End of Course Survey

I completed the end of course survey. Overall I learned a lot in this class and I would recommend it to everyone. It is not just a class for teachers it is a class to improve your technology skills. It can help with presentations, office documents, and so much more. Being an architecture major I didn't get to see all of the technology that is used in the classroom, but I now know that there is an endless possibility when it come to technology in and outside of the classroom.

PhotoStory1

Photo Story  is a pretty neat program that windows offers. It allows you to make movie files in the form of a slideshow. I personally did not care for the editing part of it and I tended to edit some of my photos in Photoshop before putting them into Photo Story. I also had the problem that when I started to run the program that my microphone stopped working. I am not sure why it did that. Even tough it does not have the sound I originally meant for it to have, I used Mark Will's song Don't Laugh at Me that I retrieved from YouTube.

I became a member of YouTube. (something I thought I would never do) Change is good though! I enjoyed learning about all the technology this semester! So here is my You Tube video: Cyber-bullying.




This program allows one to make your own videos to use in the classroom which alternatively allows a teacher to follow the ISTE NETS 3c. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning by communicating relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats.

File Converter

I think that this website is neat. I already have a program that I downloaded on my computer that can do basically the same thing, but with BenderConverter I can save some space on my hard drive. Simply by putting the URL in the box and downloading is all it takes.

I used a video that I found that seems really funny to me. It jokes about all the hard work that is put into preparing to become an architect. While I want to teach architecture and design I also want people to be aware of the hard work it takes. 

This makes using videos easier especially if you will not have internet at the place you might be presenting. I think that technology has come a long way and implementing videos in the classroom is a great way to integrate the future of technology and connect with this generation.With that said I think that this closely follows the ISTE NETS 3d. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning by modeling and facilitating effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning.

YouTube Video

When doing this assignment I was excited because I have been using this program to download videos and mp3s directly to my iTunes for a couple of months now. The program that I downloaded to so that I could obtain videos from YouTube is DVDVideoSoft . It is a simple process. Just go to the website and download the Free YouTube Download 2.10.33. Once it is downloaded you can choose what you want to download and how you want to download it. I choose Free YouTube to iPod but you can also choose the plain Free YouTube download and it will allow you to use Windows Media Player.

 This is my video that I acquired from YouTube and then used Blogger to upload my video from the file on my computer. However I have to give credit where credit is due; this video was made and put on YouTube by MAYAnMAYA.

 

For the next part of the assignment I was not sure how to take my now personal video and make it loop. I tried looking it up and searching for an answer but all I found was how to loop a YouTube video on blogger. 

I used blogbulk to figure out how to loop and autoplay the YouTube video. However this took some time because I had to use a setting to use the old embedding code. The new embedding code would not work and an error kept coming up saying that it could not find the video.





 I think that the journey I took to get here closely resembles the ISTE NETS 5a. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership by participating in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning. If teachers can research and look up things that will make their classrooms better through and with technology then students can succeed in the future and be opened to the same opportunities.

Tiny cc/ Bitly

Say I want to share a picture with you that I got from a website I could copy and paste the address/ hyperlink to the message, however what if the address/ hyperlink is extremely long? This makes reading the rest of the letter I send you extremely long. By shortening an address it makes sharing websites easier. The sender does not have to write something really long which cuts out on errors and it is easier for the the receiver to input a short amount of characters than a long amount. For instance I really want to share a website with other teachers about a art project that they could use in their classroom. I could use this  address http://www.designmom.com/2008/01/valentines-on-my-mind/ which can become very sloppy and long or I could use Bitly and shorten the address to http://bit.ly/hqfavi. Either way they will still get to the same website but the shorter one can cause less errors and confusion. This is something that can be used in various different ways. Teachers can use it to provide websites to parents, teachers, the community, the principal and so many more people! Thus meeting the ISTE NETS 4c. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility by promoting and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information.

