self assessment

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d4pbcwj_0dpp59pfs

tobox info!

Tokbox is really cool! You can easily send video messages to other people and have live conversations with others through it. You can speak to up to 20 people at once. This tool was a lot of fun to work with and very easy to use.

tokbox!

TokBox - Free Video Chat and Video Messaging

spreadsheet

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tw9n0Z70vljXDIGHHekVA6A&output=html

web2.0

ODE website!

• How can I make use of graphic organizers to illustrate concepts I’ll be teaching?

Graphic organizers will help map the mind as it actively works. It can help with critical thinking and help students get their ideas out and onto a page. Within language arts, they would be particularly beneficial during the outline and organizing of ideas phases of writing papers. They can help break down whole and inter-relational parts of an idea or set of of ideas.

• How will this be useful?

Teaching high-end learners can be very difficult. The teacher does not want to bore the student with dull or repetitive information and wants to motivate and continue building success. The document helps idea many specific ways to involve a high-end student. The strategies will be useful in engaging students who may already have mastered, but can still greatly benefit from the classroom material. I specifically like the song lyrics exercise. That would be very engaging!

• What should teachers understand about the state content tests?

Teachers should understand, first, what is on the content test. Second, in regards to this document concerning high-end and TAG students, teachers should understand what these students are going to be tested on. I like how it has sections specifically addressed to TAG needs to be addressed for state testing. It gets very specific about what students need to know. It will be a very helpful reference tool in the future.

Yodio - UNTITLED Yodio by jgundlac

web 2.0

Web 2.0 is awesome! It is a great on-line storage area for various web applications and services. One can access software and files anytime, from any computer. It is a great central source for various on-line tools that I can use in my classroom.

Yodio is great because students will be able to instantly upload audio files from anywhere. They can make interactive files to upload to the web. Other students can then comment and leave feedback from anywhere as well.

Skype will be a very useful tool as well. Students can talk to each other and teachers can communnicate as well. Live feed can help students discuss or work on ASL for example, from home!

AWESOME!!!!

Blogs Away!

1. Teaching is a profession chosen in love and concern for other people. Various external situations, people, structures, and religion all played key roles in my decision to become a teacher. Though many important developments occurred within me through school and the subject matter explored, they were primarily intellectual and did not move or mold me like real life. Education can definitely open people up to new worlds and ways of thinking, but my primary sources of influence in deciding to become a teacher come from life experiences and relationships with other people more so than actual studies.

I am definitely of the bent that the basis of education and development exists in positive relationships and opportunity. In identifying the most influential moments for me in deciding to teach, I think about the people who gave me opportunity, time, motivation, and security. Mrs. Martin, my high school English teacher, has been and still is a huge influence on me. I did not have a computer at home so she would let me stay in her classroom to do homework. She would help me and even let me stay after she was gone as long as I locked the door. Not that she would just let anyone stay after, but we had a great relationship and trusted each other. There was also a time when she helped me with a paper during her entire lunch. Most teachers understandably want a break, but she wanted to make sure I could get a good grade on her assignment. I do not remember what the assignment was or what she exactly helped me with after school, but I remember that she cared and wanted me to succeed. It was the relationship itself that molded me rather than what we were talking about. I also tried more in her class than any others.

My high school basketball coach Dave Long had a huge impact on me as well. No one has ever had such high expectations and demands from me. He helped me to become the absolute best player that I could be. I do not think anyone has yelled at me or frustrated me as much as him. People learn different ways and he knew that I worked best in high pressure and demanding situations. Regarding the zone of proximal development, I think he almost force led me to places I did not think I could go. I was never an amazing basketball player, but was the best that I could be and at the end of high school felt very accomplished and satisfied.

Mrs. Martin and Coach Long helped set me in the direction of teaching and I arrived at Willamette in pursuit of a teaching degree as a Sophomore transfer. I majored in English and knew I wanted to be a teacher. I gradated in 2008 and worked in the "real world" for a year before beginning the masters program. Working in business and sales definitely solidified my decision to teach. The endless cycles of numbers, projections, money-oriented goals, and corporate concerns did not satisfy me one bit. Though the schooling is definitely tough, I am much happier here than in business.

2. Using blogs has positive educational uses. It taps into the world that our students are growing up in and makes use of products already familiar to them. The digital age has changed how people interact with the world and education needs to act accordingly. Introducing technology products to education brings the context familiar to most students into the classroom. Blogs also allow all students a chance to speak, whereas students often do not want to speak in front of their classmates. Further, the responses will be more thorough because students will have the oppportunity to reflect on material and discussion when writing something later on a blog. Blogs also give students access to their peers' thoughts and allows them to engage and comment themselves. It is conducive to a constructivist classroom and allows for students to bounce ideas off of each other and build knowledge together.