Saw this and thought what a great gift making idea for holidays. Check it out.
Design, Create, Inspire!: Chevron Cork Board: Shopping List · 24”x24” black frame · 24”x24” cork with backing · Gray acrylic paint · 1.5 yards assorted ...
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
It's been a long time...time flies by...and all that jazz...
So my daughter keeps reminding me every week that it have not posted a new blog, so this one goes out to her. Actually she brought me home a very good article from school called, The Trouble with Homework by Annie Murphy Paul which raises a lot of valid points on the whole homework issue and rote memorization method and how much are school kids really retaining from these types of methods.
I had to chuckle to myself last night because I was going through my sons graded tests and homework assignments and found his spelling test from last week with 100%, A+, and a WOW!! written on it from his teacher. I was so happy for him and felt satisfied as a parent for drilling him every day on the week's spelling words. The teacher as assigns 5 "challenge words" for students that want to go the extra mile to excel which he got correct as well. She apparently asks those students to write it at the top of there paper I am guessing so she knows who attempted the words. The reason I laughed at this point was because there at the top of my son's A+ paper was written "challin list" and her correction on top "challenge". Obviously memorizing words for 3 days and testing on Thursday is really helping him to retain practically none of the words that he is given every week. In fact it has become almost a sport of "how quickly can I learn these words and spit them back out to get a good grade so I don't have to worry about them anymore" for my son. It really becomes painfully obvious when we work together on writing short essays or answers to questions and he asks me how to spell words that I know have been on previous spelling tests. The solution to this...I am not sure yet, but I an going to work on finding out these next couple of months and do some research. Honestly the science of learning has been a very fascinating area of study to me ever since I read the book "The Edison Gene" by Thom Hartman. Right now I am trying to get started on read a book called "Why Boys Fail" by Richard Whitmire...Saving our Sons from the Educational System That's Leaving Them Behind. I think as educators our homework assignment should be to find better ways for children to learn and if something isn't working them it is our responsibility to find a different, a better way.
I do have to point out that this year in his 4th grade class the teacher sends home a "monthly packet" of about 25 pages front and page. This packet has different kinds of activities from math, writing, social studies, reading, English, coloring, and puzzles incorporating the subjects. If the kids complete the packet by the end of the month then they get to participate in a class party at the beginning of the next month. If they do not complete the packet then they are sent to "study hall" at the library were the get to work on the packet. Getting through the first month's packet was a bit rough, but once my son was able to enjoy the reward he was excited to get started on the next month packet immediately. I am still out to lunch on how much of the information he is learning or retaining from the packet, but I love that it keeps him motivated to do some academic work after-school to avoid falling behind. I do think it is a great thing to try so that students get away from the whole "I have homework to do tonight" and instead they can learn to be organized, pace themselves on how much or how little to do, and earn a reward at the end. I have definitely in favor of doing things to put students in control of their learning experience, instead of pressuring them to learn. We shall definitely see what the pros and cons are with this type of learning with time.
I am also working on studying on the Praxis I test that I need to take in order to apply to the secondary teacher certification program as BSU. It's been forever since I have taken an English class at the college level, so I am feeling a bit rusty and have been reading through guides to see what I am exactly up against. My goal is to take the test by December, so I can apply for the program by Spring of next year. Good to have goals right??
Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are right around the corner...with it comes the cold weather. I will be my best to keep everyone posted on my learning experience and new developments that come up.
Have a great day!!
I had to chuckle to myself last night because I was going through my sons graded tests and homework assignments and found his spelling test from last week with 100%, A+, and a WOW!! written on it from his teacher. I was so happy for him and felt satisfied as a parent for drilling him every day on the week's spelling words. The teacher as assigns 5 "challenge words" for students that want to go the extra mile to excel which he got correct as well. She apparently asks those students to write it at the top of there paper I am guessing so she knows who attempted the words. The reason I laughed at this point was because there at the top of my son's A+ paper was written "challin list" and her correction on top "challenge". Obviously memorizing words for 3 days and testing on Thursday is really helping him to retain practically none of the words that he is given every week. In fact it has become almost a sport of "how quickly can I learn these words and spit them back out to get a good grade so I don't have to worry about them anymore" for my son. It really becomes painfully obvious when we work together on writing short essays or answers to questions and he asks me how to spell words that I know have been on previous spelling tests. The solution to this...I am not sure yet, but I an going to work on finding out these next couple of months and do some research. Honestly the science of learning has been a very fascinating area of study to me ever since I read the book "The Edison Gene" by Thom Hartman. Right now I am trying to get started on read a book called "Why Boys Fail" by Richard Whitmire...Saving our Sons from the Educational System That's Leaving Them Behind. I think as educators our homework assignment should be to find better ways for children to learn and if something isn't working them it is our responsibility to find a different, a better way.
