TIE 300

 Okay, please bear with me. I swear I have a point to this long story.

Ah…the 90’s, the glorious decade of my childhood. At the time computers were emerging as not only a part of business but as a new home essential. I remember getting our first desktop computer back in 1999 when I was in 5^th grade. It was a really crusty, clunky, windows 98 computer that my brother in law got me because he got ‘a good deal’ and my own parents couldn’t afford to get us one. So there I was, this young little girl excited about running a Crayola disk program where I could “magically” color in fun pictures. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. We still had no Internet, but I thought computers were the best invention. I was in love.

Since that sweet age I’ve been a tech addict. My co-workers call me a “techie” because I’m always on some sort of gadget. I was also almost always the tech teacher in my family. For example, just a few months back my sister asked me, “How do you copy and paste?” I laughed of course, but that wasn’t too nice of me. I grew up learning and evolving with technology. People older than me haven’t had that luxury.

Now, remember that I said I WAS the tech teacher of the family and I have a reason for using past tense. I got my first job last year at a CPS school last year and I was so excited because I could finally afford to buy myself a MacBook air. I never owned any apple product because they are so expensive but I finally got one, but I was so confused! Everything was different from a Windows computer. How did I get get on the Internet? What’s a screen shot? How do I get full screen? I had to turn to my 12 year old nieces who attend an all Macbook school. They’ve become the new teachers because I was old school and didn’t know all this new stuff.

My nieces doing school work.

So, this brings me to my point: I thought I knew everything about computers, and programs, and the Internet but I really don’t. Throughout the past 10 weeks I’ve learned about so many different awesome tools that have given me so many ideas on how to incorporate more technology into the classroom. It’s given me the courage to teach with technology when before I wasn’t sure if I could. For the first time in my life I became the lost student that didn’t know how to be an expert at all the different tools that were introduced to me. It’s shown me how resources are out there right under my nose, and how to teach and learn in a new fresh way.

I see now that technology surrounds and consumes a lot of our education, but in a good way! We are preparing students for a world powered by these tools and the skills that they acquire.  

History Reports with Blabberize!!

Usually writing a report and presenting it in front of the class is not every student’s ideal project. Nerves run high and often times, students will try to avoid the entire assignment. Giving students options as to how they would like to present an assignment to the class is something that I would like to provide in my classroom.

Instead of the usual PowerPoint or Prezi—Blabberize is an excellent tool for Teachers to provide to their students. This fun website allows students to record audio that will go along with an image that they edit to present. This allows students to prepare and practice public speaking without actually having to stand up in front of class. Public speaking is something that students must practice and master throughout their entire educational career. I believe that with Blabberize we can help instill a sense of confidence in students public speaking abilities and for them to believe that what they have to say is important. This can help them to realize that speaking in front of people or sharing your ideas is not really all that scary! This is a free website that is easy to use and has endless possibilities for both students K-12 and Teachers in all content areas. Please watch and listen to this sample provided to hear a student give a report on the story of a civilian during World War II era.


This website is such an incredible tool to offer to your students. This really has them practicing their speeches before they present and it forces them to restructure their writing if it does not sound well. Seeing this makes them more aware of their editing skills and it's just a really fun tool to play with. Students will love using this even outside of the class. Well, at least that's what I think...

I know for sure I will be using Blabberize for different things in my classroom. I actually really would like to add a little blabberize to my professional site.