When can we be us?

As a teacher, we are held up to extrodinary standards in all aspects of our lives. Lately I have continued to hear about teachers that are getting in trouble for what they are doing in their personal lives.  Don't get me wrong, I think that teachers having pictures of themselves intoxicated or in compromising situations on the internet is just plain ignorent. However, I don't agree with teachers getting in trouble for being seen a local sports bar watching a game.

You are probably wondering why I chose this topic to write about, well, a teacher friend of mine from another state was seen watching a sporting event at a sports bar over their spring break. A parent of one of her students saw her there and took her photo and posted it on Facebook. Now several of the parents are angry that a teacher from their school was in a compromising situation. My friend has already been informed that the school is going to support her because she was doing nothing wrong. This situation still makes me think about how social networking is really dangerous even when you are just having a day out with your friends. Just imagine running into a student or a parent at the market and they see certain items in your cart that they deem innappropriate and then it is all over the internet.

I guess my questions to all aspiring or current teachers is... Do you feel safe all the time?

Read the two liks below and let me know what you think...

Sandra

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/blogs/the-human-condition/2010/07/20/10-ways-facebook-can-ruin-your-life.html

http://www.pcworld.com/article/198133/how_to_ruin_your_life_with_social_networking.html

The Culminating Project (not the end)

The road to where I have arrived has been a bumpy journey. Never in a million years did I think that I would be creating a wiki page, curriculum page, and a Slide Share. I have to be honest that the process involved sometimes left me feeling lost and confused. I sometimes felt like I really had no idea about what I was doing. However as of today, I feel like I am improving and eventually, with more practice and maybe another course on integrating technology, I would be really interested in creating a wiki for my classroom. I would use it as a forum for me to be able to give information to the parents using a calendar and even figuring our how to put in a way to e-mail reminders to the parents, put up the websites that the students use on a regular basis and put up the homework and classroom expectation.

I have found that in the beginning of this journey I was really hesitant as to how I would really be able to use this technology. However, now I feel like I am not so much of a visitor in the land or technology but rather a new tenant, eventually I will own property. ( I know a cheesy analogy!) I have attached a link to wiki page and I look forward to hearing any feedback that any of you may have. Please remember this is the first time that I have ever created anything like this and I am very proud of this creation.

I look forward to seeing your amazing works...

Sandra
http://mskroitor.wikispaces.com/

Honest Feedback

So I have created my first wiki and digital storytelling. To be honest, I know that it could be better and I look forward to any constructive feedback that you may have. Also, if you have any tips or tricks up your sleves, I hope you would share them with me.

Thanks Always,

Sandra K.

http://mskroitor.wikispaces.com/

Digital storytelling in the classroom

View more presentations from sandrakroitor.

New Job = New Technology/ Public vs. Charter

I have recently started a new job as a first grade teacher for a charter school.  I had always had jobs with a county, so taking on a charter school was a whole new adventure for me.  However, what a wonderful adventure it has been.  First of all in my old school, they played favorites with the technology that was purchased for the school.  It was very noticable that that the classes with the more advanced students were given the smart boards, software, and science equipment while the rest of us either bought our own or had little to nothing at all.  Now in my new school we all have smartboard, I have 8 computers in my room( not counting the one on my desk) we have carts full of laptops if we need them and doc cams. 

Many times I have said that I wish I had better stuff for my students. Now I do. Many times I had said that I wished that I could allows all my students to research on computers. Now I can. Many times I had said that it is the administration not caring about the lowest 20% that is keeping them down. It is just so.  At the charter school, I have experienced the other side of the financial coin.  I am now allowed to really expose my students to everything that there is to offer.  We are able to take virtual field trips around the world. We are able to visit the online planetarium as a group. My students are learning responsible research techniques.  I have even pulled many resources from EME5050 and my fellow classmates to use in my classroom.  I am so excited about this new future for my students and for me.

Online Learning..Not for Everyone.

Online learning has become one of the most popular ways for high school and college students to get their education.  In some cases it has become cheaper to hold classes online rather than have students and teachers come to a physical location to attend classes. In other cases it is a matter of location.  Some students don't live close enough to the school.  In my case, some of the classes that I am required to take are not even offered on a campus, but only online. 

