CEDO565 Week 2

Wow...... I just finished my virtual data retreat!! It took me a total of 6 hours!! It was really interesting and I feel like I learned a lot about my district and other districts around Wisconsin. I didn't know that all that information was available. I have been on the WINSS site before, but I never took the time to go through and really study the different graphs upon graphs of information. It was really cool to read some of the information.......I can be a nosy person.....so what a great way to be nosy about other schools and districts. Haha haha
I know that parents would go on there as well, but I don't think people realize how much information is available, or where to look for it.

I also enjoyed the chapters this week. I have to comment on two things that I read......1st..... in chapter 2: I love that the book talks about interviews not focusing on GPA's!! I have to say that I don't think we should be hiring idiots, but lets get serious........ Sometimes the really really smart kids in school have zero personality and could never teach. I was so happy to hear that personality and leadership should go further in an interview. As a teacher we all should know our content, but a teacher that had straight A+'s throughout college is not always going to be a good teacher!! The other thing that stuck out was work ethic. I have no tolerance for lazy people! I have had a job since I was 14 and as soon as I turned 18 I was working full time to save money for college. I went to school and worked full time in order to afford my bills and school. I know that I may be one of those exceptional people "aka freak who never sits" but I get bored easy. I need to stay busy with something.........going to the gym......going hiking.....walking.....biking.......doing school work.......working.......whatever it may be. I don't not like the words can't....fail.....give up...or tired! We all would like to take the easy route....take a nap...or give up when things get hard......but just imagine what the world would be like if we ALL did that!!!
Ok.....sorry about my rant......I guess it's the military family coming out of me :)

CEDO565 Week 1

I don't have a great deal to say about my leadership at my school. I guess I need to stand up more and be a leader. I've only been at my current job for 3 years and I lay low. It's not because I don't feel confident, but there was just to many things going on. I watched and listened a lot!!! I wanted to get me feet wet and feel things out before I started to put myself out there a great deal. I think every year that goes by I'll come out of my shell more and more. I want more responsibilities, but I also work at a private school that is fairly small. I don't feel like there are many opportunity to "lead". We'll see what happens this coming school year. I just feel young and new at my job.


I have to blog about the surveys we took...................I just feel strongly about it this week.
I think this weeks assignments helped me learn a great deal about myself. It's not often that I take a survey about myself and my personality. I don't think I have done one in over 5 years. It was interesting and informative to say the least. Haha I did enjoy it though. I really liked doing the surveys because I'm all about improving myself. I'm a little bit of a perfectionist. I wouldn't say I'm over the top, but I set goals that are pretty high. I'm not hard on myself if I don't meet all of my goals 100%, but I do think it's healthy to have goals in all areas of your life. The surveys helped me realize that I need to be less judgmental of others. I was a little shocked by this, but hey the results don't lie. I felt bad that I scored high, but that just gives me something to work on and change.
I wasn't surprised that I scored extremely low on the imagination portion of the leadership virtues survey. I'm not an imaginative person at all!!! I'm more of a realistic person. Haha
I never like cartoons as a child.........maybe I was never an imaginative person.........I never had imaginary friends either. Hahaha..........Ok......all jokes aside.....I really liked that assignment and I'm glad I took it. I learned a great deal about myself and what I need to do to make myself a better person. I think if you don't look at your weak areas and change them..........you'll never grow.

CED0555 Blog 3

WHOOOO HOOOOO I'm done!! Well........I'm sure I'll need to make some changes alone the way, but it feels good to complete another class. The portfolio has been a great deal of work, but it looks great. I'm glad to show off all the hard work I've done! The pace of the class was good and I was able to get things done on time. I really jumped in early and was able to sit back in the end. I had a hard time coming up with a project, but I thought of something last minute. I hope it works out ok..........but we'll see in our next class.

CED0555 Blog 2

I'm really struggling with the "big" project that we need to do for our portfolio. I can't think of anything to do. I feel like I hit a wall and I don't have any good ideas popping in my head! Otherwise, I think that the portfolio isn't all that bad. I'm having fun creating it...........tedious.....but I know I will look great when it's finished. I have all my standards done and now I'm working on all the different classes and artifacts. It's just time consuming to put everything together. So......if anyone has any great ideas for a final project ...........I'm all ears!!

CEDO555 Week 1

My school does not currently use e-portfolios. I knew that they existed, but I actually had never seen, or read one before this class. I know that's really sad to say, especially this day in age, but it's true. I'm really excited to create one and be able to use it in my professional life. I think it's a great tool to have at your fingertips, and businesses and schools appreciate that kind of work. I love the idea of creating something that will show all my hard work that I did throughout my career. So, I know it's going to be a great deal of work, but I'm ready and excited to complete mine!

CEDO550 Week 6

I feel like it’s hard to keep up with the change in technology today. What the future holds is amazing and exciting, but I can’t teach what I don’t know. On the other hand will I really be teaching? Will we need teachers? Will we have classrooms? It’s exciting, but scary at the same time. I hope that in the near future, I am able to teach in a classroom filled with computers. I can’t wait to use more technology and tools in my lessons. One of the major issues I face is not being able to get my students in the computer lab as often as I would like. I think it would be cool if every student had an IPad, or laptop at their desk. I think the biggest thing to expect about the future in teaching is to expect the unexpected. I don’t think anyone can imagine what it is going to be like in 20 years. The changes are going to be so beyond my thought process. I don’t event know what I should expect. How exciting is that!
I think that future schools will be a blend of online and classroom work. I think teachers will be a guide to students and not a full time teacher. They will not run the classroom, the whole 45 minutes of a period. Students will be learning as we guide them. They will be collaborating with children around the world and learning from material on the Internet. They will be using their cell phones, Facebooks, chat rooms, and any other technologies that allow them to be interactive on online. Schools will no longer be pushing 21st century tools away, but they will embrace them and allow students to use the sources available to them. Classrooms will be filled with computer work stations and not chairs and desks. Students will no longer be asked to stay in their seat and wait until the lecture is over to move around.

CEDO550 Week 5

Meeting students needs can be difficult, but using the right tools can make it easier while adapting an assignment. I think we use differentiated instruction without even thinking about it. We don't say to ourselves, "I just used differentiated instruction". It comes natural to teachers. It can be a small adaptation, or a large one. I know that I change assignments all the time, based on my students. I can't remember a time, that I turned a student down when they came to me with an alternate way to do an assignment, or project........ With in reason!! :)
I think children have great ideas and we should listen to them and how they learn. It's important to their success. Letting students show you their talents will make them successful at what their doing, allow them to feel confident, and maybe teach me a new way of teaching the lesson. We learn from each other and that is one of the most important parts of being a teacher. Allow your students to be themselves, listen, and learn from them.