Well, as my title says, howdy!!  I am new to this blogging thing, so if I am fumbling a bit at the beginning, please give me a  little time to get the hang of it.  My name is Ravan and I currently am a K-5 technology teacher in New Jersey (I was born in State College if that gives me any cred).  My school is in the suburbs of New York City, and my students come from vastly varying economic situations which absolutely impacts instruction in the building.  In addition to delivering curriculum, I am also the first line of “defense” for keeping the technology in the building up and running as well as providing professional development and tech support to the entire staff.  I will say it keeps me quite busy, but I would rather be busy than bored.

As for my use of the internet, I have come to realize that I am becoming a bit of a screen addict, which obviously is problematic.  My school is a Google school, so when teaching, I am on the internet in some capacity 95% of the time.  When I am not teaching, I am often using the internet to figure out a random issue that is occurring in the building, scheduling classes (I also do that for my building), setting up state testing (add that to the list also), or most importantly searching for new lessons and projects to keep things current and interesting for my students.  None of that includes the far too many hours that I spend trolling social media, news sites, Pinterest, etc.  So, without a doubt, the internet is an essential tool in regards to my job, but, I think I need to make a conscious effort to try to step away a bit more at home unless I am doing something for work/grad school.

Spare time……hmm, well, you already know I am a bit of a screen hog, but I largely considered that wasted spare time.  When I do pull myself away from the screen (gee, my “problem” is sounding worse and worse as I type this) I really enjoy being in the great outdoors.  When it isn’t freezing cold out, I really enjoy hiking and camping and find they are essential to my sanity.  I am also really enjoy reading, but I am a binge reader.  I’ll read 8 books in a month and then not touch a book for months; I guess life gets in the way.  Finally, when I am being a healthy, fully functioning adult I try to spend a few days a week at my CrossFit gym.  Healthy body, healthy mind, or so they say.  I almost forgot my talents, I would say that I am exceptional at being a jack of all trades.  I am not particularly excellent or truly talented at one particular thing but am fairly decent at just about most things.  So if you need someone who is just ok at many things, then I’m your gal.