Entry 1

As far as teaching writing is concerned, I have had very little experience actually teaching it.  During student-teaching, I would assign essays to students to be completed for homework.  In my future classroom, I would make time for writing in class, especially freewrites and journal entries, as I feel that these are very helpful for developing writing skills.  Also, I would utilize quickwrites so that students can briefly respond to a passage or idea related to the text that we are reading in class.  I would love to have time to conference with each student, but in a class of 25-30 students, I wonder how this is really possible.  I feel that I would not be able to provide the appropriate amount of time and focus to each student while also trying to manage the rest of the class.  Once I do have my own classroom, I'm sure I will find a way to accomplish this, as it is so crucial for students to have the ability to examine their own writing and discuss it.  Peer conferencing might be another way for students to critique both their own writing, as well as others'.  I'm sure there are other methods I want to incorporate in my classroom, but I can't think of any more at the moment. 

My experience with technology is not as vast as I would like.  I know how to use word processors fairly well, and I'm gaining more experience with blogs as well.  As far as most other technology is concerned, I think my students know more about how to use these technological devices than I do.  That will probably be my biggest challenge when implementing these types of technology in my classroom.  Also, trying to ensure that students are able to have the freedom to creatively produce written blogs or other assignments, while also incorporating course material may be challenging.  I'm currently stuck.  I can't think of what else to write.  There are so many things to consider when thinking about incorporating technology into writing assignments, and there is so much that I need to learn about technology (and probably writing too) that it feels a little overwhelming to address this question.  Once I learn something new, though, I'm usually good at remembering how to do it, so as long as I keep up with the new technology and take the time to learn from others who know this technology better than I do, I think I'll be able to effectively incorporate it into my classroom instruction.  I hope to have my students post on a blog or create digital media in a way that would give them a more positive experience with writing. 

In regards to this assignment, my main concern is that I will not effectively elaborate on my ideas or that I will be too concerned that other people will be reading my writing that it will affect what I post on this blog.  Again, I am stuck.  I can't think of anything else to write.  I am not sure if there is anything that I have not discussed here...I am comfortable with the rubric for this assignment and do not have any concerns about the way this assignment is evaluated.  I think it would be so much easier to write more about this topic if I had my own classroom right now or if I had more recent teaching experience than my student-teaching experience (two years ago).