I do have to point out that this year in his 4th grade class the teacher sends home a "monthly packet" of about 25 pages front and page. This packet has different kinds of activities from math, writing, social studies, reading, English, coloring, and puzzles incorporating the subjects. If the kids complete the packet by the end of the month then they get to participate in a class party at the beginning of the next month. If they do not complete the packet then they are sent to "study hall" at the library were the get to work on the packet. Getting through the first month's packet was a bit rough, but once my son was able to enjoy the reward he was excited to get started on the next month packet immediately. I am still out to lunch on how much of the information he is learning or retaining from the packet, but I love that it keeps him motivated to do some academic work after-school to avoid falling behind. I do think it is a great thing to try so that students get away from the whole "I have homework to do tonight" and instead they can learn to be organized, pace themselves on how much or how little to do, and earn a reward at the end. I have definitely in favor of doing things to put students in control of their learning experience, instead of pressuring them to learn. We shall definitely see what the pros and cons are with this type of learning with time.
I am also working on studying on the Praxis I test that I need to take in order to apply to the secondary teacher certification program as BSU. It's been forever since I have taken an English class at the college level, so I am feeling a bit rusty and have been reading through guides to see what I am exactly up against. My goal is to take the test by December, so I can apply for the program by Spring of next year. Good to have goals right??
Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are right around the corner...with it comes the cold weather. I will be my best to keep everyone posted on my learning experience and new developments that come up.
Have a great day!!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Catching up with my blog...
Well I really enjoyed my Spanish Conversation class that I took this summer. I got a fantastic grade, but I learned a lot about my culture and I can't wait to take another one. I did my oral presentation on astrology in Spanish which was really out of my comfort zone, but I wanted to do something totally different from what I normally do. I am working on including it her on this blog but I created it in windows so I am having trouble getting a link on her to show a decent power point. I will continue to work on this, so if you want to check it out you can.
I was able to see some short films, but the one I really enjoyed the most was an Uruguayan short film called "El Ojo en la nuca" with one of my favorite actors Gael Garcia Bernal. I have included the link for the first part of this film below:
We also learned about different Latin American authors, and one of my favorites was Juan Gelman who is an Argentinian author. His letter to his grandchild was very moving to me and it is entitled "Carta abierta a mi nieto". His story was terribly tragic, but one I was interested to learn about as it discussed a very terrible political era in Argentina called the Dirty War which lead to the formation of a group called the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. The history of this time is so interesting to me because of how shocking it was to me that this occurred close to where one of my parents is from.
I also learned about Jaoquin Salvador Lavado also known as Quino who created the cartoon Mafalda.
Here is a cute commentary with Mafalda on YouTube:
I hope to take a Spanish Lit class next semester and I am gearing up for the Praxis exam. Hope everyone is having a great summer!!
I was able to see some short films, but the one I really enjoyed the most was an Uruguayan short film called "El Ojo en la nuca" with one of my favorite actors Gael Garcia Bernal. I have included the link for the first part of this film below:
We also learned about different Latin American authors, and one of my favorites was Juan Gelman who is an Argentinian author. His letter to his grandchild was very moving to me and it is entitled "Carta abierta a mi nieto". His story was terribly tragic, but one I was interested to learn about as it discussed a very terrible political era in Argentina called the Dirty War which lead to the formation of a group called the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. The history of this time is so interesting to me because of how shocking it was to me that this occurred close to where one of my parents is from.
I also learned about Jaoquin Salvador Lavado also known as Quino who created the cartoon Mafalda.
Here is a cute commentary with Mafalda on YouTube:
I hope to take a Spanish Lit class next semester and I am gearing up for the Praxis exam. Hope everyone is having a great summer!!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
One class down and one more to go
My final is tomorrow in my foundations of education class. This course went by so quickly but I did learn a lot of things. My group presentation on the role of technology in education went really well. I will be posting it as soon as I can. Today we watched a video called "Changing Education Paradigms" that was very interesting and presented in a way that always keeps you focused with animation. I liked it so much I am going to post it for all of my followers to watch. This animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA's Benjamin Franklin award. See if any of this makes sense to you as to why our educational system is always in need of reform. Enjoy!!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Ahhh...yes....the joys of summer school
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| Does this sound about right? |
Another quick post to let you know I am enjoying my ED CIFS class on the foundations of education. I am learning some very cool things.
