Hi, I’m Melody Johnson.
I live in Orrville and graduated from Ashland University with my BA in
ECE in 2007. After I graduated I wasn’t able to find a permanent teaching
position and took a position working for the ELI program at Childtime, Inc.
That led to an administrative ELI position with Wayne/Medina Co. Community Action
in early 2008. Unfortunately for me, later that year the state budget needed to
be balanced a little more effectively and what the government gives, the
government can take away, and the ELI program was no more. I was lucky in the fact that I was able to be
shuffled to the Head Start Department. I ended up liking the position and have
stayed with it since then.
I am a Family Visitor with Early Head Start. I work with
pregnant moms through the birth of their children and children up to the age of
3. I conduct weekly lessons in the home of the pregnant mom or child. I follow
a curriculum and create individual lessons based on the educational needs of the
family and child. Much of my work is focused on educating the parents on best
practices for their specific child, providing social service intervention, and
wrap around work with other agencies that the family might be involved with.
While I enjoy what I do and feel very positive about the
impact of my work with the families I serve, my original objective was to work
in an elementary classroom and so I decided to revisit that goal. It had been a
while since I had graduated and I decided to make myself more marketable and
brush up on current teaching methodologies, and so here I am.
I currently use Facebook and Goodreads as my preferred social
media. I have a Pintrest account but never use it. I consider myself to be more
of an observer. I have one person on Facebook that I occasionally chat with and
I think this is more of a holdover from the days when we used to Instant
Message each other. I do not post pictures of myself (I’ve never taken a
selfie), I rarely post status updates (maybe once a month), and I don’t request
friends unless I know the person in more than a casual manner (although I
usually can’t resist adding a friend if someone else requests it first). I don’t join groups and I don’t play games.
I’m a bit more active on Goodreads due to the fact that it
is less personal and about the books – if you make it that way. I enjoy reading
book reviews and I occasionally review books myself. I have “friended” people
on Goodreads that I do not know because I have similar tastes in books or enjoy
reading the reviews they post. I was familiar with most of the other types of
social media described by the author – Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr –
but have never felt compelled to try them out.
I had never heard of Yik Yak or Medium.
The most interesting part the author’s article, to me, wasn’t
his take on the types of technology kids his age are using but the overarching
idea that everyone was using something. It’s pretty obvious that as a
means to social interaction I couldn’t care less about technology. I respect
its purpose and power, and am eager to try out new methods of teaching using
technology, but it isn’t an ingrained necessity. To me, it’s just another tool.
I have a 17 year old nephew and sometimes I think if you
took away his smartphone, laptop(s), desktop(s), tablet(s), and gaming systems
he might keel over on the spot from the sudden lack of electromagnetic
radiation in his personal space. (He’s also studying for a future in
web/computer design, lest you think him horribly spoiled). These objects that he uses to interact with
the world aren’t just a means to an end or another tool to him. They’re part of
his social consciousness and are inextricably intertwined with his daily life.
That has huge implications, especially for me as a teacher that will be
gathering 25 children of a certain age into a classroom that all have my nephew’s
mindset. I have to teach to the society they are growing up in, not in the one
I did.
I’d really like to say thanks if you actually managed to
stick with this and read all the way through. I’ve never written a blog before
and this turned out more like a paper I had to turn in for a class than
personal thoughts or reflections. Hopefully I’ll be able to loosen up a bit as
I do this more!
Thanks for sharing your views! I found the post to be really interesting, especially your insight into your nephew's use of technology. The idea that tech is intwined with his way of life is something that has amazed me for a few years now. It's almost like we don't need to necessarily teach "technology" in school, because the kids just get it. They know the tools and how to use them. I think the focus has to become what we ask them to use tech for. That's where the art of teaching comes in... Hope you enjoy the course!
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