Social Bookmarking

1. National Archives: This was a very interesting website, especially given the fact that I want to be a history teacher. I thought it was really cool that there were all of these resources, gathered on-line and accessible for free. Using primary sources is extremely important and helpful in teaching history because primary documents are much more accurate and reliable than reprinted versions that could have been edited. Plus, using primary sources gives students a really authentic feel of the time the artifact is from. I looked at the exhibit about the men and women who served the country during WWII and found the images very interesting.

2. National Education Association: There are 5 main groups that experience achievement gaps in school. They are American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Blacks, Hispanics, and Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender People. According to the "Becoming a Culturally Competent Educator", I feel the three areas that fit my teaching style are:
-Gathering and organizing resources materials related to cultural diversity for use by school staff, because I am good at researching things.
-Assess what your school staff perceive as their staff development needs, because I don't think you can solve a problem with out addressing what the bigger issue is. Teachers need to take the time to think about what tools they need to lower the achievement gap in order to effective tackle the gap.
-Networking with other schools to see what they are developing and implementing. I think school districts can collaborate together to create more comprehensive results, which will benefit the students in all districts. If one school district has a really great system in place but doesn't share it with other schools, it doesn't really do much in the long run to lower the achievement gap.

3. Stop Cyber Bullying: I am a Cyber Saint! :) I don't know that I've ever done any of the things on the quiz, but I can think back to high school and remember other kids doing some of them. High Schoolers (14-17) can be really mean and vicious with each other. I found the section of the teacher's area about the different kinds of cyberbullies to be interesting. I think when people think of your stereotypical bullies, they think of boys pushing people around on the playground, but with such advances in technology, bullying is taking on all new forms. Girls are getting heavily involved because you can do it from the safety of your home and have no face-to-face confrontation with anyone. Being able to recognize the different types of cyberbullies will help me in the classroom because I will know what to look for, and hopefully ways to prevent it from occurring.

4. Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators: The Subject Access area that interests me is the History and Social Studies sites, because that's what I want to teach. It has some useful links to websites I could very easily incorporate into my classroom when I teach. There is a link called "Anyday in History" that will tell you birthday's, death dates, and special events for any day of the year you put in. This could be helpful in getting students interested in history, maybe by telling them which historical figures share their birthday, etc. The Teacher Helpers section that interested me is the Critical Evaluation Information page. This gives links to ways to critically evaluate the educational content of a web page. History classes tend to require a lot of researching, and most teens jump to the internet as their first and main source of information. Being able to distinguish between which websites are of a scholarly value and which ones aren't would be very helpful in writing a higher quality paper or project.

5. Multiple Intelligences: My top three intelligences are Logical-Mathematical (63%), Verbal-Linguistic (58%) and Intrapersonal (56%). The fact that Logical-Mathematical was my highest scoring intelligence was surprising because I hate math, but not surprising because I do like logical reasons for things. I watched "Multiple Intelligences Thrive in Smartville" and I thought it was really cool how positive the school was. Kids, especially young ones, need positive reinforcement. They also need to learn things that they DO excel at, not just the things they aren't good at.

6. Teaching Tolerance: I chose upper grades, social studies, and socioeconomic issues to research and came up with an article titled "One Survivor Remembers: A Call to Action". This lesson plan helps students understand how knowledge can move us to action and to critically analyze an issue in their community. I would use this in my class to promote community involvement, pride, and unity, and maybe incorporate it during lessons about the Civil Rights Movement to show how if communities come together, a lot can be accomplished.

7. EdChange Multicultural Education: I was very surprised with question one about how many schools (40%) had NO teachers of color on staff. I know there are a lot of areas of the country that aren't very diverse, but 40% is almost half...that seems very high, and I wonder what reasons there are behind it- perhaps not as many people of color going into the teaching profession or something similar? I also found question ten very interesting, dealing with the different forms of cocaine and how much of what type lands you in jail. It seems like it's harder to arrest wealthy people even though their preferred brand of crack contains just as much of the drug per gram as the generic version that poorer people tend to use. It seems like the system is set up for rich people to get away with things.

8. Netiquette Guidelines: I got an 80% on the quiz. I missed the questions on when it is OK to forward an email and what a flame is. It is important to teach students about Netiquette because a lot of kids may be under the impression that manners aren't important on-line. If you start teaching them good Netiquette manners at a young age, they will (hopefully) develop good habits that will stay with them as they grow up. Many kids tend to over use :) and :( to display their moods, and too many emoticons get annoying and look unprofessional.