Learning Activities Wiki Site

Below is a link to my Wiki Site of Learning Activities. Check it out for some ideas!

https://sites.google.com/view/learningactivities1/home

Instructional Technology and Blogs!

Instructional technology, as a educator is crucial. One of the kinds of technologies that I will always want to be incorporating in my classrooms are tools such as YouTube, Blogger, and some form of discussion board (whether that be through an LMS like GoogleClassroom or CourseSites). I think that these forms of technology really help benefit students in the classroom setting because they offer access to different resources and the opportunities for learning are essentially endless.

The process of creating blogs will be important in supporting my students. The interface itself for Blogger is very easy to follow. They have a clear and concise outline for who to maneuver and use all of the things that Blogger has to offer. I also have been blogging for some time and find it easy to personalize a page. I made my own banner for this page, as well as found a background that I liked. Because of that, I have been able to personalize my blog right away. I have been using blog sites for many years now, so the process of creating a new blog is not challenging. It's more about looking around and investigating all a site has to offer before choosing to utilize it as a resource. The biggest challenge I also encounter when creating a blog is what to write about. I like to have catchy titles, so creating posts that are engaging right off the bat are challenging. Navigating interfaces and editing modes are also challenging sometimes, and often websites don't offer tutorials. I know I want to do something specific, but I don't always know how to do it.

My familiarity with blogs will be really beneficial when I have online classrooms, because it will serve as a possible assignment or another form of communication in an online learning environment.

And I'm back!

This is pretty cool. I'm proud to announce that I am now currently enrolled in a Master's program through Ashford University. I'm working on receiving my MA in Teaching and Learning with Technology!

For those of you that don't know who I am... I'm Carly. You can just call me Carly.

I graduated from OSU, with flying colors (a 3.7 GPA) and now I am furthering my education at Ashford.

I am quite ambitious with my schooling (well, that's just obvious), and always have been. School has just been the place that has made the most sense. I had an extremely challenging and unstable home life. Something about the routine, the regular schedules, and the constant learning made me realize I felt more comfortable studying in the library or in my classrooms than I did at home. I've loved school. Always have. And I was good at it. I like giving something my all that makes me feel like it's giving something back to me. The more I learn, the more I carry with me. I feel educated and fulfilled. Like the books give me something, simply by me giving them a piece of my time. Breaking them down inside my mind.

It all makes sense.

In other news, since it's been so long since my last post (three years?!?!? Really Carly?!?) that I have a lot to catch up on.

I am currently the head retention and outreach program coordinator for Peninsula College's TRIO Upward Bound. Yes this is the same program I graduated high school from. Yes my amazing now boss/role-model/mentor/mother-figure hired me. And it's a dream. I love what I do. I work with first generation, low-income students. I show them education is a way out of poverty. Much like my mentor and boss Tammy did for me.

It's amazing working with these students. It's also extremely challenging. I get these students. I understand them. I get their struggles. I get them, because I was them. I still am. I'm fighting with everything that I am not to fall back into poverty like my parents. And education and the further of my education has only made it more of a possibility.

In my assignment for my class I mentioned that I was to teach online education in a high school level Language Arts virtual classroom. Or I want to work for the Department of Defense as a military base educator...

My dream? Become a director for a program like Upward Bound. There is something truly amazing about working in TRIO programs. And now that I've had a taste of this kind of potential career, I almost cannot get enough.

It's like me with Butter Pecan ice cream. I can never get just one scoop.

As requested by my classroom instructor, I have to talk about my knowledge of action research and traditional research. Being that I am completely unfamiliar with action research I'm excited to learn about it from this upcoming class. I am, however, extremely familiar with traditional research. Goodness am I thankful I'm done with my undergraduate. SO MANY RESEARCH PAPERS! I guess choosing English and Education as majors will do that to me. I can truly only blame myself.

(Oh, I guess I should mention I'm in EDU 671: Fundamentals of Educational Research. Yeah, that's a thing.)

On a side note, I still love to read and write. I got a puppy named Outcast. And I just started my summer endeavors through our Summer Commuter program at Upward Bound.

It seems like these blog posts will be a regular thing again. And I couldn't be more excited!

I look forward to writing again!

Passion, Literacy, Genius.

Well, I’m back. After a wonderful month-long break I am back at school and feeling good. It’s day two of classes and I feel that this will be the only moment this week where I have a spare moment to sit down and write for my blog. Of course I make time for my novel (I’m on chapter 7 now, oh so exciting, I know). There’s always time to write for that! I feel like I’m unstoppable when I get to a really good part and my heart races. YES MY HEART BEAT GOES UP! I felt like I was about to have a dang heart attack the other evening when I was writing an amazingly awesome scene. I almost cried when it was over because I had wound myself up so tight! You know your passion when you have those symptoms.

