The reading this week in Going Google has made me more curious about the ability of google to support communication with families. I have been using google gmail, calendar and docs for myself and with colleagues for the last two years, but I am just now realizing that theses tools have more features and options.  I also read about new features; templates and sites. I am very interested in trying out  the google site to create a website for my classroom.  However, in the reading I did learn that there may be other ways to keep families up to date( calendar, google docs, etc) The one question I have is how much education will it take to ensure families understand how to access these tools, etc in order to receive the information. It made me wonder about creating some type of questionnaire or information gathering tool at the beginning of the school year to assess what families are already using and what their preference and comfort levels are with technology.

As we are discussing all of the free apps for use with students, it got me thinking about how to use technology with very young children. I know of a few apps that I can use, and I am sure there are many more, however, I began to wonder if it might be helpful to start thinking about how technology can support me as the educator. What software, apps, etc are out there that will help me, maybe help me to be more organized, to be better at tracking and analyzing data, planning embedded curriculum or engaging students and increasing parent involvement.  When I was reading the articles on facebook for the online discussions this week one had a link to another Facebook page called Free Tech for Teachers, a site I want to investigate a little more. I also found a few links to digital portfolios for young children that were intriguing.

Where do I hit a wall with technology.......at times I feel like every time I touch a computer, tablet or other devices I hit a wall! I have basic computer skills, I can use simple programs, databases, social media, and apps, but I believe there is more I can do, that I am not using the programs or apps to their fullest potential. I also feel like I use the same technology over and over again because it is what I know and what I am comfortable with. I am not afraid to try new technology and I feel comfortable playing around, however, it is the time I need to explore that creates a very large, brick wall!

The first obstacle I have that does impact the use of technology is the lack of it. In the classroom currently, I have one old desktop. This computer is very temperamental, slow to start and slow at almost all the  software. The upside is that this computer is not a school computer, it belongs to the agency with whom we have collaborated with  for several years. Unfortunately, the collaboration is coming to an end, and they will be taking the computer with them. We have had several talks about what we need in the classroom to support our work and what we could use interactively with children. At the least I will have a laptop, and possible a Promethean board, or maybe something else. I am not sure how to work around the obstacle of not having any technology in the room, except advocating for the needs of both myself and my students. I can also provide concrete information for the principal and technology department of what the needs are and how technology can be used to support and increase students engagement in learning opportunities.