Just got done with my own Personal Philosophy of Education, a paper that I will be posting on my portfolio. I have a group presentation on the role of technology in schools that will be due at the end of this month, that will look awesome on my portfolio as well. Hopefully I can convince my group to do a power point presentation to go with it.
This class seems like it's moving so quickly. It's done next week!!
Does anyone have any fun Memorial Day weekend plans? I need a break!
JoAn :)
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
A quick new post to let you know what is new....
I survived my first semester at BSU. Okay it really wasn't that bad because I only took ED TECH 202 and it was online. Looks like I got an A in the class which is awesome!! Here is the link for my site:
JoAn's Teaching Technology Portfolio Site
If you find time to look at it and notice any errors like spelling, grammar, links that don't work properly please, please let me know. There were many late night spent creating it, and I know that my thinking was probably not at its best when it was creating. :)
It's summer time and I just started ED-CIFS 201 which is a foundations of education course. It is a small class which is nice and it is moving at a very quick pace which I like. I will post more about what I am learning when I have a bit more time. Until then keep checking back for updates in the exciting world of education.
JoAn
JoAn's Teaching Technology Portfolio Site
If you find time to look at it and notice any errors like spelling, grammar, links that don't work properly please, please let me know. There were many late night spent creating it, and I know that my thinking was probably not at its best when it was creating. :)
It's summer time and I just started ED-CIFS 201 which is a foundations of education course. It is a small class which is nice and it is moving at a very quick pace which I like. I will post more about what I am learning when I have a bit more time. Until then keep checking back for updates in the exciting world of education.
JoAn
Friday, May 6, 2011
Cinco de Mayo
Wow!! Did everyone have a good Cinco de Mayo?? I did, but busy as ever still working on my final portfolio for ED TECH and trying to find the time to start up my family reunion website also. (maybe when finals are done.) 
BIG note to myself...Cinco de Mayo is a great holiday to do something special in a Spanish class. Need to work on researching some possible lesson plans for the holiday and well as some education for students on it. Like did you know that Cinco de Mayo is NOT the day of Mexican Independence?? Most people don't know that or as least people here in the U.S. Well just checking in and letting everyone know where I am at. Can't believe we are just about done with this semester and Summer term starts in a couple of week...where does the time run off to? Can someone tell me?
Oh and by the way, here is the link to my completed PowerPoint Presentation, an electronic review to be used with a class or given to an individual student as electronic flashcards, that I promised I would post. It is on my files page listed as: Echols Review
JoAn :)
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Currently working on...
It's been a bit since I have posted, but I wanted to let you know that I have been working on somethings lately. I just completed a lesson plan presentation that you can view on my website. Click on the link below to check it out:
¡Hay que comer! Curricular Lesson Plan Presentation
I am currently working on a PowerPoint Presentation to help my students review information. I will be designing an electronic review to be used with a class or given to an individual student as electronic flashcards. I will post the link once I have completed that.
I am also working on completing my Teaching Technology Portfolio Website for my Final project in Educational Technology 202. Once that is in top shape I will let you know.
Beyond that I have the Summer Session at BSU starting soon. I am taking 2 courses, one in Spanish, and the other in ED CIFS. I will keep everyone posted. Keep checking in because you never know what cool, new and exciting things I have to share. Until next post...keep on learning new things!
¡Hay que comer! Curricular Lesson Plan Presentation
I am currently working on a PowerPoint Presentation to help my students review information. I will be designing an electronic review to be used with a class or given to an individual student as electronic flashcards. I will post the link once I have completed that.
I am also working on completing my Teaching Technology Portfolio Website for my Final project in Educational Technology 202. Once that is in top shape I will let you know.
Beyond that I have the Summer Session at BSU starting soon. I am taking 2 courses, one in Spanish, and the other in ED CIFS. I will keep everyone posted. Keep checking in because you never know what cool, new and exciting things I have to share. Until next post...keep on learning new things!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Welcome to Learning, Innovation, & Technology
Welcome to my teaching with technology Blog created in 2011. This will be a valuable resource of teaching information not only for myself, but for fellow collegues in the education field. At the moment most of the information that you will find will be geared towards teaching Spanish to high school students, but I may add other types of subjects that I may use in in the future. Please keep in mind that this is a work in progress. Feel free to add anything that is relevant to the subject. Thanks and I hope you enjoy and learn from what you find.
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