Blog Post #1

     My name is Kristie McNair.   I am writing this blog as a requirement for my EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama.  I am an elementary education major, and I hope to graduate in the spring of 2013.  In addition to being a student, I am a wife and a mother of two beautiful girls.  My husband John and I have been married 10 years this October, and our daughters Natalie, who is 8, and Rylie Grace, our 3 year old, are the  light of our lives.  Being a wife, mom and  student keeps me very busy, but when I have time I love to read and spend time with my family and friends. I have lived in Citronelle, Al my whole life, and  I also love to spend as much time at the beach and in the mountains as possible.
     I am so excited to become a teacher!  That is what I have always wanted to do. Even though I took a few years off with my children and then worked for a short time in banking, there was no doubt that  I would eventually finish my degree to teach.  I was blessed to have some wonderful teachers while I was in school, and they helped to inspire a love of learning that I hope to pass on to my own students.  I think EDM310 is going to be a challenge for me, because the one area that I'm really not confident in yet is technology.  I can turn on my laptop and search the web and facebook a bit, but I've never done a blog, or a tweet, or  any of the other things Dr.  Strange told us we will do this semester.  I have a feeling though, by the end of the semester that I will be able to go into a classroom with the knowledge to help my students be as technologically prepared as they need to be.
     The Randy Pausch video had some really good tips for time management.  It really helps to hear that it's ok to not take on every task, and if there's ont a good reason to just cross it off your to do list.  If it doesn't have a good "why" as to why you're doing it you may be wasting your time.  I have never thought of my time as a currency, either, but after hearing his explanation, it makes my time seem much more valuable.  my favorite thing he said, though, was about procrastination.  If you have to eat three frogs, don't eat the smallest one first.  That's really a great reminder to get the most difficult tasks out of the way first,  so that you don't have to dread them.  That tip I'm putting into practice immediately!  Unfortunately, Randy Pausch passed away due to pancreatic cancer in 2008.