Hmm, what else is new? Breaking Bad is over (and for those of you that didn’t know, Breaking Bad is probably tied for my number one television broadcast, that and Once Upon A Time. I LOVE EMMA SWAN!) Now that I’ve gone a little quirky on you, I’m going to chicka-chicka-chicka break it down.

I’ve only had one day in my new TCE course but I love my teacher so much that she has inspired me to write a new post. We meet once a week, which is a little depressing I think, but she’s an amazing woman with a great attitude and positive vibe to her class. Her name is Felicia and I’ve had her previous to this class as a short four-week session two summers ago. I’m very happy to have the opportunity to be spending more time with her.

In class yesterday we were talking about literacy. Now let me ask you, what does it mean to be literate? Of course you think right away the ability to read, write, and communicate with others. You might also have thought it’s also the ability to identify and compute as well as solve problems. But have you ever thought that there are different types of literacy or that maybe there are individual stages of literacy? Until this class I hadn’t really thought about it. I mean this could tie into the seven intelligences (audial, intrapersonal, interpersonal, etc.) meaning that your student could be really literate when it comes to science. You could have a student that it really good at math equations and the language of math but might have issues reading a novel in their English class. They might be competent and confident when it comes to augmenting the scientific process verbally but maybe they aren’t confident writing out each of the stages down on paper because they aren’t solid in their abilities. This goes back to a TED talk that a friend sent me the link to the other day. We each have our own genius and we as teachers need to learn, understand, and respect that before we go into the classroom.

 

I’m going to be honest with you, because I can be. It’s been two days of class and I have five in total. Three out of the five classes I am bored in. Do you want to know why? Because these teachers (THAT I PAY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS TO EVERY YEAR) are bad at their profession. They are awful teachers (all besides the TCE professors).  They don’t cater to the different approaches that these students have at learning. Plus I mean, my genius or my literacy does NOT coincide with the demands of the Biology classroom. To some it does, and I respect that. You are the lucky individuals that have found what they are good at. Some people spend their entire lives doing that. Me? I like writing. Writing intensive course are a wet-dream to an English major with a writing minor. I adore them. They make me happy. But see, that’s because that’s my niche. That is my genius. That is my area of literacy.

This is really important to remember (going back to the point I left hanging) when in the classroom and working with students because the troublemaker might be a rotten child not because he or she likes to torture you, but maybe the student just doesn’t get it. Maybe the individual needs it from a different angle; an angle that he or she understands. WE HAVE THE LIGHTBULB!

Keep that in mind every day. Maybe the way you’re trying to explain a concept to another just isn’t clicking. Maybe you’re upset with your dad because you’re trying to tell him a story of some approach that you had to a problem and he responds angrily with the way that he would have done it. (This hasn’t happened lately….) It’s not worth the waste of energy on frustration. Keep a level head and remember that not everyone is good at what you do and others might be better at things that you might not fancy. Everyone is different.

And that’s why they teach me these things. SO I remember that my student body is NOT just one entity.

Have a good evening ya’ll.

Until we next chat!

P.S Here's a giraffe.

Find You First

It’s a really good day. As I find myself starting my final paper for this session of summer term, I’m thinking about how this day can’t get much better. I have a wonderful, happy, productive playlist in the background and I’m just typing to the beat! I also have my favorite juice with smoothie cubes (frozen smoothie that I froze overnight) in it and the sun decided to show its bright and beautiful face! I’m going to repeat it….

I’m going to talk about something that has recently come up in my class before it ended. O’Malley frequently said that we need to know ourselves before going into the classroom because the kids will see us right down to what we really are, regardless of how well we try to cover it up. Our biases will come out, our voice will shine through, and our personal beliefs will be reflected. On a deeper level that really is kind of an amazing thing that no matter what, we are honest on the most basic and unconscious level. Our brains really are amazing.

But hey, we all know that derpy teacher in high school that we could see RIGHT THROUGH the crap on the surface and inside we didn't like what we saw. It made you not want to be a part of the class, you had no motivation because maybe the teacher really didn't care or was overly insensitive without knowing it. WHATEVER THE CASE we have all had that teacher. That’s what I’m trying not to be here. I think I've mentioned previously that becoming an educator is about finding more about you just as much as it is teaching and helping students find out more about themselves… But to some extent, you really need to know a lot of the stuff about yourself that might slip out at ANY MOMENT! (That’s why they call it a Freudian Slip) You need to have all of the skeletons in your closet out, revealed, and aware. I’m not talking about to others - YOU need to be aware that these things are there. These things are real. And these things could make or break you. ESPECIALLY in today’s society and the way things are… You say one mis-worded and misinterpreted thing to the right student at the right time and you’re done. There are no second or third strikes! You’re out, baby!