Voice Thread

I really enjoyed this tool. It is a neat way to communicate and share ideas. I think that Voice Thread is a good way for groups of people to work together when they can not physically meet or be involved in chat room. It can be used in 5 different ways (voice, typed, video, phone, or webcam) This provides a way that anyone can participateEveryone has a different schedule and this website can make things easier by being able to respond in one's own time.

This can directly correlate to Standard 5: Professional Responsibilities for School and Community Function 5F: School, Family and Community Connections because it will allow for the teacher to work collaboratively with the principal, colleagues, parents, students and the community to develop and sustain school activities that make meaningful connections between the school and families and the community. It can also relate to ISTE NETS under 4c. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility  to promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information. This website will make it easier for the teacher to prompt for interactions and between the school, family, and community while increasing the knowledge of digital technologies.

Podcast

I have never done a podcast before in my life and I have to say that they are a lot harder than they seem. Maybe that is because I am a perfectionist and I had to record several times to get it right. I used Audacity to create my podcast and used Podbean to publish it. My topic was on the fundamentals of geometry using the CSO Policy 2520.2. A CSO that is met is M.O.G. 3.1.
It was very hard for me to pick a topic to do a podcast on because I am a very visual person and I like to teach things with demonstrations rather than lecture. However I can see how this could come in handy in a classroom environment especially in college when the professor can not be there or during e-week when there is no class.
Overall I think that podcasts easy to do but I really would rather make a video or PowerPoint to teach from. However podcasts can show a teacher how voice inflection is used and how to implement that in the classroom by simply recording their voice and listening. This could follow Standard 4: Professional Responsibilities for Self-Renewal, in that the teacher is learning how to word things and communicate to others so that they can understand. This also follows the ISTE NETS 2d. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments by providing students a different type of learning experience aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.

Jeopardy

I love this website.Jeopardy Labs is a free and easy way to create a game that can help students learn and study. When I was younger I would always study by making my own tests and practice taking tests. Later in college I started using note cards. I think that Jeopardy is a great way to combine my two best studying habits. Meanwhile if it helps me study then it would also help my students study. This interactive game can be created very easily and I think that it would be a great way to review topics before a test.
My Jeopardy game is a general Architecture game however each topic can be broken down even farther to build on what is being taught.
 With many classrooms using technology I think that this website can help teachers develop better ways of creating reviews and implementing certain topics into the classroom.

Prezi

In this assignment I used Prezi to integrate architecture into a much broader understanding. Since my goal is to become a professor of design, I can use this tool to show first year students that architecture is way more than it seems. This will ultimately help me in the classroom present ideas, new projects or teach about the history of what we are studying.

ARCHITECTURE on Prezi

Both Prezi and PowerPoint have good and bad qualities. They both offer a way to present a student’s work, a new assignment, and/or a lecture, but other than that they are pretty different. PowerPoint can be very blah if not used correctly and some people might fall asleep during a presentation. On the other hand, Prezi can be just to opposite it can move too much and cause “motion sickness” if not done properly. Also PowerPoint has an organization system that can be of good use to students whereas in Prezi you can put all of the ideas in and then organize by the order of your path. When giving a presentation Prezi offers an easier way to go back by scrolling in and out, but in PowerPoint you have to exit out and choose the slide you want (I have found this to be a hassle sometimes). Prezi’s advantage is that it is easier to share than PowerPoint because it is online; this is especially true if the PowerPoint has transitions, sound, and animation. That is where PowerPoint has an advantage, the ability it add sound and animation. Overall, I do not think that one is better than the other as long as they are done right.
I found that it was fairly easy to create once I did the tutorial and played around with it myself. I am normally a pretty organized person and for some reason I found it hard to organize my thoughts while making the presentation, so I had to stop and write down some organizational method in order to finish. The hardest part about the YouTube video was actually finding something that related to my topic. I considered changing my topic because of what I was able to find. Most videos of architecture either consist of pictures or other college kids that are presenting some of their projects. Sometimes it is harder than it seems to find something that relates. I applaud teachers who find videos and implement them in the classroom. It is fun and a nice break from listen to the same person day after day.
Prezi can be used in so many ISTE NETS T standards. It can inspire student learning and creativity by allowing students to use explore issues and present (using thinking skills, planning strategies, and creativeness). Teachers can use this to create presentations for parents, faculty, community members, and so many more while using digital age technology to support the topic at hand. This also will engage in professional growth and leadership. I found while doing this assignment that I was thinking through a process and developing critical thinking skills to create my presentation. By sharing presentations like this it allows for others to also engage in the technology.
Prezi is a very good way to present information! Will I do it all the time? (Probability not) I would need to become more familiar with it first. As for right now, I know PowerPoint inside and out and it is what is familiar and it is what I have always used, so I will stick with it.

