Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Journal 3

Seminar: “Restructuring for Caring and Effective Education: The Public Futures of Education”
Sitting in on the seminar on special education was awesome! I stayed for the first half which I hear was the better of the two anyway. I took so much away from this man’s lecture! My favorite things he said were:
*It is our job as educators to “create courageous children and youth”.
*the goal of educating is the same for all children and all types of learners.
*inclusive settings allow students with disabilities to thrive
*Equalence!!! Everyone plays and wins.
The most valuable thing I tool away from this seminar that I plan on taking into my classroom was the “Circle of Courage”. Dr. Villa told us that the circle is used by the Lakota Indians and stands for belonging, generosity, mastery and independence. All four of these things are a vital part of creating courageous learners. Once a student has a sense of belonging they are comfortable in the classroom and there for more likely to learn. When a child learns generosity they help others which in turns help them learn. If a person obtains mastery of something they are much more confidant and likely to be independent which is the last piece of the circle. Once a person has a sense of belong, generosity and mastery they can then be independent. This circle should be a part of a child’s learning throughout their years of school. Every teacher should be preparing children for their life of being an independent adult, in order to do so they should follow the circle model.

Question 1: What is the most important thing you took away from the seminar?
The most important thing I took away from the seminar was the circle of courage and the incorporation of “equalence” into my classroom. I love that made-up word!

Question 2: What did you think about the equity vs. excellence discussion?
I loved this portion of the seminar because it further proved the point I make on a regular basis about teachers who are losing focus of the real importance of teaching. Students should always be the main focus. Of course we have responsibilities to meet standards but too many teachers focus only on their standards and not on their students.

Sources:
6:15 – 7:30 "Restructuring for caring and effective education: The possible futures of education" Richard A. Villa (President, Bayridge Consortium Inc., San Diego).

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Journal 2

This article brought up so many interesting thoughts for me. The author displays both sides of the opinions educators may have about the use of technology in their classroom. She is, at first, thrilled with the idea of teaching her students through/with the aid of technology, but quickly realizes that there is more work in store for her than she had imagined. Sarah Heller McFarlane also learns how different her job as a teacher is when her job includes such heavy use of technology. Her role as a teacher seemed to change from educator to monitor in a matter of lessons. What seemed to be a blessing to a district quickly changed to a loss of communication and more frustrated students and teachers.
I think I would share Sarah’s frustrations. Feeling like you lose time and personal connection with your students is something every teacher dreads. As a future educator I value every moment I spend with my students and I definitely never want to miss out on communication with my students. Communication is the best tool to have in the classroom. Although technology is a huge part of how we live today; and how our world is ran, communication still comes first. Without good communication skills technology skills are less valid and much less valuable to me.

Question 1: Is communication by word of mouth the same as communication through a technology based source?
I do not think so. While a similar message can be displayed, personal face to face communication is much more powerful, even in today’s technology savvy world. Face to face communication can be interpreted with more feeling than technology can display.

Question 2: Should technology be incorporated in the classroom? And at what grade should this start?
I think technology should be incorporated into lessons starting in Kindergarten. Although I think face to face lessons are more powerful, I am still fully aware of the value and relevance of technology in today’s world. As an educator, my job is to help educate children who will one day be successful adults. And I know that in order to be a successful adult in today’s society you must have technology skills. So I fully plan on incorporating technology into my lessons on a regular basis in order to familiarize students with the use of technology, without letting technology take over my classroom.

Sources:
Heller McFarlane, Sarah (summer, 2008). The Laptops Are Coming! The Laptops Are Coming!. Rethinking Schools, 22, Retrieved July 21, 2008, From http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/22_04/lapt224.shtml

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Journal 1

Journal 1
In the first article “Extreme Makeover…” I learned just how naive I am to the amount of technological resources there are available to teachers. There are a great number of tools such as collaborative web sites that can be used with in a classroom to help students learn and communicate with one another through the use of technology. These resources make it easy for teachers to allow their student to complete group work in a way that is valuable to each students learning style. There are a great number of technological resources available which allow teachers to use technology to meet many different types of learning needs of their students as well as meet different learning standards needing to be accomplished within the class room.
Question: Of the tools mentioned, in the article, what tools have you used and what seem most valuable?
I have used a classroom newsletter, a little bookmaking and I just started my own blog. I think that the blog would be a great tool for a class! This is a tool that the students, parents and teacher can use. Communication could stay constant between the parents and teachers, which is great since many parents work and aren’t able to come visit the classroom very often.

The second article talks about how valuable blogs can be in the classroom. It’s a great tool for different types of learners and an awesome way for a classroom to stay in constant communication. The blog is helpful for all people involved in the class: parents, students and teachers. It is really helpful for students who may be a little forgetful or who have missed and assignment. The blog, if used properly and updated regularly, helps students keep up with everything going on in their classroom.

Question 2: What do you think a class blog would help you as a teacher?
I think a class blog would help me stay in communication with my students as well as their guardians. I also think the blog would be a form of validation for me if I were to be questioned by a student or their guardians about anything that has happened or is going to happen in my classroom.



Sources:
Mader and Smith, Jared and Ben (2008,July). Blogging Right Along. Learning and Leading with Technology , Retrieved July 14, 2008, from
http://www.pdfdownload.org/pdf2html/pdf2html.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fj


Shifflet and Toledo, Rena and Cheri (2008, July). Extreme Makeover: Updating Class. Learning Connections, Retrieved July 14, 2008, from http://www.pdfdownload.org/pdf2html/pdf2html.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjheil65.googlepages.com%2FJournal1.pdf&images=yes

Tuesday, July 8, 2008


Hello all! My name is Heather Martin. I grew up in Rancho Cucamonga, California where I attended Los Amigos elementary school until 5th grade. I then went to Etiwanda Intermediate School for 6-8th grade before moving to the very small town of Yucaipa where I attended and graduated from Yucaipa High School. From there I went to Crafton hills college, a small Jr. College in the hills of Yucaipa. Then I found myself here at Cal State San Marcos. I lived here for a while but now I have the lovely pleasure of driving to school from Rancho Cucamonga, where I have recently moved. But I graduate in august, yeah! And I should have my credential by December; then it's off to face the real world for me.

As far as technology goes, I’m not the savviest person. But I have taken this course before so I am familiar with most of the assignments we'll be facing in this course. I’m crossing my fingers that my skills have improved as much as I think they have, so I can pass this course and graduate! I don’t use technology too much unfortunately. I check my school e-mail and have the guilty pleasure of checking my space account on a regular basis. Other than that I steer away from technology because it scares me. I usually have someone help me with anything involving technology. I use a pc at home but have some experience on a Mac from courses here at school. And as far as windows goes, I hate the new version! It’s confusing and frustrating especially since I have the old version at home.

The part of the mission statement that speaks to me is the part about collaboratively transforming public education. I feel that our public education system is definitely not up to par in many areas and is definitely in need of some positive transformation. Although the mission statement is a great one, I did not read it before I applied. I chose to attend cal state because of its outstanding reputation of educating future educators.