Thing 6

Hours Logged: 3++

Pre-Assessment: 3

Post-Assessment: 4

I am writin Thing 6 for a 5th time now. I apologize if is not as in depth as it needs to be. If there is anything else you need, please let me know.

2. Differentiated Learning assignment:

As a special education teacher, I already feel pretty knowledgeable in the area of differentiation. The article states that the intent of differentiation is to "maximize each students' growth and individual success by meeting each student where he/she is and assisting in the learning process." Knowing where all of my students are as individuals and progress monitoring them throughout the year helps to maximize growth in all of my students.

When I look at the area of content, I am constantly using several elements and materials to support instruction with my students. I figure out what the "big idea" is that is being taught in the classroom and then I use whatever tools I can to try and get my students to that point. With IEP's I also set individual goals and ovjectives for my students so I am constantly incorporating those into my instruction as well.

In the area of Process, the maing point that sticks out to me is flexibile grouping. I believe that this is one of the most frustrating factors. At the beginning of the year I am able to group students as I see fit, but as the year progresses, due to scheduling, I am not able to move these groups around. I believe this is very important and would love to be able to find a solution to this problem.

Products, to me, is progress monitoring throughout the school year.  With the progress monitoring, it also makes sure that sudents are aware of where they are and what their goals are so that they can be responsible for their learning and actions as well. I feel that as a special education teacher, I do a good job of progress monitoring, but I need to think about how the students can be a more active participant in knowing where they are and where they need to go.

3. Divers Learning Assignment:

I found many useful technology tools that I currently use with my students or could use with my students to support the in my classroom as well as the gerneral education setting. I think I use Vidual Tools the most. I am contantly using clip-art to make classroom and indivdual schedules as well as visual cues for students. I also use books on tape/CD. I would like to look more into creating text to MP3 and iPod. I think this would be very beneficial to my students in upper elementary that are using the textbooks a little bit more. This would help them so they would be able to focus on the content and not struggle over the reading aspect of it.

4. Universal Design for Learning Assignment:

Thing 5

Thing 5

Hours Logged:

Pre-Assessment: 1

Post-Assessment: 3

I spent a lot of time on Thinkfinity.  I think it's a wonderful website and I see a lot of potential of using this in my classroom. I first took a look at Summer Learning Explorations (being that it is summer :)). It had a lot of fun things on it. This had ideas I could give parents for summer as well as things I would use with my niece and nephew.  One of the neat thing I found on this section was 'Wonderments.' It's different "I wonder" questions and when you click on them it sends you the link to read about the answer. This was very fun!

After I had fun playing around on the Summer Science Fun page, I decided to check out lessons I could use in my classroom. I found one using one of my favorite books "A Bad Case of the Stripes." It's about bullying and I could definitely see using this in my classroom. Many great writing topics on a great topic! I could explore this website for hours, and actually did spend quite some time on it. I even added it to my diigo!!!! I can't wait to explore this site more and use more of the lessons I find in my class!

Thing 3

Thing 3

Hours Logged: 3+

Pre-Assessment: 1

Post-Assessment: 3

Google Docs... AHHH!! My most dreaded 'Thing.' I actually skipped Thing 3 and came back to it. I guess I'm just not as familiar with it and that is why I dread it. I am just comfortable with my Microsoft documents.  The first document I created is a basic document to share and use with the TBA team in my building.  After I created it, I realized I probably should have created a spreadsheet, instead of a table in the document. This sheet can be useful so that the TBA team and myself, as well as the other special education teacher, can all view it, and change it easily. 

This next document that I created would allow the general education teacher, myself, and the other special education teacher to create/add comments as to how each student is doing and progressing toward their goals. In my building we are departmentalized so the 2 special education teachers in my building share students.  At times, it can be very difficult to keep communication going so this would be nice to have to constantly update each other on how students are progressing. I hope that I can set aside my fears and use these tools. I believe that if I can use them correctly, it can really help to save time in the long run.



Thing 4

Thing 4

Logged Hours: 3 Hours

Pre-Assessment: 3

Post-Assessment: 4

I love Skype! My dad has traveled overseas and we used Skype frequently. It is a nice, inexpensive way to communicate. When I first tried to set it up on my laptop, I had to change a few speaker and microphone settings, but with some help, I was able to get it working properly. I am excited to try Skype in my classroom and give my students as much "real life" experience as possible. I would love to try to Skype with authors and/or writers. I'd love to also hear how other teachers use Skype in their classrooms.



Thing 2

Thing 2:

Logged Hours: 3+

Pre-Assessment: 2

Post- Assessment: 4

http://www.missdeadman.weebly.com

I really enjoyed creating a Weebly page! I will definitely be using this and updating it throughout the school year.  I think it is a great way to get parents actively involved in the classroom. I often have parents that ask for websites for their children and they also want to know what is going on in the classrom. This website is a great way for them to find what they are looking for without having to search the internet. I did have a few difficulites on my website page. I had trouble formatting text and links, but it worked out. I am very excited to continue to use and update my weebly page!



Thing 1

Thing 1: About Basics 

 Pre-Assessment: 2

Post-Assessment: 3

 Logged Hours: 2

So I am a little behind, but here is part 1 of Thing 1. I copied (Ctrl C) and pasted (Ctrl v) the proficiency scale first. I then created the wavy line and underline. I then copied and pasted "I love summer!!" and used ctrl b, ctrl i, and ctrl u to format it. I have used a few of these short cuts before, but not all of them. My favorite one is the wavy line! So fun! :-)  I think a lot of it is just getting used to which keys to use. I am used to right clicking for the drop-down menu for cut, copy and paste. I am forcing myself to use these shortcuts so I will remember them and be able to use them faster. It may take me a bit to get use to all of them, but I can definitley see how it will make things faster and increase productivity.

https://www.diigo.com/user/deadmanco?type=all

For part 2 of Thing 1, I worked with diigo. I like it, but I definitely need a lot more practice with it. I can see where it can be extremely useful in the classroom to sort websites I use with students. I could sort them by subject area and/or levels. I could even make folders for individual students and/or groups that I work with to sort websites that way. There seems to be a lot of great things with diigo to be able to use, but it also seems a little overwhelming. I hope that throughout the school year I will be able to look into this website a little more and use it to help me organize websites.

woo hoo... I did it!!!!!

Summer Plans

This summer I will be tutoring and watching my niece and nephew. The teacher in me already set up a schedule with my niece and nephew for them to read, write and practice other skills throughout the summer :-) I am looking forward to reading a few good books and relaxing by the beach!