Power Point

I have to say that I love making power points! However, I did find it hard not to include transitions because I have been taught over and over to use them in my presentations. When I started planning what I was going to include in my PowerPoint I found that it was boring and not the direction I wanted to go with the presentation. Instead of educating you I would have put you to sleep, so I changed a little bit of my format to encompass a common misconception about Architecture. Having an architecture background and a love for education, I feel that the two can work together through ideas and concepts. Like architecture that is the essence of life and an idea that fixes a need, teachers can do the same thing. If a teacher understands the students then the teacher can creatively come up with a new strategy to evoke the students to learn. This would fall under Standard 3: Teaching (Function 3F: Flexibility and Responsiveness). Power Points can be very powerful in the classroom by allowing students to interact and ask questions in a way other than on the board (Standard 3: Function 3A: Importance of Content and Function 3C: Questioning and Discussion Techniques). They can also be used in presentations to the board, parents, faculty, and staff as a different approach to reach out and to allow yourself to demonstrate your ideas, thoughts, and class activities.

What is Architecture?

View more presentations from Marsha Benson

Action Research Report

I personally found this a little changeling because I have never used APA formatting before. This type of formatting makes a document/paper easier to read. This paper allowed me to breakdown the information that I obtained that I would have never done before. I usually look at charts and understand them without having to break things down into components or even put it in words. I feel that teachers can meet the standard of student assessments under Curriculum and Planning with this because they can look at statistics of students and  evaluate the class accordingly.
I have submitted my Action research Paper.

Personality Test 2

After taking the Personality Test, I was right that I am an Idealist! I think that understanding who you are is a big part of the learning process. If you learn who you are and what you like then your career will follow. If you are doing things that exemplify who you are then you are more likely to like the job that you are in. This will show in your attitude in and outside of the classroom and it will also help others to find the same inner development that you found. I would teach in ways that I am comfortable with, however that does not go to say that everyone I would teach would become idealist. Rather they would gain an understanding of that temperament apply it as part of their life experiences. I feel that I am well rounded due to the people I have meet, but because of my background I am drawn to more of an idealist point of view.  This personality test can help a teacher develop the standard in personal growth and development.

Personality Test 1

I have not had much experience with personality tests other then little quizzes from magazines or facebook. These are more or less made up and I am guessing that not much studying about the human development takes place before they are made.
According to this Personality Test there are four different temperaments guardian, idealist, artisan, and rational.

• As Concrete Cooperators, Guardians speak mostly of their duties and responsibilities, of what they can keep an eye on and take good care of, and they're careful to obey the laws, follow the rules, and respect the rights of others.
  
• As Abstract Cooperators, Idealists speak mostly of what they hope for and imagine might be possible for people, and they want to act in good conscience, always trying to reach their goals without compromising their personal code of ethics.
  
• As Concrete Utilitarians, Artisans speak mostly about what they see right in front of them, about what they can get their hands on, and they will do whatever works, whatever gives them a quick, effective payoff, even if they have to bend the rules.
  
• As Abstract Utilitarians, Rationals speak mostly of what new problems intrigue them and what new solutions they envision, and always pragmatic, they act as efficiently as possible to achieve their objectives, ignoring arbitrary rules and conventions if need be. 

