Wow! We did it!

It's hard to believe the semester is over. We worked hard and I think we did an awesome job. It was great working with you Barbara and Sheila for the short time we had you in the class. Dr. Rivera, you put us to the test, but we learned a lot. Barb, you did a great job on your portfolio and thanks for all the help and patience on our projects together. Now, I'm going to find me a good novel and crawl inside like that worm and get lost. I've been reading text books for so long, I haven't had the time. I want to read something that entertains me and I don't have to remember anything about it if I don't want to. So have a great summer and relax and get ready to come back in the fall! Take care.......Crystal

staff development ideas

It was surprising to learn from Crystal that many teachers are not familiar with the use of computers. I think her staff development idea is great and a real need. We have continuous training at my school. I think Crystal, once you start, you will be asked to do follow up sessions. -- Barb

Free Stuff!

Barbara, you always give us great information and cool stuff we can do for free. Your staff development is something anyone could benefit from. This semester is almost over. It actually went by pretty quickly. Thanks for all the positive comments. We are all just such great people! Have a great weekend.

Doesn't this classroom look busy?

When I was reading chapter 13 about the Social Constructivist Model, this is like the image I got of what the classroom would be like. Lots of different things going on at one time. It reminded me of teaching using the Multiple Intellegence theory. I think it would be hard to keep up with everyone, but it would be the ideal way to teach and learn. Teaching diverse students is a challenge and takes a lot of "learning" on the teacher's part also.
This model lets students rely on their own schema in choosing reading materials. I like this, because if you are reading something that you can relate to, you will enjoy it so much more. I agree with what the book says that students cannot be held accountable for knowledge that has never been made available to them.
Our activity was fun and I have such characters in my class, they would really have a great time with this. This is a great activity for this time of the school year in my class, because my students are reading!

Military scoping meeting

I suggest that the Ed grad students submit testimony to the scoping meetings regarding education. We should oppose exclusive funding of DODEA schools and establishment of more DODEA schools because it promotes segregation and fosters ethnocentrism.

Barbara

Ch13 -use in grant narrative

Reading Chapter 13 gives me more interest in doing the diversity teacher's toolkit for our grant application. We can use the information in Chapter 13 in our narrative.

Barbara

TEAM WORK

In my perspective, I always believed that team work leads to new perspectives and new found ideas. Professional Development workshops should be based on needs and ways to approach these needs; therefore, presenting team work. I really enjoyed the Educator's Academy at George Washington High School. I really learned new ideas and ways to 'spice up' my class. For the first time, I walked away with new ideas and actually applied them. This type of professional development is what we could use more often, even a smaller version of it for each school.

Have a great week!
Sheila

Grant idea

Going from Crystal's post about Kosrae, I got to thinking that we might come up with a teacher training about Micronesia. Maybe start with a survey on what teacher's know. The objective would be to provide resources for the teachers to incorporate information about Micronesia into their lessons. What do you think? I don't know if this is being done now. Maybe it is.

Barbara

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/cia07/micronesia_sm_2007.gif

Well, I wanted to change the picture but I couldn't find "edit" anywhere. Is there such a thing for our blog? Anyway, class was very lively this afternoon. We sure can talk a lot. But everything was informative and interesting. The presentations were great. When I listen to the two of you, Barbara and Sheila, you sound so professional. You really know your stuff. Sheila, you are going to go far in your career and Barbara, you already have and you're still going. Wow! And look at you Dr. Rivera; so young and a PHD under your belt. I take my hat off to all of you. All of you have qualities that I would love to have. Don't get me wrong, I'm not putting myself down. I'm just complimenting!

After we did the Micronesian Hunt, I thought I've lived in Guam for 40 years and I don't know that much about the outer islands. So I went searching and found the "Sleeping Lady". Here's a short version of the legend:

The locals believe that in ancient times, the Gods became angry with Kosrae and laid her on her back where she became an island. The view from the causeway makes it easy to see why Kosrae was called the "Land of the Sleeping Lady" and from the top of Mount Finkol, all from Lelu Harbour you can still see her head, hair, stomach and breasts outlined against the sky as per picture .

Have a Great Weekend and see you tomorrow Sheila!

Brain Stretchers

The brain stretcher strategy that I will most likely use right away is the self concept activity. At the beginning of a class session, we usually have the students write something about themselves in an index card. The self concept activity would be a nice change. It would actually give the students more challenge and stretch their brains. One thing we do with the index cards is return them to the students at a later time in the session for them to self-edit.

I appreciate the camaraderie in the ED646 class. I am comfortable with my classmates and my professor.

Barbara

Nobody asked me.

I'm sorry that Sheila didn't get to come to class today to present, but after reading chapter 7, I wanted to ask my principal why no one asked me what I thought of DI before it was adopted. I was wondering how much say she had in theselection of the program. But that's the part of the chapter that really got my attention; how every aspect of the selection process included input from the teachers, because they are the ones that will use the program. It was interesting too, how technology was not really that important. Research shows how important it is to students, especially in this day and age. But, that is the attitude of my principal. We have a committee that wrote a grant for a computer lab for the teachers. I told my principal that the grant should have been for the students. Our students are so far behind the world in technology. It is so sad. Maybe when DI is finished, administrators will think differently.

Changing the subject, writing my mid-term self-reflection , I thought, Wow! We are half way there. It went by really fast. That's good in a way, but when you think of it in terms of your life, I for one would like for it to slow down just a little. It means, we're getting older faster! Who needs that?

I enjoyed the activities we did from Dr. Rivera's Educator's Academy presentation. I need to work on my spelling! Working with 5 and 6 year olds all day, is starting to show. My brain power is becoming sluggish.

Have a great weekend!