Who am I and Why am I creating this Blog

My name is Melanie Arrington. I have been married to Jeff for 10 years and we have two wonderful girls, Emma 7 years old and Ella 4 years old. I currently live in Cedartown, Georgia. I have been teaching in a classroom setting for 15 years.

I am currently a 1^st grade teacher at Elm Street Elementary School in the Rome City School System. I have taught 1st, 2nd, and 4th grade. I enjoy teaching younger students because they are so ready to learn and curious. I also enjoy using technology.  I am always looking for ways to use technology in everything I do.   

I earned my B.A. in Early Childhood Education from Shorter College in Rome, Georgia. I then earned my Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education with a technology add-on at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama.  I went on to further my education and received my Specialist degree in Educational Leadership from Lincoln Memorial University in Harrgot, Tennessee. I am currently working on a Media Specialist and Instructional Technology certificate from the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Georgia.  

My goal with this blog is to help other educators incorporated technology into their daily lives.  This year I have had to opportunity to help instruct a staff development on Technology Integration.  My entire faculty and staff meets once a month for an hour to learn ways to use the current technology we have available at our school.  I would like for this blog to serve as a resource to those faculty members.  They will be able to come here and review items we discussed in the meeting and also ask questions.  

ThingLink Project

This first app/program is not one that we discussed in our monthly meeting but you should be familiar with it from a training with the coaches.  I used Thinglink to introduce myself and my family. 

 This is not only an app but a web based program also.  You select an image and then add hot spots.  When you add a hot spot you have the option of adding text, video, pictures, or a link to another website.  There are endless opportunities to use this in the classroom. My first graders used this to create their Black History month project.  

Be sure to check over on the right side, under meetings to see a list by date and content for more information on topics we have discussed within our meeting.