Finding a ranking that suits me is hard because I can see bits and pieces of me in all of these temperaments. As a guardian, I strongly believe in tradition and that change is needed but it will not happen with the snap of your fingers:it will take time. I also feel that I am a trustworthy dependable and hard working person, however I am comfortable winging it  and I don't like being bogged down all the time. With that said, I portray some of the characteristics of an artisan but not to the same extent. I am normally pretty optimistic about things and I love working with my hands to create new things, but I like to plan them out and not rush to get it finished. Even though I like to be spontaneous and like an adventure from time to time it is not something I live for. The next two temperaments are where I am focusing my life: teaching and architecture. The idealist in me is enthusiastic about life and the place that I can go and who I can help along the way. I have always been known as Switzerland in that I typically stay in the middle of thing so that I help others get along with each other and that I try to be the glue in the group that bonds everyone together. I hate for people to be mad or upset with me so I tend to avoid confrontation by giving more of myself for the wants and needs of others. I also am a firm believer in the Lord and know that material things are not what is important in life, but a relationship with the Lord, family, and friends are. Last but not least is the rational in me. I love to use problem solving to figure things out and analysis things in order to get the best result. Education is the key to understanding and only way to accomplish our goals in life. I feel t hat we are constantly learning. By learning I can develop ideas and use my problem solving skills to come up with the best solution. However I do regard authority because if I disagree on something I tend hold it in due to the fact that I do not like confrontation. Thus, I feel that my ranking would be as followed: idealist, rational, guardian, and then artisan.

AR Spreadsheet

This assignment was a challenging one that made me realize that there is a lot more to Excel than what I had previously thought. It was a great way to learn some new things however it took me a lot longer than an Excel spreadsheet should take. I had to watch several you tube videos and read several explanations to try to figure things out but I still do not feel like I understand it the best. I think that spreadsheets like these would be great to use so that you can track you progress as a teacher by the progress that students making in the classroom. While I am not a firm believer in standardized testing and judging a student by their scores, I think that this can encourage a teacher to try harder or to develop new ways to teach based on the data that he/she receives. This could fall under the ISTE NETS for Engaging in Professional Growth and Leadership. According to the spreadsheet created through an action research process teaching can make a difference big or small it is still a difference!
One big problem I have with this assignment was the fact that Google Docs. is not completely compatible with Excel 2007. Functions that I used while creating my Excel file was the AVERAGEIF function. When I put the Excel file in Google Docs. it came up with errors in each of the cells that contained that function. I was highly disappointed and ended up going back into Excel and used the SUMIF and COUNTIF to complete my function. While these functions work just as well it took more time to do it this way. A second thing that I was disappointed about was that my graphs that I had previously done in Excel would not show up in Google Docs. so I would have to create them again in Docs. to shoe up in the document. Instead I decided to use JING to create two images of my charts (Chart A, Chart B). While looking at the data there were some things that it helped to have these charts and then sometimes it was easier to look at the facts within the numbers. While answering the three questions about the action research I did both. I feel that both are equally important in conveying certain aspects of the research and accomplishments.

Spreadsheet 2

When working on this spreadsheet, the concept behind the formulas seemed simple to me because I took a programming I and sets, relations, and functions class last semester. I have never done anything like this in Excel before but it really makes If, then statements a bit easier to follow and create a very easy way to display a variety of things based on whether or not they are true of false. This tool can be very helpful to a teacher in the classroom. The teacher could use it for the grade book or students could use it to understand the logic behind programming and math functions. With features like this and a little formatting Excel can become a gateway to the organization of data. My data can be obtained here through Google docs.
Once again Excel can be used in various ways that can be uses in the classroom to meet some of the ISTE.NETS standards such as professional growth and leadership by sharing data with others in and out of the school system and by modeling digital-age work and learning.

