Thing 1 and Thing 2

Good Evening one and all. I have an unusual feeling as I start my first blog ever. I have heard about this class in sketchy details from other teachers in Detroit Public Schools and was fortunate enough to register for this class now. I always have wanted to expand my computer expertise and consider myself versed in computer applications from Microsoft (i.e., Word, Excel, Power Point, etc.), but I have had not had any experience with really expanding my use and involvement with the Internet other than for email and searching for information. Participating in "The 23 Things" on-line course will finally facilitate my "getting with the 21st century program".
I have been a teacher of the speech and language impaired (TSLI) within Detroit Public Schools for 9 years. My caseload has ranged in size around 50-60 students covering preschool to high school students. I have felt for sometime that connecting with my students has been a problem over extended periods with utilization of auditory and visual material for therapy activities. So much of students hobbies revolve around electronic media (i.e., cell phones, television, gaming devices, video games, computer usage, etc.). Over the last few years my role as a student support service teacher has revolved around attempting to mold my interventions and therapy around the curriculum in the classroom. Maintaining student interest has been challenging at times due to a multitude of issues. It is my hope that this course will allow for better interactions and successes for my students and myself as a support educator.
The material presented during Thing 1 was very interesting and intimidating for me. Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and media sharing are all very new topics for me. The article by David Warlick sounded so wonderful in the way that everything completed by educators, students, administrators, and parents was so interconnected and relevant to the education goals for students. I felt overwhelmed by the end of the article. But I also realize that one has to start somewhere to create change and improve my professional process. The video was very enlightening in regards to the realities of the potential that digital learning can have on today's students. Not only can learning occur within the classroom, but also by interacting digitally.
I will be interested to see how well interactions with my students and colleagues will be impacted by utilizing the tools that I will be learning over the next 10 weeks. I hope and trust that I have created my blog and post in Thing 2 satisfactorily. I am not sure that I set everything up properly. I am not sure how to change or "go back". But I guess with time and your input, I will learn.
Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. Have a nice evening, Gregory
(P.S., I tried to upload an image of kindergarten school children from New Orleans to my blog. I am not sure it worked. If it is not here, I will try again another time. Bye.)