This brings me to the question, "What about students that need to be in a classroom?''  I can say from personal experience that I do better in school what I am actually attending classes face-to-face. I find that I am more connected with the subject and the teacher.  It leaves me with a more comfortable feeling and I feel like I can connect better with the professor. 

What will happen to those students? As teachers we know that we must address the needs of all of our students especially when dealing with all of the different learning styles.  Could online learning be considered its own learning style?  What if education shifted completely to online learning? What would happen to those students that did not do well with online learning?  I believe these questions to be very important and need to be answered.

I am not against online learning. In fact I have learned a lot during my time in EME5050. But I have had my difficulties that have made me wonder about the future of learning.  For me online is great but face to face is better.

Whats your opinion?

Making my way through Technology land!

Hello, My name is Sandra and I am afraid of technology!  OK maybe not afraid, but I do get nervous sometimes at the idea that teaching is changing.  As teachers we are now being told that it is mandatory to incorporate technology into our daily lessons.  I can understand why it is important to use technology. I can understand why it is important to encourage students to use it.  However, what I don't understand is why it has taken so long for there to be acknowledgment that teachers need help learning all of these new things that are being demanded of them.  Remember, now part of the teacher evaluation process includes the use of technology in the classroom.

As an undergrad I was only exposed to one class on technology class, ONE! I even remember in that class that we talked about how to make spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations, and this was in 2009.  I have heard many times from many different teachers that they only use about half of what they learn in undergrad in an actual classroom situation.  Now I am only speaking from personal experience, but I would have to agree with that statement.  I am actually currently excited that during this course I am learning how to use the technology of today and even possibly tomorrow. 

Some of the new things that I have actually started to enjoy include blogging.  I never thought that in a million years I would want to post messages of my thought to the Internet.  As this is now my second blog, I am feeling excited that my peers will be able to read what I am thinking and may even be able to offer advice or words of encouragement.  Blogging in this manner, could be extremely beneficial to my students.  I can imagine them blogging about study questions, what they learned in class, and helping students that were absent catch up.  This may also offer an outlet for students to talk directly to the teacher about issues that they see going on in class, but there are not necessarily enough time during class to address.  This can show the students that the teacher cares and is not dismissing there thoughts.

There are still new things that I am learning everyday as I take this journey through Technology Land.  As I continue to learn, I look forward to figuring out how I can use these new tools in my classroom. 

WEB FIND: I found this site that I wanted to share, http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/. This site offers free online workshops for teacher.  There goal is to help teachers gain more knowledge about how to use technology as well as what technology standards they are going to be held to.

Thanks for Reading
Sandra

What are Teachers?

I have often asked myself, Am I doing enough for my students? I have never really been able to answer this question.  When you are in  undergrad you have these Polly Anna dreams that you will walk into the classroom and be able to teach every one of those kids how to read and write and do multiplication on the first day of school.  Unfortunatly, that is not going to happen. 

As a teacher you are going to be faced with the demands not only of the students, which you have to teach so that they may become productive members of society, but you are also responsible for attending meeting about meeting that were discussed at a previous meeting.  You are asked (aka.told) to sign up for after school duties that take away time you could offer tutoring to students who need additional assistance.  You are given teachers additions and tols that you must adhear to them without any diversions.  This includes skipping teachable moments because we must all be on the same page at the same time.  And finally, you will be told to only worry about the top 80% of your class because those are the students that they are counting on for the high- stakes testing.

Now some of situations that I mentioned above may seem a little far fetched, but they do happen.  That is when I start to think about what is convienent for teachers.  I think that teachers now are facing a war with no winners.  I know many great teachers that keep trying to go above and beyond for their students, leaving their own comfort and convience on the sidewalk.  However, what are they getting in return? Many are being told that "The Test" is the most important thing and that all the extra projects are irrelevant to what is important.  I just can't figure out how this all important test is going to help these kids when they don't know that Canada is part of North America or that Australia is a country and a continent.

Being a teacher is not convienent, it is(in my opinion) on of the heardest jobs there is.  We are responsible for creating the future of the world.  You would think that with this great responsibility in our hands, they would not be so tied up.

I'm Blogging

I have never done this before, I hope I am doing this right.