ePortfolios

Here's a link to an article about overcoming different obstacles when authenticating ePortfolios. I think it's a good article to read, especially since Dr. Luongo, and many of the other Education professors use it as part of evaluating us as students.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/40147/

Enjoy!

♥

Myspace and Facebook for Today's Teacher

Honestly, I think that technology and the internet have made it easy to interact with friends, family, and even strangers, however, it has also created an issue in the workplace; where do we draw the line at personal privacy?

Although Myspace, Facebook, Xanga, etc. are all public networking websites, should principals or superintendents intentionally search these sites to get insight on a potential new teacher or current teachers in their school district? My personal opinion is no. I think that everyone is entitled to freedom of speech and able to express themselves however they deem fit and how a person's Myspace or Facebook page is does not determine how competent or able they are to conduct a classroom. I think searching these websites and determining whether or not to hire someone based off an impression from their page is wrong and discriminative. Although I do believe that personal judgement should be used by the person when posting information and pictures on their networking sites. For example, if you knowingly post a picture or blurb about yourself that you wouldn't want your boss, or potential boss, to see, maybe you shouldn't post that information or picture. But again, I still believe that regardless of what you have posted on your page, you should not be judged or eliminated as a candidate for a teaching position.

I, however, don't have a Myspace page and my Facebook page hardly has any pictures (untagged myself from all incriminating photos. lol). I just think that you have to be smart about what you post online because you never know who may come across it.

Thoughts on Lesson

I have not presented my lesson plan yet (I will this Friday) however, based on previous demo lessons I have done, and how are class reacts to each others' teaching, I'm a bit worried that I won't be as stern and strict as others. I do believe in disciplining students, however, I don't feel that yelling or raising my voice to make a student behave is necessary. In Teaching Language Arts (which is also with Dr. Luongo) my demo lesson seemed to go well with the class, even though at times I felt like I had lost control. Throughout the lesson, I had to speak to several students who were misbehaving, however, I did not have to raise my voice at all and the class was pretty well behaved. Hopefully on Friday, I'll be able to keep our class focused on the lesson and be able to redirect everyone's attention without having to yell at anyone.

I think that everyone has different approaches to teaching; stern, strict, kind, lenient, flexible, etc. I think that my style of teaching is more relaxed than other students in our class.

Overall, I think my lesson should go well with our class, and I think that even though my style of teaching and discipline is different than most of our class's, I should do well. *crosses fingers*

Progress Reports

I think progress reports are one of the most efficient methods of assessing students within the classroom. Progress reports don't have to have grades associated with them and offer insight into what a student is doing well or needs to improve. Progress reports also always parents the opportunity to understand how their child is doing in the classroom.

In my old school district, our progress reports included our current grade, as well as comments. I liked this type of progress report because it not only gave a grade but it explained how you attained that current grade and how you can approve it.

An example of this (and yes, this is from one of my old progress reports in high school) is:

Subject:
European History AP

Grade
B-

Comments
2, 5, 13

Comment 2: Participates well in class.
Comment 5: Does well on tests and quizzes.
Comment 13: Student is missing a few assignments.

Based on that progress report, I knew that in my history class, I was missing a few assignments so I needed to hand those in as soon as possible to increase my grade.

As a teacher, I would definitely use progress reports more frequently than each marking period. Instead, at the end of each month, I'd assess my students and send home progress reports with their journals. If teaching kindergarten or first grade, I would probably complete progress reports more frequently than once a month; probably twice a month or weekly. I wouldn't, however, attach a grade to the progress reports unless a student was doing poorly or exceptionally well and the parents needed to be aware of this.

Big Brother, Big Sister

So....

One of my goals in life is to become a Big Brother, Big Sister volunteer, and guess what? I'm in the process of becoming one! Yay! I'm so ecstatic. *smiles* Saint Peters' Community Service is becoming involved with the Big Brother, Big Sister Organization of Essex, Hudson, and Union Counties, and will help "Bigs" (mentors) get paired with "Littles" (children) from Jersey City public schools. I have an interview next Wednesday so hopefully I'll become a mentor. *crosses fingers*

Just wanted to share that with everyone. ;)

If you're interested in becoming a "Big", go to Community Service and speak to Betsy and get an application. It's only four hours a month to help a child that might need your guidance so I encourage everyone who can become a volunteer to do so.

And Our 44th President Is...

...BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA!!!!!

It makes me smile that 40 years after Robert Kennedy predicted that an African-American man could become president, it actually occurs. Barack Obama becoming president, as well as Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton being involved in the presidential campaigns as possible VP and President, encourages all to pursue their dreams and that anything is possible.

I'm so glad I can say that I was a part of history and that I voted AND IT MATTERED!!!!

Technology in the Classroom

So, after our mini debate in class about the pros and cons of the use of technology in the classroom (I, being very enthusiastic about the use) looked at numerous articles and videos about the topic and decided to share one of the videos. Hopefully after watching the video, the universal theme that technology will be used in classrooms, regardless of like or dislike of it, should be apparent to all. Beyond that, I think us, as teachers in the 21st century, should embrace all different types of methods of teaching involving technology, such as emphasizing the use of email, ebooks, blackboard, etc., to help reach and teach students, as well as using traditional methods.

Also, if opposed to using technology in the classroom, use technology to enforce and reiterate lessons and skills learned.

Enjoy the video! ;)

xOx Michelle