Spreadsheet 1

I have always found working in Excel to be easy and very beneficial for several applications. From grade books to balancing a checkbook Excel can take something that would take considerable amount of time and work and make it simple and hassle free. I think that this spreadsheet exercise was easy, but a necessary refresher for those who have not looked at an excel spreadsheet since high school. I use Excel to make schedules for work, calculate tabs at events, and serve as a way to organize treasure’s reports. This application can be implemented in a classroom for schedules, grades, and simple organizing tasks.
It is exciting that spreadsheets are also incorporated into Google documents because this means that I can share the spreadsheet and make it easier to communicate with someone else for schedule and so on. 

This tool meetsthe ISTE NETS standards by a teacher being able to use the technology to communicate with other teachers, create schedules for parents, and sharing grades with parents. (Model Digital-Age Work and Learning)

Google Forms 1

I find Google forms rather exciting! It is a way to collect information from many people and then it does the hard work for you by putting it into an excel type file. I think that when you need something to be done in an office or even in a school where you need everyone's participation and do not have a lot of time to organize everyone's thoughts this is great. However because I did not have that kind of need I found it difficult to come up with questions that I wanted to ask.
I searched a little more and found that if you have an application called Google Apps then you can actually manage who took the survey, who did not, and how many times they took it, because it will collect the email of those who took the survey.

Like many programs and tools I have found that it take a little bit to get used to. I had to play around and try different things in order to get the survey to turn out the way I wanted it to. Linking pages and finding the final button to submit were two of my tasks that took me a while to achieve. Once I was able to master them it became easy to finish the rest of the survey.

This feature can be used in all kinds of ways, it can be hyper linked, it can be embedded, or simply emailed. All of these ways can be beneficial to different users depending on what they wanted to achieve. For example a teacher/principal could send it as an email to survey their co-workers/employees about a certain topic or it could be embedded on the school's website to reach out to the parents of the students.
Another great thing about Google form is that it is created in Google documents so only certain people you decide to share it with will be able to see it or you can publicly share it so that anyone who searches can find it and take the survey as well. As long as you have the link you don't have to be a Google documents user. This means that you can collect data from all types people, even those who are not Google savvy. I can set it to where I am the only one who can make any changes to the document so that the information is as correct as it can be. I decided that to get the maximum results for my survey I wanted to share it publicly and allow people to understand how other people fell about the topic, so follow my link to find out how other people responded.

This tool can serve as a learning tool for the teacher as well as getting parents to interact in the classroom. A simple survey on the progress of the class and what the teacher can do to improve or a survey as to which parents can help in the classroom whether it a day with a guest reader or a holiday party. Both of these thing can contribute to the effectiveness of the teacher in the classroom and self renewal of the teacher allowing the teacher to engage in professional growth and leadership.

Zoomerang Survey

I made this survey by using Zoomerang.

Online Graphing Tools

In this assignment I looked at the scores of the national assessment compared them to the West Virginia assessment scores on the NAEP website.  My focus was in math and I found that the scores were lower than what I had imagined maybe this was due to the fact that they are averages and not base on what hear about test scores from teachers that I know.  This assignment actually kind of opened my eyes when it came to these averages. I feel that West Virginia is doing fairly well with what we are given; however there is always room for improvement.  After looking at the scores I compiled them into a line graph using Kids Zone. This is a neat tool to use because it allows one to look at information in a more visual way. The down side to this is like the assignment that we were given, if the settings are changed one can make data look good, bad, or even unrealistic.I am not a big fan of changing data to make it look like something else. We need to realize mistakes that the data shows and fix it accordingly. Although, in this assignment I had to do just that, manipulate the graph, to get the results that I needed. This process was simple and was all about changing the min and max so that the either resembled a close margin or a big jump. My results for the assignment are shown in the following links:

Trouble Among The Hills
A Future For West Virginia Students
In Trouble Among The Hills I made the min and max closer together to reveal a jump in the graph and make it appear that the averages were vary different when in reality they were only 6 points away in 2009. Then in AFuture For West Virginia Students I had to increase the min and max to make sure that averages were close together for better assessment results.

