#walkmyworld Journey Through Life

What journey have you taken to get this point? What trials and tribulations have you encountered along the path? What great deeds and stories will you return to to give the world to make it a better place?

Life is full of journeys. Some long, some short. Some bumpy and some very smooth. Throughout my life I have traveled down many of those paths. Some so blinding I could barely see the window cracked open for a new opportunity. 

Like most, I have went through heart ache. Both of dieing family members, pets or the loss of a significant other. But I have also been on extremely happy paths. My most memorable journey is the journey that lead me to my educational field. This journey is the most memorable because it brought me many friendships and memories. It also led me to the man

I married. 

I think no matter what path we lead or venture on, embrace the path. Even though some paths may be virtually inconceivable to pass through. I believe this because at the end of the tunnel there is a place of serenity and happiness as long as you follow your heart.

Week 10 Response

In what ways have you found resources that will help you as a professional become responsive to the global needs of your students?

During this program I have been introduced to many resources I can use in my professional life.  Not only in this class, but also many other classes in this program have opened my eyes to items I would not have found on my own.

My Global Literacy class in particular, I really enjoyed looking into the iearn website.  The website opened my eyes to various, already established, programs with the one essential objective in mind, connecting people and classrooms all across the world.  When looking at the iearn website, I really enjoyed the dancing programs they have.  As a physical education teacher I feel this program can help connect my students to various students around the world. 

Not only was the iearn program beneficial, I also found the micro talks beneficial.  I am currently in a blended learning committee.  Within the committee we have to become familiar and develop programs to share with our school. The micro talks have provided myself with an overwhelming amount of information to help share with my peers.  Lastly, the most beneficial resource I have found during this program was my peers.  After a little under a year I have gotten to know and develop friendships with professionals, knowledgeable in technology. 

How is your school culturally responsive to the needs of your students? How can you help broaden students’ world view?

My school culturally responds to the needs of my students through various ways.  Much like any other school system there are always avenues of improvement but ultimately our school provides my students with a healthy and safe environment to learn.  Within this environment they also provide opportunities for our students to connect to sister schools.  One area I believe should be broadened is our expansion among the world rather than neighboring towns. Much like what the article stated, “We hope to share pedagogical ideas with our international counterparts, to develop some classroom exchanges and projects, and to form one or two new "sister school" relationships.”  I would like to see the same happen in our school.

What additional resources do you need to support your students into becoming globally literate?

           

            I believe our school needs to continue to enhance our professional resources through development programs.  I also believe we can continue to enhance our learning by providing an opportunity to allow “experts” to form.  For example, the blended learning committee provides our school with opportunities to connect with technology and hopefully on a global level.  Without the knowledge, many teachers may not have the opportunity to become familiar with these programs. 

            Another resource our school can adopt is a program to reward teachers and students when they connect with sister schools around the globe.  For example, I would like to see a program develop that researches, connects and share with the community various topics around the world.  The teacher and students can provide this information to the community through a showcase event. 

Week 9 Storify: Educating the Heart

Here is my week 9 storify on educating the heart.

Response 9: PLE and CMS

This week we had a reading and a video presentation.  Both resources were about personalizing education to meet each student’s individuality.  I found both the video and the reading useful and entertaining. 

While reading the article I focused on specifically the section on Course Management Systems and PLE’s.  The reason I decided to focus on these two areas is because our school is striving to incorporate both in our curriculum. The article explains Course Management System’s as a course where the “instructor manages online, face-to-face, or blended, by uploading and presenting course content”.  It is also defined as web based courses used for discussions, announcements, and posts of various kinds.  Our school is trying to incorporate Course Management Systems through Moodle. I have not had a tremendous amount of experience with Moodle but have heard from other teachers how successful it can be for their students.  It is a way to distribute materials, post assignments and reach students through a technological avenue.  In our school as well as the present generation of learners, many students are familiar with technology therefore making Moodle an accessible tool.  My question would be, what if a student does not have internet at their house?  What if a student doesn’t know how to use technology very well?  Can you hold students accountable for assignments solely posted on Moodle or another course management system?  I think this ties into my next topic discussed in the article, Personal Learning Experience (PLE’s).

PLE’s or otherwise known as Personalized Learning Experiences offer students an opportunity to be in charge of their education.  It takes an idea of what a student may want to do in the future, and provide credit in the high school curriculum.  By developing a PLE, the learner has control of his or her own learning at their own pace.  Our school is embracing the idea of PLE’s and have created teaching jobs around the opportunity.  Two years, our school ran a pilot PLE program with a list of 5 courses to choose from.  As the word got out, more and more students wanted to take part in a PLE program.  Not only were students researching current PLE programs, they were also developing their own based on their interest.  Currently, we have provided the students with two full time teachers to help oversee the PLE programs.  Students seem to enjoy the convenience as well as the interest. 

The second topic I would like to discuss is Sir Ken Robinson’s discussion.  The discussion was extremely entertaining and very intriguing.  He brought up many points that made me wonder about my current teaching.  Sir Ken Robinson started his discussion with a question, how many people have ever lived? He stated that almost 10% of total people ever lived are living now making our generation the biggest to inhibit the earth.  With that said “most people have no idea what they are capable of”.  Why you might ask?  Sir Ken Robinson poses my questions leading towards education as the main source.  Conforming.  He discussed how education should be education of the heart and not necessarily of the tests.  In his eyes, education is becoming like a fast food model.  An assembly line of the same products made the same way.  He challenges that every class should be built on diversity and not conformity.  For example, he states how most people today fear the plague of ADHD.  Today 900 students are falsely accused of ADHD solely because they cannot sit still through a lecture.  However, when asked if the same student can sit engulfed in their area of interest (guitar practice) most parents would say they can sit there for hours.  Ultimately, Sir Ken Robinson’s message is to provide personalize education for all and not standardize education.  Lastly, he ended his talk with a quote from Anais Nin, “The pain of remaining tight in a bud was greater than the pain it took to blossom“.  His speech made me look at my classroom deeper.  Do I require my students to confirm to a certain standard? In most cases I unfortunately have to say yes especially when it comes to behavior.  I believe there are correct ways a student should behave in public and in school. Sure our school has discussed getting a standing section in my classroom as well as bean bag chairs because “all students listen differently.”  Just recently our school purchased chairs with wheels on the bottom of them.  The idea was to make the students more comfortable and easier for each student to get into groups and move around.  Although the idea is a beneficial one, myself as well as many other teachers have seen a negative impact on our students.  Not only do students roll around in their seats but it is distracting to other students in the class.  When it comes to developing and creating various projects portraying the same idea I stress the importance of independence.  When it comes to behavior in the classroom I guess I am a little “old school”.

Walk my World: Mirror Mirror on the Wall

What do you see in your reflection? What does the mirror say about you? What do you wish the mirror reflected? What truths are only known in the mirror?

At 30, looking in the mirror is not as much of a thrill as it was in my early 20's.  Looking at the passing age, my mirror reflects a person who is compassionate although sometime loses her cool. Ultimately, when I look at my mirror I see a past full of memories, laughs, and tears.  I see a sea of adventure and a thirst for more. My mirror knows the true strengths and weaknesses I hold. My pillars of loyalty are evident and my fear of being alone is only seen by me. I see a mirror reflection of someone who hopefully has many memories ahead of them. What does your mirror show?

Storify week 8: Blended Learning

Here is my storify for week 8 on blended learning!

Activity and Nutrition: Overall Health and Wellness

Stephanie Lavado and myself are creating an online module connecting health (specifically nutrition) and physical education through technology.  Here is our timeline of the unit.