Digital Introduction

     
    As someone who is new to blogging, I feel like describing myself is a necessary point of lift off.  I am a graduate student working on becoming a high school English Language Arts teacher.  I am also a mother of 4 kids, a wife, a Christian, a wine enthusiast, and someone who enjoys going to the theater.  That last bit makes me sound snobby, but I'm not, I simply enjoy performance art.  I tend to be somewhat of an old-fashioned, introvert.  I am not glued to a screen all the time, and I rather like that aspect of myself.  I am an avid fiction reader who even prefers real, bound books because I can write in them and dog ear actual pages.  I feel like there is more interaction between the book and myself.  Weird, right?  
     While I think I am old-fashioned, I haven't been entirely tucked away inside a hole.   I have a smartphone and have apps downloaded to keep tabs on my kids' progress at school.  I use Pinterest to find inspiration for cooking and crafting.  I do use Facebook, though Andrew Watt's article A Teenager's View on Social Media makes me think that perhaps my view of my digital capabilities is entirely wrong.  Perhaps, that means I am outdated rather than connected? I tried Instagram, but I find that I don't like it as well as Facebook, but it could just be that it still feels unfamiliar.  
     While I know there is so much more social media out there, and I understand it is a large portion of teenagers' lives, I am also sure that there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.  Teenagers love social media, and it isn't going anywhere, but I feel that having their eyes glued to a screen is detrimental.   Students need to devote attention to learning content in a classroom and learn self-control.  As far as I understand, posting a selfie every hour is frowned upon in most workplaces, and teaching students how to focus and be present with the tasks at hand is crucial to learning.  Learning how to connect and interact with others face to face is also an important skill that is slowly being lost on the digital generation. This article describes how millennials may be missing out because of their technology dependence: Two Reasons Millennials Leaders Struggle with Communication.  
     That being said, if today's educators want to connect with students and hold their attention, some technology should be utilized.  If your classroom has a Smartboard or comes equipped with a set of Chromebooks, use them!  Not only will it grab students' attention, but it also makes the learning more relevant to what students need to be able to do upon graduating.  Students will need to know how to use technology well, and how to use it responsibly.  I do not like sharing too much on social media, as I understand that very little is every truly deleted from the internet.  I am content with a personal Facebook account, and perhaps will eventually create a professional blog.  Teenage students do not always share this awareness and it is an educator's job to help students learn to navigate the internet safely, as it is an important learning tool they will need to use frequently both in school and beyond.  As someone who is not super tech savvy, I hope to expand my knowledge of ways to incorporate technology into teaching ELA content in order to grab students' attention and help them discover that reading and writing (both on paper and digitally) aren't so bad.