Being in front of a class is terrifying enough, being responsible for 25-30 other adult’s children is stressful! So let the students know the real you, and do it right off the bat. Otherwise, to put it frankly, you’re frickin’ screwed. That doesn't mean you’re like, “Hi, I’m Ms. DelaBarre. I’m going to be you’re teacher for this school year. I like long walks on the beach, I have a pet betta named Captain Kirk, oh yeah and I am a very strong Republican that disagrees with pretty much all of the crap that comes out of our current leader’s mouths.” You don’t do that! You have to be subtle but aware that these are your beliefs and let the students know that the way you’re teaching has different approaches. For example, you might have a very religious student that refuses to believe that the Theory of Evolution is true. That’s perfectly okay! There are other beliefs out there. Here is where it’s also important that you don’t teach by the book. Because our large sibling states, Texas and Cali, have a lot of control over the books and what is and isn't published in them. Therefore, you can use suggestions from the books but in my opinion I would rather teach the kids in a way that is relevant to them (they will be more engaged), interesting or intriguing, and then understanding happens. Not just knowledge (spitting out facts), we have a greater understanding occurring.

For example, when learning about adolescence this session with O’Malley he gave us a short story called Red Dress by Alice Munro. We read it then answered questions that he had written out. But the point was that we all connected with the piece because it was relevant to each and every one of us in the class in one aspect or another. Teach the kids through literature in ways that they can relate. That’s the deepest and biggest connection that you can make with these kids. As O’Malley puts it, “The one thing that you can say to get these kids on board with you is say ‘yeah, I've been there. I know what that’s like.’ If you show them you have been there and understand, you can form the biggest connections with your students.”

Goodness, I already love my future job! SO MUCH POTENTIAL!

OH and before I go, here are photos of cute giraffes… Because it’s been a while.

Peace and Love.

Friends and Peers

Life has been insane. I know it has been a while since I wrote last but I knew that eventually I would be drawn back to this beautiful self-expression of mine like a moth to a flame. It’s summer; the weather is beautiful, the sun greets me and wakes me up every morning and I still find myself in the classroom. I am taking summer classes like the studious little bookworm that I am. I've been busy preparing for the week all day - lying in my bed doing a book report that’s due this upcoming week as well as a chapter presentation on the assigned classroom textbook. Since we talked last my life has been the same but a tad more interesting. I had a seasonal job but finding that it’s very hard to get a job around here, I've been busy searching for a new one ever since the initial one ended. It’s been difficult, but like I always do, I keep on trucking and moving forward! Sometimes it’s really the only thing you can do!

Anyways, now that I've had my little intro I’m going to get down to business. I am taking a TCE class during the summer it’s nice because I can use some of the material that we are talking about in class. I am taking this class by, in my opinion, the best professor at Oregon State. His name is Mike O’Malley. He is one of the reasons why I decided to have education as a future profession; he helped make everything possible.

The class that I am in is learning about adolescence and the changes they undergo as they transition into adulthood. Yeah, learning about puberty. The one bane of my existence that I wish I could take back and never think about again - constant embarrassment, the struggles of fitting in… Ah but alas, it’s a necessity in order for me to reach the much desired adulthood. There’s good news and bad news… Since I will be teaching high school students I will be right in the middle of those crazy hormone driven transitions, the good news is that I will never have to live through it again. However it will be difficult handling these students in the classrooms, but I knew that already and I look forward to the challenges I will be facing. No matter what grade or wherever I end up I will always be faced with challenges. That’s the exciting thing about this profession! If I do it right, it will never be boring!




So… FOCUS CARLY, FOCUS! I was reading about friends and peer groups and a couple of things that I found interesting that I didn't know before were brought to my attention. One factoid ;) was that peer pressure shouldn't really be called peer pressure - it should be called “friend’s influence.” This is a common mistake when talking about peers and friends. Peers are individuals in the same concrete grouping of age, gender, or education, etc. Friends are intimate individuals that you share and connect with on a deeper than surface level. “Peer pressure” isn't really peer pressure, it’s your friends; the individuals you’re closest with that you push you or thrust you into situations you might not be comfortable with.


When you think of friend’s impact you probably automatically think of the negative. WRONG! According to the chapter there are four types of positive support that individuals can give and receive in a friendship:


1.      Informational Support: Advice or guidance involving personal problems such as those in families, relationships, and schools.

2.      Instrumental Support: Helping with different tasks such as homework, household chores, lending money, etc.

3.      Companionship Support: Being able to rely on one another, and being reliable companions, like having someone to go to lunch with.

4.      Esteem Support: Encouraging or consoling when one fails, or congratulating when one succeeds.

These are things that I will have to keep in mind as I become integrated into the different classroom settings. It’s exciting.

I’m going to cut it a little short this evening because, beloved readers, it is late and I have class in the morning.

Until we read again.

