Journal #1

Social Networking for the K-12 Set by Jim Klein


This article was a very informative article about how to implement a social networking system that will work for everybody. Jim Klein discuses, how in his school district of Saugus they have been using a Teacher and Student Community site to provide the tools and resources for their students and teachers to better “communicate, collaborate, learn, share, and grow to become a better community” (Klein,1).Some of the goals for his project include the following: an approachable and user friendly technology for students to share work with, open communication between staff and students, open discussion for everybody ( including parents), and a new kind of effective learning environment. I love this idea and think this is a wonderful way for students to network openly with teachers, faculty, and fellow students. While also giving students another way of getting an education, I feel that this is a great way to encourage use of technology for everybody- parents, students, and faculty. For example, there are those parents that don’t know how to use a computer which will them introduce them to how to use computers and what our students are learning. This system also enables children to share their work with other students in their district, their parents, and the community. I feel that this is a beneficial thing for students because it allows them to take pride in their work and have the drive to do an outstanding job on school assignments. Although, some may fear that stuff may get on the site that is not appropriate, all of the work that is submitted has to be approved by a teacher or faculty member so that there won’t be a problem. Another plus to this system is that it enables teachers to communicate with parents about their children and take the place of weekly newsletters without using so much paper and also expecting the student to give to the parents.
This system is something that I hope the district that I will be teaching in will consider using. I think that this is wonderful idea that has many benefits for everybody! Our world is depending more and more on technology and I feel that it is extremely important for schools to incorporate more technology in our curriculum; social networking is a great way to get started!
Question 1:
What happens if this system is incorporated in your school district, but the student is not fortunate enough to have a computer at home?

If the student does not have a computer at home then they will utilize and take advantage of the computer time at school. If I were the teacher that had this issue I would make sure to let the students know that any time they want to use the computer (not during school time) to let me know and I will let them use our class computers. For the communication with parents, I would still send home newsletters and other informative papers to give them what they need.

Question 2:
Is Social Networking something that you would like to use when you become a teacher?

I think that Social Networking is a great thing to have in the classroom. Technology is such a big deal now and I feel that it is very important for students to learn how to not only use the computer, but how to communicate on it as well!

My Intro 422

My name is Melissa Storer and I have grown up in North County pretty much my whole life. I was born in Naples, Italy and lived there until I was three, which was when my family moved to Fallbrook, California. I was raised in the little town of Fallbrook until I graduated High School and it was then, that I decided I wanted to be closer to the ocean. I have lived in Oceanside now for approximetly eleven years and love it! I would never want to live anywhere but San Diego. I think that Southern Califorinia is by far the best place to live considering that not only do we have the best weather, but we have the ocean, moutains, dessert, Mexico, and a bunch of other great surroundings that make Southern California a desirable place to live.
Since I have graduated High School I have experienced and accomplished so much that I am proud of. I am a proud mother of two beautiful children, my son Christian, who is 8 years old and my brand new daughter, Ella, who is 9 months. They are what keep my grounded and focused in accomplishing my goals. I graduated from Cal State San Marcos in May of 2006 with a Bachelors Degree in Liberal Arts and a minor in Communication. Since then, I have just been enjoying my children and now I hope to get my teaching credential so that I can continue to become a successful working mother and wife.
When it comes to technoloy I know what I need to know to basically get the job done. I am not a very technical person, but I have a strong desire to learn more about it because we live in a technology driven society with many technological advances happening every day! I work with PC and have never worked with a Mac, so I am very curious to learn and see what they have to offer, who knows I may like it better. I am currently working with Microsoft office 2003, but am pretty good at figuring out how to use other programs. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to not only better my knowledge on becoming a better teacher by having the ability to be more technologicaly advaced, but to also work on a Mac rather than a PC because it will force me to familiarize myself with a system that I am not comfortable with.
When choosing a college to attend, I did not initially choose Cal State San Marcos because of its mission statement, but for the convienience. It was close to my house and had the program that I wanted to get my degree in. However, I am very happy about the choice I made because San Marcos has been great for me in many other ways than just the convienience of it. I have had nothing but great experiences in every class I have attended and have enjoyed the dynamic teaching staff here. What I do love in the mission statement is when it says, "CSUSM provides a range of services that responds to the needs of a student body with diverse backgrounds...". What I like about this statement is that it is the truth, I have attended this college and can attest to this. I love the diversity here at this school. There are many different kinds of students with different backgrounds, and goals, but they are all here for one purpose, to learn.