we would play with the goo ourselves. 
Drill and Practice strategies have also evolved drastically with the use of technology.  No more boring flash cards all of the time but acutal computer games that can incorporate the fun of online games and the ability to learn.  I wish that I could remember the math game the class I subbed in was playing oneday  It was really cool and very hard.  Students were given equations with missing factors and required to come up with the final answer by plugging in different numbers.  They worked in coopertive learning groups and used all kinds of problem solving methods to try to come up with the final answer.  Each gropu would race against their neighbor. 
I can't wait to be able to use todays technology in the classroom.  With all of the handheld learning gadgets and students being such digital learners , I can see the future classroom teacher being more of a facilitator and anaccountability person that the sole provider of ones information.