Post #4
As far as digital technology goes, I'm afraid I tend to fall behind the times. In any given week I do spend a fair amount of time accessing the internet in one of the campus computer labs. Most of my time online is spent checking email and completing online assignments. I did recently join Facebook so as to keep in contact with a close friend that moved. While I have found the whole social media experience enjoyable, I don't feel myself to be an addict. A regular 7 day stretch finds me checking for updates around 2 or 3 times. I do have to say my most consistent use of online time, other than email, would be reading the articles on Yahoo News. As my email is through Yahoo, I can't seem to escape that site without investigating at least one article.
While I do not own any Apple products (not that I wouldn't like to) I do own a touch screen LG cell phone. I do find myself utilizing text messaging quite often, I'd even dare say on a daily basis. A lot of my messages are spent in coordinating car pools and work schedules for my America Reads mentor team. I also tend to keep in touch with my widely dispersed family through text messaging. Other than my phone and a computer, my television is the only other form of digital tech that I utilize on a regular basis. While my schedule is busy, I do enjoy winding down at the end of the day with a good movie. With little exception I perform this end of day ritual with great consistency.
As an educator I do feel the importance of keeping up with the times. I understand many of my future students will be utilizing digital technology far more than I usually do. As a big fan of Smart Boards I  will endeavor to make this interactive piece of technology a centerpiece of lecture and presentation. Within my teaching I will also endeavor to utilize a variety of digital media such as video, audio and written texts in an effort to engage my students more fully in the material. As many of histories most important documents are digitized, students can access them easier than ever. To encourage student interaction, with the material as well as with one another, I feel the use of a class blog, website and podcast site would be helpful. Should some of my students struggle with the incorporation of certain programs or technologies, I feel there are several avenues to which I could turn. Not only could I go through the process with them, but I could also employ the skills of the schools media specialist. Through demonstration and instruction, I feel students could overcome the hurdles of digital illiteracy.     

Post #3
My confidence as a writer has grown with the passing of time. As a youth I was frequently complimented on my writing, yet, there still remained in me a lack of confidence. I often found myself expressing thoughts and feelings through a variety of medium including journal writing, rough sketches and wood working. While I rarely felt my work was of a superior nature, I continued to write, draw and carve throughout middle and high school. Expression for me today largely consists of personal entries, not necessarily in a formal journal, but on scraps of paper likely to be discarded. It is on these scraps that I find an outlet for the inner workings of my mind and emotions. I believe the enjoyment I reap from such an activity can be recreated, to a small degree, within the classroom by giving students the independence to choose their topic of interest.
The most gratifying writing assignments I experienced in my secondary education were those where I chose the topic. I remember specifically a research paper in which I was allowed to argue whether the existence of Camelot was fiction or fact. The enjoyment I found in completing that paper was due largely to the subject which was something that interested me at the time. On the other end of the spectrum I have often felt the drudgery of completing a paper whose subject was not of interest. As I prepare to enter the field of education I understand that not all writing assignment topics can be left to student choice. That being the case, I feel students will feel the same type of empowerment by giving them as many options as possible. By letting them choose the perspective, voice and manner of presentation, I feel my students will reap a greater amount of enjoyment while still engaging the disciplines material.