Backward Design

“Just as a physical tool extends human capabilities, an intelligent tool enhances performance on cognitive tasks such as the design of learning units.” (Wiggins 2005)

Instead of having a cutesy little introduction, I decided to start with a quote from my new TCE classroom’s assigned textbook. (I’ll get to the cutesy stuff later!) In honor of the topic I’ll be conversing, I’m doing my normal routine backwards!

I want to talk about something new (like I tend to do) that I recently learned about. I think it’s pretty interesting. It’s called “Backward Design.” I wrote a personal definition based off of the statements presented in Grant Wiggins’ book Understanding by Design. It is, “an approach to teaching that narrows in on the end result and is focused on the learning, not the teaching aspect of being an educator.” I think that hits the nail right on the head (and I’m not just saying that because I wrote it and I’m biased about my opinions, because most often times I try to eradicate bias). The idea of “Backward Design” within the classroom is essentially the title. Literally. Most teachers start creating their curriculum based on the activities that they want to do, what the textbook has to say, and the work from previous lessons (RECIPE TEACHERS). Backward Design starts at what the end goal is. What do I want my students to take away from this lesson? What standards will I be meeting when creating this lesson? How does my curriculum prepare the students for further success in my classroom and society?

This is a no-nonsense system. If learning isn't a possible result, it’s cut from the game plan. These teachers that apply this design to their curriculum and classroom setting are successful. They are not recipe teachers that teach to the textbook and keep the same schedule year after year. These teachers have lesson plans that MEAN something, they are differentiating their classrooms, and they accomplish pre-set goals.  LEARNING HAPPENS! The information that is not important is cast aside, the included is not pointless and there is no filler. EVERY aspect of the formation of classroom direction has a reason or a purpose as to why it is included. Clear goals are set in the beginning before the lessons and activities are decided, THEN (in accordance to the set goals) the lessons are formed. A breakdown of how this works goes into three steps and they are as follows:

1. Identify desired results:

·         Examine established content standards and review curriculum expectations. (This is the step in which the magic begins, and it is THE most important).

2 .  Determine acceptable evidence:

·         Think about a unit or course in terms of the collected assessment evidence needed to document and validate that the desired learning has been achieved.

3.  Plan learning experiences and instruction

·         Fully think through the most appropriate instructional strategies.

Most teachers want to start with step three because it is the most exciting and fun part, but in doing this there is no set concrete goal that is at the end of the tunnel. In the beginning of the textbook Wiggins quoted, “If you don’t know exactly where you are headed, any road can take you there.” This is true for teaching too. In order for successful and purposeful learning to occur, we need to know exactly where we’re going.

We as teachers are going to want to jump ahead to the fun part but it just can’t happen right away. We would be doing our students a disservice, and many teachers are already like that. We have to REALLY think through our activities and lessons that we want to teach and decide what activity is a perfect fit that meets the student’s needs, the individual’s readiness level, and appeals to the standards already in place. (Hint, Hint: Referencing Differentiated Learning!) Stick to the order of the steps. You can still make activities fun and exciting AND they can pertain to the required curriculum or standard. What a wonder! I never knew it was possible (sarcasm) since all of the teachers never take the time to do it! Granted, this is a lot of work. But it’s worth it. I can’t stress that enough. For more info look up Understanding by Design.

So now that I've switched it up and talked about the important junk first, I’ll get to my (earlier mentioned as cutesy) introduction that I always do! The new term has started, hooray! I've been busy trucking away with my assignments because I am very eager to do will this term. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m intending to do well EVERY term. However this spring feels different. I was prepared when the first day rolled around for each of my classes, (already unlike last term, I didn't get my books until week three) the weather is starting to get nice so I can do my reading and lay in the sun, and I just like challenges. This term will definitely be that too! I’m enrolled in all four hundred level courses for the first time since attending Oregon State. I told my friend Josh today that it’s like when you’re playing Guitar Hero for the first time; the one hundred, two hundred and three hundred level courses resemble the first four keys that get you up to medium. The four hundred level courses are learning to use the orange key and getting used to shifting your hand. I feel like the first set of classes were pretty easy and I was able to pay attention on a moderate level, go to class and study slightly for tests and I could easily crank an A- out of them. Now it’s week one and I’m already feeling the heat. BUT! It’s exciting! Finally I have a challenge! So that’s about it.

I got a job offer for over the summer, that’s new! As of today actually. If my job at Garland doesn't last through the summer (since it’s seasonal) then I have a back-up! What else….. Hmmm… Oh I’m writing a book. Didn't know if I had announced that publicly yet or not. Well, now the cat’s out of the bag… Yeh, I’m writing a book. And I’m finding it difficult to work on because my life keeps getting in the way. That’s a characteristic of life though, right? Happy Wednesday!

Saludos,

Carly Mae

P.S I apologize for all of the photos, I was enjoying myself this post!