Selena Phillips- Introduction

Hello all. My name is Selena Phillips and I currently teach 6,7, and 8th grade science. I have been teaching for nine years, with science being my favorite subject to teach. I have also taught history and language arts. I graduated from University of Memphis with my Bachelor's degree in K-6th elementary education degree. I have an added middle school endorsement and I am certified to teach a ll subjects K-9th grade. I also hold a Master's from ECU in Science Education. 

I feel that with my county being behind in technology, I am able to integrate a fair amount of student use of technology in my classroom. Unfortunately, our county system was hit with a Ransomware cyber attack and debilitated our internet system. We did not have internet access at all for the first fur months of school. Our county is still having issues with certain sites we are able to go to, as well as even using certain devices in our classroom. I enrolled in this course in hopes of eventually of having a career change in the instructional technology field. 

I am hoping to learn various ways of integrating more technology in the classroom. I am concerned that some of the websites or advances I will be introduced to will not work at my school because of the huge restriction our county put on us because of the Ransomware attack. It truly is frustrating some of the well known educational sites I am unable to access because of these restrictions.  

I am currently using digital vocabulary with QR codes, my students science books are online and I love when students create online blogging as a form of projects.  

My biggest issue this semester is trying to work around the issues with internet with my county. It is mind boggling that an entire school system can be debilitated for such a long time with a cyber attack.