Tuesday, July 21, 2009

del.icio.us SoCiaL BooKMaRKiNG: NeTS I, II, & III

http://www.delicious.com

1. National Archives: This links to a website that provides links and images to the documents of our national history. The Charters of Freedom national documents include The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. The pictures and links open up into copies of the actual signed documents with explanations and background information, as well there is information provided about the presidents involved. I believe the value of including this in the classroom are that the knowledge and availability of these documents is important for students to be able to gain access to and easier for teachers to promote the learning of this history.

2. NEA: Students groups at the greatest risk of experiencing achievement gaps are racial and ethnic minorities, English language learners, students with disabilities, boys/girls, and students from low-income families. Under the “Becoming a Culturally Competent Educator” link the three areas that I feel fit my teaching style at this point the most are:
• "Engage school staff in discussions and activities that offer an opportunity to explore attitudes, beliefs, and values related to cultural diversity and cultural competence.
• Build and use a network of "natural helpers" at school and in the community as well as "experts" who have knowledge of the culturally, linguistically, racially, and ethnically diverse groups served by your school.
• Network with parent, family, minority community, and faith-based organizations concerned with the needs of diverse students. Solicit their involvement and input in the design and implementation of initiatives for culturally, linguistically, racially, and ethnically diverse groups".
I am drawn to these three areas because they are all centered around cultural diversity. I have studied cultural diversity and will continue to focus my studies and time in the genre in the future, and with each course I complete, I realize how much more needs to be done at a much earlier stage. I would like to implement cultural diversity in my classroom regardless of the age of students I may have; I believe it is never too early to begin.

3. Cyberbullying: according to the cyber bullying website, I am a “cyber saint”. This is very likely due to the fact that I do not need to use the internet to mask my thoughts and feelings about others. When I have something to say, believe me I say it... I have no filter. I just do not like the idea of talking behind barriers, everything with me is out in the open. The methods link on how to deal with cyber bullies seems quite helpful. This looks like it would be a good site to reference for guidance in the event such a situation arises in my classroom.

4. Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators: From “Subject Access” I choose performing arts and music, and from “Teacher Helpers” I choose gadgets and podcasting. The most interesting area of this site was the involvement in musicals and Broadway shows. As a musician and a believer that music and performing arts play a huge role in the learning experiences of children, I find it fascinating that this genre is included and considered when many tend to overlook it. I absolutely plan to incorporate music and arts into my curriculum; moreover, I would like to work within a VAPA program.

5. Multiple Intelligences: My top three intelligences were Musical at 100%, Interpersonal and Intrapersonal tied for second at 63%, and Bodily-Kinesthetic at 58%. The videos brought to light the different abilities that children possess in learning and know how I am able and unable to learn things, I understand that each child has a certain way in which they are able to take in and process information and I must be aware of these qualities in the future.

6. Teaching Tolerance Lesson Idea: This activity is for grades PreK - 2nd, subject is Creative Arts, and the topic is health issues. Students will begin with a story concerning body image, then they will converse about the diverse people they come into contact with, students will then trace their full body to realize their own distinctive shape and size, and speak of ideas to have a healthy life style. This lesson will help to guide children, even at this young age, to recognize and celebrate differences and diversity in body image and people. The link to this lesson plan is as follows: http://www.tolerance.org/teach/activities/activity.jsp?cid=827.

7. EdChange Multicultural Awareness Quiz: The two questions I found interesting were 1. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, what is the percentage of U.S. schools with no teachers of color on staff? and 2. A Princeton study of elite universities in the U.S. found that legacy applicants—people, usually white and wealthy, with a parent or grandparent who attended the institution—are far more privileged by legacy status than applicants of color are by affirmative action policies. The study determined that legacy status was roughly equivalent to how much of a boost to an applicant’s SAT score? I guess I should say I feel the first question irritated me, I feel it is ridiculous not for what it is asking, but for the way it is worded. I do not think that the proper wording of this question should be “teachers of color”, but rather ethnic or diverse or race, but at the same time there must be a reason for the question which is to shed light on that issue – I just do not agree with the wording. The second question was just interesting, but not surprising. I am not shocked with this question because this is a notion that I have heard many times and have heard to be fact. Whether or not this is true is not for me to decide, and though I still do not feel the wording of “applicants of color” is appropriate, I simply found this to be an attention-grabbing question – period!

8. Netiquette: My score was 60% which I found to be quite weird. I did not really understand some of the questions fully, especially the ones pertaining to chat rooms because I do not use chat rooms so I did not even know what they were asking. I feel it is important to teach students that there is another person on the end on technology and it should be treated in the same respect as face-to-face interaction. If it is not something they would say in the actual presence of the person, they should not say it at all. }: [

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