Melissa

=About Me=

My name is Melissa, and I am a junior at Fayetteville High School. I am very excited to learn more about tools in technology and ways to implement them into daily classroom activities. I like to play basketball and shop. My favorite color is pink, and I love all things with glitter. My favorite subject in school is science. My least favorite is Geometry.

__Technology in My World__
Everyday, I use technology in some form. I would die without my personal laptop. When I wake up in the morning, I check my email. Using sites such as Myspace and Facebook, I keep up with family and friends that I don't get to see on a daily basis. I enjoy expanding my knowledge daily by reasearching topics I am learning in school or simply discovering something new.

__Technology in Education__
I am very inspired and excited to think of all the opprotunites that are being provided to students, teachers, and parents alike. With this vision I am currently developing a collaborrative wikispace to bring all of the projects that teachers and students from all over our school, so that parents and other people can see the progress that we are making. The URL for this site is [|www.fhstechteam.wikispaces.com]

__In my classroom__
Many of my teachers are also very passionate about the transition to technology, and implement many tools into use in our classroom. Here are some of my favorite sites that I have used.

[|www.quizlet.com] This site can make flashcards for any information that you choose to enter. Students can collaborate on developing quizzes, and there is a fun game to help reinforce the material into knowledge. [|www.ning.com] This is a site that I have used with my history and english classes. It is a social network, but is very effective to use in an educational environment. A very good way to introduce proper use of a social network in a controlled situation. [|www.mixbook.com] Have a certain activity or topic in your class that you want to remember? A great way to organize the events or wrap up a subject that you are currently teaching, mixbook allows you to actually design a book and recieve a firm copy. [|www.ourstory.com] This sets up each student with a personal timeline of events in their lives. Entries can be like journal writing, or done like my teacher did, give writing assignments about a time in our life, and grade through the easy comments that users can leave on each story. [|www.sparknotes.com] Has in depth notes on many novels, and also has other topics, but I have only used it for literature. It covers each chapter and character thoroughly, and has many more titles than cliff notes. [|www.voki.com] This site allows you to create a virtual avatar that you can personalize to look just like you! They also speak a personal message, so they are a great accessory to a homepage, to let students, parents, or teachers learn more about you.

If you would like to see examples of these of these tools in action, visit my english and history teacher, Ms Barnett, wikispace, [|www.fhswolvesden.wikispaces.com] She uses all of these tools and it is thanks to her that I have become so involved in this technology transition.

__Technology for fun__
There is no limit to the things you can find on the internet to do. When I get bored, I research new topics, and find new and fun things to pass the time. Here are a few of the sites that I use.

[|www.myspace.com] Of course, the world's most popular social network. But hey, there's a reason. [|www.bored.com] This site has hundreds of links to games, music, trivia, television, sports, and just plain weird, sites. If you have some time to burn, go and look around, the site is updated with new links about every two weeks. [|www.addictinggames.com] This site is filled with games from every category, action to puzzles.