Teachers could use this activity with Standard 1 Function 1E Student Assessment. The assessment scores compared to other scores can guide the teacher and student for future learning capabilities and results. It can also be used for the assessment of a teachers own personal teaching style. This approach can be found in Standard 3 Function 3E. Assessments scores and charts can allow one to evaluate their own teachings and learn abilities inside and outside of the classroom.

Wordle/ Word Cloud

This word cloud was created using my personal statement that I used to get into grad school. It is the very essence of what I want to be and where I want to go in life. I found that Wordle is a very creative tool and I wish I had known about it sooner. It takes something very simple and creates something that will allow you to actually understand the main points of what is being written without actually reading the statement.

I played around with this tool for a while trying different papers, exploring the colors, and other edits that can be used. I soon realized that there is a word count. It actually counts how many time each word is used and displays it in a list for you. As I discovered that I realized that this tool could be used as a vocabulary builder of some sort. I tend to use the same words over and over again because one, it is easier to spell and two, my vocabulary is not as extensive as it could be. This tool creates a better visual for you to understand what words you tend to use most. I think that the Wordle tool is a great way for students to analysis a piece of written work and opens up a communication to a student's writing skills, following Standard 3: Function 3B. For example, when I was in high school sometimes did not understand why I had to rework a paper, but my teacher was able to effiectly comuunicate the faults and areas that I lacked in my paper. This communication was key to my success throughout the rest of my high school experience. With this tool it can make a teacher's job in communicating to the student easier and more visual.

It can also see how it distinguishes Dolch sight words that are the base words for those who are learning to read.Here is the same personal statement as above but with the sight words/ common words included.

Batchgeo Map

View Education 6305 Map in a full screen map

Search for nearest location

I had fun creating this map! I was thinking this type of map could be used in history classes when talking about locations of places, however in my classroom as an architecture professor it could be used to pin point certain architectural phenomenon and historical sites whether it is by a certain architect or even an era. Using technology like this will set the next generation apart from the current generation. We are constantly learning and new technology is the way the world is going. Before maps and push pins were used, but now with everyone using the computer this tool will replace a map or atlas much like a GPSs has pretty much replaced road maps.This feature would be part of Standard 3: Function 3A because it is a way that a teacher can use a new technology in the classroom and create a learning experience that is unique. This tool can be used with several different address so that all of the students can be involved whether it is the students home address or addresses of business in relation to the community. Teachers develops an instructional activity around Standard 2: Function 2A.

Jing Image

Since I have an architecture background I thought I would show my readers a neat process that can be done in Photoshop, a program that I use quite often. I used the photo that I saved in the previous post (Jing Graphic). I hope this brings creativity to everyone who watches! Enjoy! Jing Screencast 

This follows ISTE NETS 1c. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity by promoting student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes.Students can use this tool to show their creative process and how they did thing whether it was looking something up or creating something in any program.

Jing Graphic

I had a lot of fun with this tool! It will be a great way to teach when you can not be in a classroom or need additional instruction outside of the classroom. I think that this program was very easy to use once I played around in it a bit. I used this part of the assignment to prepare for the second half so here is how to save an image from Google images.
Jing is a tool that will essentially take a screen print that will allow you to make notes on and then save it as a png image file or a Flash (.swf) to wherever one wishes to locate the files. If you choose to share/upload the image or video then a lick will be sent to you with a link to a Screencast and link information. Once you have exited out you can always go back into the history and click on the image or video you wish to have and view and save or share and upload with a link. Once you have a link you can share it with anyone. simply use the link give in the address in the address bar. Jing and Screencast are very easy to use and can save teachers and students a lot of time. This is a professional learning skill that can enhance a teacher's teaching skills in working with technology, Standard 4: 4A.

Snipping Tool

I was unable use the snipping tool because I do not have Windows 7. I read about the tool and tried it on a different computer. It is a really neat tool that I could use instead of printing the screen and cropping it. The snipping tool is very user friendly. When I get a Windows 7 I will definitely being using the snipping tool.  

