Thursday, February 19, 2009

My Professional Portfolio..its never ending

I have spent a long time questioning what all I want to put in my portfolio. There is a list that I have created where I am slowly adding things and crossing things off as I am beginning to really dig into this portfolio. This like: are those things really worth showing off?, what is the best way I can portray this piece of information, and my biggest article on the list is written in large writing: MUST FIND *insert various name here*. I think I might be taking the task of making this portfolio a little bit differently then others, however.
Why? Well, because I am using this portfolio as a base for another project. I am extremely concerned with aspects of usability for this portfolio. We looked at other portfolios during the previous class, and I was not that impressed with them. After creating website after website, the term 'usability' never really occured to me..particularly in terms of a personal website. Thinking of what the website might look like in another browser, alignment issues and so on was not my biggest concern..simply because it looked fine on my screen. Well I have dug much deeper into the aspects of a website, and this portfolio will showcase my new knowledge.
As Nicole and I began to discuss which artifacts we wanted to use..its some what difficult beccause as secondary English majors..there is not much to showcase. We have papers, tons of them actually, that we have written. Luckily, there have been a few classes that have assisted me in creating units, study guides and some of those things (thank heavens).
So, I suppose one of my artifacts will be my unit layout and study guide packet I created for a pretend group of seventh graders over The Giver. I worked extremely hard on this assignment, and would definitely use it in the classroom. It shows my knowledge of the book and different critical aspects that can be taken with the book.
There are a few other things I am considering putting in there, but I think my TWS (teacher work sample) would be a prime piece of information that I would put into my portfolio. I suppose I just need to keep digging for these artifacts. We sha'll see.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Let's learn to swIsh

So, I was recently introduced to a software called: SWiSH. I have been obsessed with learning, or having a better grasp, of Macromedia Flash. Well, both my brother and father have messed with SWiSH and they sent it my way.
For anyone that knows nothing about the platform, it can be extremely overwhelming. However, the layout of the template makes the whole ordeal a little more simple. It has a lot of things already created for you, so that is nice. I don't have to worry about picking things a part and just allow a template to do all the hard work. I have not tried to create to much within this software yet. But, I could definitely use it within a classroom for advanced desktop publishing. Oh, yeah, that would be fun!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Nothing new,

I have begun my search for some ultimate blog for a future English teacher to read...and have been left with nothing. Maybe my expectations are too high. However, I have found "The English Teacher Blog" which is pretty interesting. I particularly like the entry on Jan. 30th about the picture the little girl drew...HILARIOUS.
I don't really know what I look for in a blog, especially one that is devoted to English or Language Arts. What to read, what not to read, how to read it and utilize it in the classroom? I am really not sure.

In class last night we began to talk about the importance of reading, or maybe the importance of enjoying to read? Someone brought up this concern about books being made into movies which leads children away from the literature and more too the television screen. I can't say that I totally agree with "oh this is horrible" but I don't disagree with her concerns. I suppose the only real aspect that I worry about is how much a movie can be different from the actual book. For example, Marry Poppins..if you have not read it..do, and it will scare the bajeezus out of you. Then we began to discuss the importance of 'liking to read'. I personally hate reading. Well, that is a lie. I love to read. Just not very much that comes out of a text book or anything that involved Romeo and Juliet (ew). So, finding ANY book that my students will enjoy will be wonderful. There is so much more out there then what, for example, I have had to read in school. While Tennyson and Shakespeare are talented famous ..dead..writers, please, will someone just let Romeo and Juliet die already? I know the story, I do NOT need to read it again.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Wow, really...

I have not blogged on this blog since last year for Ed. Media. Maybe this one will go farther then the last one. However, I am horribly distracted by the save now/saving button located under this block. Oh, auto save. Thank heavens.