Inspirational Quote of the Day

Motivational video of the Day

Who says teachers don’t work over the summer?

It took me the better part of a week, but I am finally unpacked. The room is coming along slowly, but I’d say that it is almost ready for the students, and yet there is still so much to do. It has been an exciting week meeting the new teachers that I will be working with. I am feeling very fortunate to be teaching in such a wonderful school district. Check out the pictures of the progress below.

The Fiction Section

The Computers

The Guided Reading and small group Area

Writing Anchor Charts

Picture of the Day

End of Day #1

At the end of day one the closets have all been cleaned out! Now to just take care of the rest of the room.... 

First Day

Today was the first day I could get into my new classroom. This is what my classroom looked like when I walked through the doors. I love the super large map on my wall and isn’t the flag awesome!

I spent my first day cleaning, organizing, sorting, and unpacking. At the end of day one it looks like I have barely made a dent, and I know there is still a lot more work to do, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Stay tuned for updates. 

Picture of the Day

Picture of the Day

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. You must be willing to take risks. Success doesn’t just happen.

Teaching Philosophy

As I prepare to teach 6th grade at APW Elementary I am filled with the excitement any new teacher feels this time of year. But for me this is not my first year preparing for a new batch of students, it is in fact my 17th time I will be blessed to meet a new group of students as they walk through that door on day 1, and feel the excitement that comes with the start of a new school year. Having the opportunity to teach on different teams over the last 16 years has armed me with a rare perspective of student learning and development, in addition to a flexibility in teaching methods. It is my philosophy to differentiate my instruction to reach every type of learner, so they can rise to their full individual potential. I set high standards for students with clear expectations, all while acting as a consistent model for students to follow in achieving the goals I set before them.  I use my role as teacher to motivate and encourage students to become critical thinkers and problem solvers. Additionally, I am willing to put forth the effort that it takes to make my students succeed and grow as learners. My experience gives me the ability to meet the challenges and changes that continue to develop in education, along with a strong foundation of strategies to support students. 

Final Reflection for EDU 505

•                What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

My favorite discoveries throughout this learning journey would definitely involve the blogging activities. I truly enjoyed learning about blogs and how to create them. I will certainly be using them more this year with my 6^th grade students. In the past I’ve had a classroom website. I was getting pretty good at updating my teacher site and communicating to parents through the site. For me using blogs is still new so I know that it will take me a little longer before I am completely comfortable using them, and I know I will continue to learn more and more each time I explore the technology. Therefore I foresee blogs becoming an important part of my instruction and communication between school and home.

•                How has this course assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

It is my goal to give each and every student what they need to be successful in whatever they choose to do with their life. I want to empower my students and engaging them in 21^st century digital literacies is going to be imperative to their future success. At the current time the types of technologies we’ve been exploring this semester are just in their infancy, but in the future, students are going to be engaging much more in a digital world and it is our job as educators to prepare them for the world.

•                Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this course that surprised you?

I was surprised with the ease of creating a blog. I thought it was going to be much harder. On the contrary, I thought creating the wiki would be relatively easy, but I ran into several obstacles that I had to overcome in order to complete the project. With that said, I do not think I’ll be using wikis right away with my students, not until I’m more comfortable with them, but I will be starting my blog before the students even walk through the door.

•                What could we do differently to improve upon this course’s format or concept?

I was always a little leary of taking an online course so I was hesitant to enroll in this one. I think one of the things that would help improve the student experience is to add a one time meeting for the students, perhaps at the very start of the course. That way the professor can provide a syllabus and a tutorial regarding the online content that we will be completing over the semester.

• If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?

Having participated the Web 2.0 technologies course I would be comfortable taking another online discovery course.  It was an effective way to independently engage in material and earn college credit at the same time.