Some of my Interests

One of my interests, and what I enjoy spending my free time and summer vacations doing, is woodworking. My father is an accomplished woodworker and I have been learning from him. He tried to get me interested when I was young, but I wasn’t that interested. It wasn’t until my senior year in college that I really had an interest in woodworking. To me, there is nothing more satisfying than building something by hand that you can use in your everyday life. From choosing the wood to use to deciding the type of joinery, woodworking it such a satisfying and challenging hobby. I build a lot of things for my classroom. Many teachers see these items and make requests for their classrooms as well. It can make for a busy summer. There is a vast amount of resources available on the Internet in regards to woodworking. A few of my favorites are Lumberjocks which has woodworking plans, blogs and forums. Just about any question I’ve ever had about woodworking can be found or asked on this site. Another website I like to use for tools and parts is Rockler. They have so many different tools, jigs, and parts for projects, I rarely have to look anywhere else.

Another interest of mine is gadgets, and I mean all gadgets. I have always been fascinated with things that can make life easier, simpler, or in most cases fun. I have always been fascinated with the technology that goes into making these gadgets. What amazes me is that sometimes it is very complex technology and other times it so simple that is used to create the gadget. Technology changes so frequently that it seems like new gadgets come out all the time. It makes it tough to keep up on all of the different things that are out there. A website I use to try to keep up with all of the information is Gizmodo. This website is dedicated to all things gadgets and has all of the latest news, information, and rumors of new products.

Finally, I have a huge interest in educational technology. Our students are growing up in a very different world than I did. They have access to information and resources that weren’t available 5-10 years ago. I believe that I need to harness this power and challenge my students to use this to their advantage. Students use technology in their everyday lives, but they don’t always understand how to apply to their education. We, as educators, have to provide the experiences and guidance so that they can use these technologies effectively. It also important for us to show them how to decide on what technology, or not, to use in different situations. We have to challenge our students to gather, comprehend, evaluate, synthesize and create. If our students can do these things, we have shaped students who are going to college and career ready. One site I like to use to stay on top of emerging technologies is Free Tech 4 Teachers. This site has a wealth of knowledge on different technologies that are available and usually provides ideas of how they can be implemented in the classroom. Another site I like to use is The Journal. This site is a professional publication that is free to subscribe to. It has so many resources and covers many topics in educational technology from new technologies to budgets to classroom practices. It is easy to spend hours on this site and not even know it.