MAC wk4 BP5 Response to Amanda McGhee

I can't wait to have a week away from the computer. There have been times during this program that I've not had time to look at my personal interests online due to the coursework load and my job work load. I can say that my Wimba presentation this week made me aware of just how disorganized my thoughts were regarding how the presentation should go next month. I plan to create an outline and possibly a powerpoint to guide my article presentation. I'm glad I had the opportunity to practice.

MAC wk4 BP4 Response to Zoe Marlowe

Like you, Zoe, I felt that my presentation of my article in Wimba was disorganized to say the least. I have also reflected about how I can streamline this presentation for next month’s final! We’re almost done!!!

MAC wk4 BP3 Where to Publish

I am proud that my research shows positive impact with my students despite all of the technical issues we faced over the year. My students never lost motivation to participate in class, even when the computers were down. I think that my article may stand a chance to be published in The Journal of Interactive Learning Research (JILR) and in ISTE's Journal of Research on Technology in Education (JRTE). And although I’m not sure that my research is worthy of publishing in an authentic educational journal, I do plan to use it to acquire grant money from possible donors. If I can accomplish what this research shows, then imagine the mountains I could move with computers that work!

MAC wk4 BP2 Reading Reaction

I think one of my strengths as an educator is my ability to light a spark with not only my students but my colleagues as well. I’ve been told that when I’m working with my students I do what it takes to keep the students involved and engaged. When I heard this, I questioned the critic, “Isn’t that what a teacher is supposed to do?”

I know that my students trust me. I look them in the eyes when they talk to me, and I find out what makes them excited. I always tell them that they can do whatever I ask them to do, even if it’s hard. I celebrate their successes. I validate their disappointment and pump them up to try again, instructing them about pitfalls to avoid. I work hard to create trustful relationships with my students, and I endorse having FUN learning in class.

Not only do I practice my own responsibility for myself, but I teach my students how to do so as well. One of the ways that I’m able to do this is by separating behaviors from the child. I take extra time and effort to tell a student that their choices have consequences and rewards depending on the path they choose. I’m consistent. I point out specific behaviors that need to stop instead of blaming a student for what is happening. I try to make an opportunity to address students privately to minimize embarrassment. By attempting to eliminate emotional reactions to behavioral redirection, I show students how they are in control of their own choices, and make them their own boards.

I believe that by establishing an environment of trust in my classroom, the students understand that our objectives are ours and not just mine or theirs. WE are on a mission toward each other’s success. WE approach the lessons together, and WE succeed together.

MAC wk4 BP1 To Publish or Present, That is the Question

Thinking aloud...

When presented with the options to present my research to an exciting conference full of educators or to publish my research as an article, I choose the latter. My students were motivated through out the entire project even though they encountered so many set-backs and problems with the technology available to them. And while most of the students showed improvements in all areas tested, it is my professional opinion that the gains made were not as impressive as they'd have been had the conditions been more favorable. So although I plan to use many of the skills in my future educational lessons, I anticipate that a much more exciting presentation is yet to come.

MAC wk3 BP4 iWebsite will not publish

One of the most frustrating things about Technology is when it just doesn’t work the way we think it should. For instance, over the last year, I have documented everything about my research on a beautifully prepared iWeb site for my final presentation. When I renewed my Mobile Me account, the website apparently did not renew. I now have grades pending because of this technical glitch (for which I thankfully have a ticket number Ticket 62117). I have created posts on the support site, I’ve chatted with support personel at Full Sail, and I’ve been hung up on by an answering machine who deemed my issues unworthy of human interaction. Times like these make me want to scream and cause an increasingly more sever pain in my neck.

MAC wk3 BP3 Comments to Jerusha Hufstetler

I find it interesting how you bring up your seperate selves in different places of your life. It makes me aware of how different I am in the situations of my life as well. I speak differently to my daughter than to my students, and differently to my friends than to many of my colleagues. I think that making the exchange of 'and' for "but" help us to stop making excuses for why we aren't satisfied in any areas of our lives, but to accept our place in creating a satisfying opportunity for ourselves.