Technology Medley

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ghewgill/

I’ll be the first to admit that I spend too much time on the computer. I’m online all day at school, either working on projects for teachers to use, developing workshop plans and materials, updating web sites, answering email questions, and on and on. Then I come home and without missing a beat, I’m back online. Sometimes I just continue working from home. (Don’t all teachers work at home?) Sometimes though, I play games, and often I’m checking to see what my friends in Plurk and Facebook have been up to.

However, I have many other interests that I need to carve out time for, such as playing the piano, sewing and quilting, reading a great novel, working in the yard….All of these are rewarding in and of themselves, and I have to make a conscious effort to balance my time on the computer with these other non-techie interests.

How about you? How does this relate to the classroom? Are you striking a balance in the classroom between traditional teaching methods and the use of technology? Have your students created their own projects on the computers this year? Have you branched out to using blogs and wikis with your students? As more and more is being demanded of teachers, it can be difficult to find that balance, but teachers by their very nature are always learning and trying new things.

How are you balancing your instructional methods in your classroom this year?