Thursday, July 26, 2012
I was able to do some reflection after today's on line instructor class. So much of this is new to me and I am truly enjoying all of the new learning that I am involved in. It made me think about my high school students who will be working on laptops and iPads this year. All will enter my classroom at different levels and I will need to differentiate all the instruction so that my students who are not familiar with technology do not become frustrated with that piece and then never get to my moodle course content. We are developing an introduction course instructing the students as to how to navigate around in moodle, which all students will be required to take prior to beginning their coursework, but again, differentiation will be the key.
Monday, July 16, 2012
What a wonderful and new experience Shared Journeys High School has been for me. I have spent most of my career in elementary education as well as working as a reading teacher. This past year I applied for and became the School Age Parent Teacher for the West Allis/West Milwaukee School District, where I have taught for my entire 24 year teaching career.
I now work with high school students who are pregnant or parenting. I absolutely LOVE what I do each and every day. These students work so hard to overcome the many barriers in their lives in order to be good parents and to achieve academic success.
The vision for Shared Journeys is academic and parenting success. The mission is to provide expectant and school age parents an opportunity to complete a high school education, encouraging strong parenting, healthy lifestyles and building post-secondary skills through supportive community and innovative learning environments.
Since many of my students have a difficult time getting to school due to day care or quite possible being placed on bed rest, we are developing all the courses on the Moodle platform so that students can take a laptop home and continue their coursework from home. In the past I was taking work back and forth to their homes. This will ensure that they will be able to witness first hand information such as podcasts and virtual tours as well as feel connected to what we are doing in class.
With the coursework being placed onto the Moodle platform, I need to learn the skills necessary to be able to work with my students in this role. I am so excited to be learning about google docs and see that as a way to receive permission slips, to create quizzes and materials from anywhere. This will be such a benefit for me when I am traveling to many sites throughout the day and can access my materials at anytime! I have created two blogs. One I am going to use as a weekly newsletter to inform students and parents of our classroom happenings. The other one is this one for my own personal use...a journal opportunity to reflect on my learning.
Welcome to my Shared Journeys!
I now work with high school students who are pregnant or parenting. I absolutely LOVE what I do each and every day. These students work so hard to overcome the many barriers in their lives in order to be good parents and to achieve academic success.
The vision for Shared Journeys is academic and parenting success. The mission is to provide expectant and school age parents an opportunity to complete a high school education, encouraging strong parenting, healthy lifestyles and building post-secondary skills through supportive community and innovative learning environments.
Since many of my students have a difficult time getting to school due to day care or quite possible being placed on bed rest, we are developing all the courses on the Moodle platform so that students can take a laptop home and continue their coursework from home. In the past I was taking work back and forth to their homes. This will ensure that they will be able to witness first hand information such as podcasts and virtual tours as well as feel connected to what we are doing in class.
With the coursework being placed onto the Moodle platform, I need to learn the skills necessary to be able to work with my students in this role. I am so excited to be learning about google docs and see that as a way to receive permission slips, to create quizzes and materials from anywhere. This will be such a benefit for me when I am traveling to many sites throughout the day and can access my materials at anytime! I have created two blogs. One I am going to use as a weekly newsletter to inform students and parents of our classroom happenings. The other one is this one for my own personal use...a journal opportunity to reflect on my learning.
Welcome to my Shared Journeys!
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