Self Portrait

When I used picassohead I found it fairly simple to use. It took me a few minutes to realize that there were tools that I could use to manipulate, but once I discovered them I let the creativity take place. I appreciate the artist and his works but i found it very difficult to exaggerate the human body. Having a background in architecture helps me think outside the box when it comes to designs but when it comes to the human body it is a matter of proportion and amount of area a human physically takes in a given space. So I pushed my self to think a little differently by focusing on important aspects of the face and why they are so important.

This exercise can focus on some learning targets in art and engage students in a positive way of learning, Standard 3: 3A.

I created another Picassohead and this time I saved it to the gallery. Here is Colors of Myself.

Google Profile

I picked a blog called Teacher Tom at first glace I could not help but laugh at this teacher who is dressed up like a superhero. While I continued to read I found out that he is a teacher of a preschool class and he writes about different things that young kids do and what life lessons we can take away from the essence of children and their ability and inability to do things, how they cope, and what we do as adults to help them grow. I  also choose a blog in which I have enjoyed several times before this class began called Kevin and Amanda. This blog is more along the lines of my interests, it includes family, scrap booking, travels, and most of all cooking (chocolate cake lovers visit her site for the best chocolate cake ever).
Both of these site are now part of my Google Reader so it will make it easier to keep tabs on any new blogs on their website without having to go to their individual pages each time.
Here is my new Google Profile so take a look!

With my Google profile I can organize my blog content and exposure. I can also look for other blogs and/or groups that might appeal to my interest or that I would follow. Then Google reader sets them up so that I can effectively follow those blogs and groups. Before I might have just tried to find things in a Google search engine and had to visit the sites again if I wanted any type of update, but this way the RSS (Rich Site Summary) that show me regularly changing web content. This can make it easier for teachers to engage in different techniques that other teachers are using Standard 4: Function 4B and a way to communicate to the parents, faulty, and community,Standard 5: Function 5F.

Diigo/ Browser add-ons

I had always used internet explorer when I was in high school. I think it was  just because that was all that was on the school computers and that was also the browser that my family used at home. However, when I went to college I was introduced to Mozilla Firefox and I knew that Explorer was no longer in the running for the browser I intended to use from that point on. I am not the type of person to go searching for things on the internet I typically get on check my email, facebook, and etc. and then get off, so when I first started using firefox I had no idea what an add-on was. I soon found out through other people that they are more or less an enhancer that allows me to customize Mozilla-based applications. From that point on I was hooked. With regarding add-ons I have a few favorites that use quite often. One being themes in which I can add a "background" for the lack of a better word to my browser to make it more personalized. Another is an AniWeather that send me updates in the weather and forecasts for the week. My all time favorite in a add-on called Stumble Upon and what it does is it generates websites that have been rated by Stumble Upon users. After filling a questionnaire about my interest it take the rated website and directs me to the ones I would like and then I can rate it whether or not I like it. The more I rate the closer the Stumble Upon gets to my interest (Now I hardly ever find a site on Stumble Upon that I do not like). These add-ons are not really needed but it does make my life a little easier, a little more organized, and not as bored on the internet. I would recommend all of these to anyone! They are super easy to install and very very easy to use. A few updates are required here and there but overall very satisfying
Being that I come from an architecture background I had never heard of ISTE NETS T but after looking over the what the standard are all about I feel that  Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity closely matches because kids are able to interact and use their own creativity to individualize technology and make it something that they are proud of. From my experience people tend to take care of things better and use them more when they are given the opportunity to create it themselves. They know how much time it took and how important it is to them. With that said if teachers give some creative leeway for students especially in the area of technology the kids will be eager to come back to it day after day. Thus creating a learning environment on the computer.

Philosophy

Here is the link to my teaching philosophy. Coming from an architectural background I am basing this on my goal to become a professor of design in architecture.

Resume

This is my resume. I love to stay involved in activities and I love to serve others in the community. I try to do as much as I can.  Along with service hours and school I now maintain two jobs.
Google docs. wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. I already had my resume created in Adobe InDesign and I had saved it as a PDF and then converted the PDF in Google docs. It is super easy and a great way to share files!

