ORGANIZATION is the Key!

"So, now I've got the information I was looking for on the Internet, but how do I organize it?"
My task for the day was to 1) Set up a web-based calendar that can be shared and 2) Create a social bookmarking account and post links to information of interest.
As someone who often times micro-organizes I am really excited about the google calendar that I set up. However, many times I like to write my to-do lists in my planner just so I can make a check next to it when it's done. I'm a little apprehensive to shifting entirely to an online calendar because of that reason. Thinking further ahead though, to a day when I will have my own classroom, I would like to be able to incorporate these new technologies with my students and their parents. One feature that I really like about the google calendar is the option of subscribing to others' calendars. I can see many benefits of posting an online, web-based calendar of assignments, tests, and even field trips for parents to link to and cut down on the amount of paper copies that have to be sent home each week as reminders. As an elementary educator I feel that the use of this linking of calendars could potentially provide my students with a stronger reinforcement to get their work done at home, as their parents will be able to see exactly what I expect them to complete. Having this online calendar is also a great tool for students who are absent in that they can see exactly what they missed. While this type of techonology has many advantages, it's by no means the best. The most obvious hinderance of relying on technology so much is that it is not an even playing field. Not everyone has the same technological opportunities at home. Coming from a very small farming community I know the difficulties of growing up without a computer to use for schoolwork. I never had the Internet at home and my siblings (who are still in school) are still at a disadvantage because of the lack of technology in my household and community.
The second organization tool that we looked at today was social bookmarking. I set up an account with www.ikeepbookmarks.com and made several different folders ranging from Deaf Education to State of MI Curriculum and linked to different sites with information that I found of interest. As I continue to find credible, noteworthy websites it is my goal to add them to my account in different folders. The best part about the social bookmarking tool is that I can bookmark pages and not be limited to the specific computer that I bookmarked them to. On my desktop comuter in my room I have a huge list of bookmarks of various sites that I often refer back to. The disadvantage for me with my bookmarks is that those websites don't show up on the bookmark list of any other computer I use. With www.ikeepbookmarks.com I am able to store my bookmards on the web and have access from any computer I am using. I can see myself integrating this kind of social bookmarking tool into my classroom in many ways, to benefit myself, my students, and their parents. For myself, I can bookmark pages both at home and at school so I am not limited to the resources I find depending on where I am working. For my students, assigning research projects with the endless opportunities of surfing the web can be intimidating. I could use a social bookmarking account to limit what they view, making our computer time more time efficient and protecting them from stumbling upon unwanted information. Parents can also benefit from a social bookmarking account that has resources for them, both in the community and on the web. Resources such as different ways to help your student study to links to community programs could be incorporated into this account.