Blog Post #4

1. When I first started using Twitter for this class, I was extremely confused because the setup is not quite the same as Instagram. In order to see your own page, you have to click through a few things. I didn't know that in order to add a comment to something you retweet, you have to click "Quote Tweet" so that you can add the class hashtag. I haven't really been interacting with anyone besides the organizations I follow. Sometimes, I'll retweet what they have posted. Posts on Twitter are beneficial because instead of having to read a long article to find the main point of the article, the main point can be posted in 240 characters or less. I think Twitter can be incredibly helpful in future classrooms. When I was in grade school, teachers would post updates on their class websites, but no one bothered checking those websites. If teachers tweeted out a brief reminder of homework or a test, then students would see it when they're already scrolling through Twitter. In my future career as a lawyer, Twitter can be a resource that would provide me with extremely current information. I think it's easier to follow organizations on Twitter rather than Facebook. Although I'm still not entirely acquainted with the app, I find it less annoying because I only follow a few organizations rather than the 200+ people whose posts appear in my timeline on Facebook. Twitter doesn't allow length, rambling posts much like my blogs and others' Facebook posts, so it's much easier to scroll through. As a lawyer, I can also use Twitter to find things that people might have tweeted out to help my case. 
2. I relate more to the digital divide more than any other topic we have covered in class thus far. From the time I was a fifth grader to Sophomore year, we did not have internet access at home. My single mother simply could not afford it. So when she got off work when I was in middle school, she would pick us up from home and we'd go straight to the library. We'd have to get our homework done in the two hours that the library was open. As discussed, students in low SES schools experience this problem a lot. Internet access is expensive. I know that a single mother is going to have an extremely difficult time paying for internet when all of her paycheck goes to rent, food, and other bills. Instead of being able to consult the internet when they don't understand a homework problem, they have to tough through it unless their parent is able to help. I think this greatly impacts their success. The internet is full of academic resources, such as YouTube videos that provide tutoring, and when a student isn't able to get the additional help they need, it may cause them to fall behind. I remember one of the most annoying things was when a teacher would only give a day to get a project done that required the internet and sometimes that wouldn't be enough. In high school, I'd have to walk to the  public library after school to get stuff done and then wait hours for my mom to pick me up when she got off of work. If a student doesn't have enough time to complete their work, it can cause them to get a late grade. I would want to avoid any of the inconveniences I experienced as a student. If a student will need the internet for homework, I will want to provide them time to either go to the media center to work on their homework and enough time before their assignment is due. 
3. As I have seen in my education, I think Microsoft Word and PowerPoint will be used frequently in my classroom if I were to become a forth grade teacher. Although forth teachers only teacher one subject usually, PowerPoint will be used in any subject. I think I would lean more towards math. If I had a Smart Board or something similar, I could use a PowerPoint to create the slides that I would write on with my Smart Board. I would use Word to create the tests. Any software that doesn't have to do with math, I obviously wouldn't use. If there is a math software that requires access for each student to be bought, I probably wouldn't use that either. I know things are going to be different in the future, but for now, I don't think forth grade math students are going to be using a lot of technology.