Locus of Control

In this exercise my score was a 11 stating that I have both external and internal  locus of control. I feel that some of the questions I could have answered one way or the other and been fine because I tend to try to see both sides of a situation. I feel that my personal life is like a balance. I have been know to be the peace maker or Switzerland, because of the fact that I tend to understand every point of view before making a decision or giving advice. This survey was pretty dead on in the fact that I normally lie in the middle when it comes to certain issues. However this is not always the case. I have taken many self diagnostic tests before and not all of them have been accurate. I feel that there are grey areas in these tests because how can one accurately answer a question if they have never been in a certain situation. To further prove my point it in the results that "It is important to understand that all of us will feel less empowered in some circumstances and at particular points of time. Consequently, your survey results are a "snapshot" of this point in time."

Locus of Control is a person's belief about what causes the good or bad results in his life. It can impact students and teachers. Students can feel like they are not any good and begin looking for the negative aspects of their life which leads to an emotional roller coaster. Thus, leading to the unwillingness to try and possible drop out. This is when it really helps to have a teacher that understands will help bring confidence to the students. Likewise it can also happen to a teacher to where the teacher becomes focused on the bad that happens in their life that they become lazy in their teaching techniques, which in turn hurts the students and their education. Either way it impacts more than just the person who is dealing with the emotional/physiological issues. If these issues are known actions can take place to refer the student to a counselor and a teacher to a physiologist or a help group of some kind.   I feel that most people do not want to think that life is bad, but they are accustom to certain ways to look in life by those who influences them. Teachers and students can effectively influence each other in and outside of the classroom which will improve the performance in a learning environment.

A Little Introductory About Me

My name is Marsha and I graduated last May with a BS in Architecture from Fairmont State University. With my mother being an educator, it has inspired me to change the way the world feels and sees architecture. The way I plan to do this is to become a professor of design. As of right now I am taking some education classes to better prepare me for my future endeavors. I hope to get into a masters program in architecture in the fall of 2011. I am constantly busy. Other than working Starbucks on FSU campus and Mills Group,an architecture firm in Morgantown, I enjoy bowling, volleyball, and hanging out with my family and friends!

Learning Styles - After

After taking the VARK questionnaire I am not surprised to find out that my results were as follows:

• Visual: 11
• Aural: 8
• Read/Write: 5
• Kinesthetic: 13

Therefore I have a multimodal (VARK) learning preference. 

I feel that in a learning environment, I would tend to use this information and teach how I would like to be taught. However everyone has a different learning style and I now understand that in a classroom all four types would need to be met to provide a better educational experience for each and every student, teacher, and principal.

These learning styles consist of visual, aural, read/write, and kinesthetic. By knowing and understanding these different learning styles a teacher can approach education in a way that will allow all students learn the same information in several different ways. Being able to put these different learning styles to use in the classroom would not only allow for all students to learn, but it would prepare the students for future teachers who may or may not use certain techniques that satisfy the learning styles. I feel that my past education has allowed me to enter any classroom and succeed, even though my personal learning style is mainly kinesthetic and visual. I feel that it does matter that a teacher especially in elementary grades knows and understands the learning styles and how to implement them in the classroom. This will allow every student to succeed in their educational experience. 

Learning Styles - Before

When I was in high school I would have said that I was a visual learner only, because I always based my work with examples, however when I came to college and entered into the architecture program how I learned changed a little. I went from looking at examples and "mocking" them to get my desired result to learning to think outside of the box. I no longer copied what I saw but I looked for a deeper meaning. In order to achieve this I find inspiration in other buildings, ideas, and history.  I traveled different places to develop another view of the world of architecture outside of my region. I would also go through multiple iterations and models until I found the design I wanted. Through experience and practice I would learn about architecture and design principles. I feel that when it comes to technical learning I am more of a visual learner, but the creative side of me tends to be a kinesthic learner.