WELCOME

Welcome committed parents of Mr. Salazar's class to the wonderful world of technology.  I thank for your time and interest in the future of your child's education. This blog will be home base for our technology fundraising efforts. With this blog you can see:

1. The technology goals of our class. 
2. The progress towards those goals. 
3. Examples of how your child's education will be greatly supplemented with technology.
4. How you can keep a hands on position in the class and with your child.

THE GOAL

The goal in our fundraising efforts is not to secure the latest and greatest gadget. The district, school, and myself have only goal in mind: improving the education of your students. The reality of today's young person is that they are visually and graphically motivated the majority of the time. Television, Ipods, and computers are how many of your children spend their time. Roblyer and Doering (2010) state, "Some educators assert that today’s television-oriented students are increasingly likely to demand moremotivational qualities in their instruction than studentsin previous generations did" (pp. 49). Technology will assist me as an educator to appeal to your child in the same manner as the other items in their environment. This will in turn bring us to our final destination: IMPROVED GRADES AND PREPARATION FOR THE FUTURE!

THE NEED

To direct towards the above mentioned goal, two items are immediately needed for the class: 3 desktop computers and 1 Smart Board.

     3 Desktop Computers
First, let me state that a desktop computer is preferred to a notebook computer mainly due to security reasons. It is a lot easier to walk off with a notebook computer than a desktop. The desktop computer will have two immediate uses (the number of uses will grow quickly after installation of the devices):

1. Online tutorials to supplement class lectures. 

• Math tutorials are available in the style of many of today's popular games. The games are altered to utilize mathematic principles, such as in Math Lines 11. 

     Smart Board
The Smart Board is one of the latest tools available to teachers to improve the quality of education in the class room. A Smart Board can be used hands on to involve your child in the lesson. Involvement and activity help appeal to the media-oriented minds of today's child. Below is an example of a US Geography activity possible with the Smart Board.

YOUR ROLE

As always, the parental role in a child's education is essential. I beckon with you to get involved in any way, great or small with our fundraising efforts. Your child's education and future will be impacted greatly by your effort. There are three main ways for you to stay involved with this aspect of your child's education.

1. Involve yourself in any way possible with the fundraisers listed on this blog. 
2. Initiate a fundraising activity to assist us in reaching our goals. 
3. Communicate to other parents and myself on this blog. You can comment on any post by using the comment box at the end of the submission. 

Thank you again for your dedication to your child's future. Without parent involvement, an educator is only a mouthpiece in front of any empty white or green board. With your help we can greatly improve the quality of your child's education and future.

Mr. Salazar

Roblyer, M.D. & Doering, A. (2010). Integrating Education Technology into Teaching. (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson.