The First Year

QUESTION 1--I was very moved by the film clip. After watching it, I am very overwhelmed by the thought of the "first" year. The problems teachers are facing are very real and must be very frustrating. For those of us that plan on teaching in Wyoming, we are very lucky because of the financial resources that are available. And parent involvement is expected so those parents that are uninvovled are the expetion not the rule.

QUESTION 2--I was most moved by the behavioral issues and the reasons behind them. The realities these children face are more than I could ever imagine. Unfortunately, school is the only normal some of the students ever see.

QUESTION 3--My goals is to let my students know that I value them and I am there to help them in what ever way I can to ensure their success.

facebook teacher groups

As you can imagine, there are groups for every possible interest you can think of. For us education majors I found several different types of groups related to education. I had the best luck finding the support groups by searching for elementary teachers. I found pages of groups and with pages devoted to supporting and inspiring new teachers, elementary ed majors, and veteran teachers.

teens and the internet

I was very moved by what was said on Dateline. Teens today are absorbed by the technological tools available to them. i.e. internet, myspace, facebook, texting. I am very concerned about the repricussions that teens could be facing by their openness on the web. As a parent I am horrified by what is available at the touch of a button. I am more concerned that the young individual that is posting the most private parts of their lives on the internet for everyone to see, has no comprehension of just what they are doing. It's not just their personal friends that are looking at it. It can be anyone. And the information never goes away. If someone wants to find your postings bad enough, they will. That means future family, friends, and employers, even predators. Young people do not have the experience of life to look beyond today and see how it might affect tomorrow.

Spreadsheets

I can see how spreadsheets can be a wonderful tool. Of course the tool is only as good as the person using it. I think it would be a good idea to take a class specifically for exel to learn all the ins and outs of the program. I am sure there are more functions to that one program than I will ever know how to use.

Addiction and the Brain

On Wednesday Dr. Patterson spoke about addiction and the brain. He touched on many topics invovling the effects that different substances have on the brain. Many of the addictive substances or addictive because of how much dopamine the brain releases when the foriegn substance is present. For example, caffiene will produce a 20% increase in the level of dopamine, where as, meth will elivate the levels to over a 10,000% increase.

Alcohol will affect the brain differently. It effects the prefrontal lobe where reasoning occurs and it also affects the cerebellum where movement is controlled. It essentially puts them to sleep. Thus, a person feels 10 foot tall and bullet proof yet will fall off the bar stool.

Another facinating drug to me was nicotine. The only part of the brain not stimulated by the drug is the cerebellum. This is the main reason why nicotine is so addictive.

digital portforlio websites

http://www.albion.edu/digitalportfolio/
This one is done by Albion College out of Albion, MI. This website gives you a start to finish overview of a portfolio.

http://reta.nmsu.edu/Lessons/digital/
New Mexico State University also has a website dedicated to answering the "What is a digital Portfolio" question.

There are many more sites dedicated to creating a digital portfolio. All you have to do is enter digital portfolio into the search engine.

Valentine's Day Class Party

I am looking for craft ideas for the Valentine's Day party. Any and all ideas are appreciated!!

The Ballad of Lucy Whipple

We will be beginning the book The Ballad of Lucy Whipple soon in our reading groups. We will be reading a chapter at a time followed up with a guided discussion and coordinating activities.