CEdO565 - Week 3

This week we were asked to watch Who Moved My Cheese? I had never watched it before, nor have I read it. I enjoyed the brief video that can inspire adapting to new ideas or materials. This is a concept which I think is very important. Our world is constantly changing and we must change with it, especially as teachers. It is our job to teach students the most up-to-date information. In order to do that, we must be able to adapt our curriculum and increase the relevance of our lessons.

We also read about Millennials, people born between 1978 and later, who combine teamwork and technology to increase students' understanding of lessons. Millennials multitask well, love technology, and have a high tolerance for change, innovation, and learning. Millennials are ideal teachers because they adapt easily and can create an ideal classroom for modern students.

Leadership and Planning, Week 1

This is the first week of 565, Leadership and Planning. We were asked to watch a video about leadership skills, do a few leadership assessment surveys and read the beginning of our book, How to Thrive as a Teacher Leader.

I found the leadership assessments to have accurate results. I think at this point in our lives/careers, most of us have a good idea of our leadership qualities and virtues. I found for leadership qualities I scored high in dynamic supportive and in the leadership virtues I scored high in impartiality, empathy, judgment, and enthusiasm. All of those things are what I would consider to be my strong traits as a leader.

I found the leadership profile difficult to complete. I have no interest in being a principal, so it was difficult for me to put myself into the mindset of a principal. I found myself answering how I think my current principal is, and then going back and changing answers. However, I found I scored high in communication and relationships, two areas that I think are very important for a principal to excel in.

CEdO555 Week 3 - Project Proposal and Portfolio

This week I have been working on creating my portfolio and finishing my project proposal. Both of these projects have been very challenging, but for different reasons.

I have found my portfolio to be challenging because of the amount of time that has to be put into it. It is a very detailed site with many pages and links required. However, it is a fun project to be working on. It is amazing how many different things we have learned about and how much work we have done. It is nice to see it all in one place.

My project proposal has been a challenge because it has forced me to really think about how to accomplish the goals I set for the project. My goal didn't have to do with portfolios, but rather improving my classroom in order to enhance the futures of my students. Creating an effective rubric was definitely a challenge and took some thinking to get there, but I eventually made it.

I am at a point that I am taking deep breaths and seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I am really enjoying this class and the guidance I am receiving on my portfolio.

CEdO555 Week 2 - Vision and Mission, Project Proposal

This week we were asked to write our vision and mission statements for our portfolio. It took me some time to think about where I think my career is heading and what I am going to do to get there. Once those statements were written we were to add them to our portfolio. It was exciting to finally start this huge undertaking!

The other task for the week was to draft our first project proposal. I am finding this task to be a bit difficult. I'm a little unclear on what exactly is expected for the project. However, if I understand it a little bit...I would like to find a way to make my classroom nearly paperless, flipped to be a non-traditional learning environment, and fully functional if I am not there. I plan to use our district's social learning platform to assist in most of my proposal, as well as other web 2.0 tools.

CEdO555 Week 2 - Vision and Mission, Project Proposal

This week we were asked to write our vision and mission statements for our portfolio. It took me some time to think about where I think my career is heading and what I am going to do to get there. Once those statements were written we were to add them to our portfolio. It was exciting to finally start this huge undertaking!

The other task for the week was to draft our first project proposal. I am finding this task to be a bit difficult. I'm a little unclear on what exactly is expected for the project. However, if I understand it a little bit...I would like to find a way to make my classroom nearly paperless, flipped to be a non-traditional learning environment, and fully functional if I am not there. I plan to use our district's social learning platform to assist in most of my proposal, as well as other web 2.0 tools.

CEdO555 Week 1 - Professional Portfolios

This is the first week of CEdO555 in which we will propose our culminating project and begin creating our professional portfolio. I recall in 515 that we were told we would be creating a portfolio using a Google site. So after creating our Google site for 515, I continued to update that site in hopes it would help me at this point in my Master's journey. At this point, I am thankful I have done that.

This week we were asked to research other professional portfolios. I found one that is for a fellow business educator and two who have gone through the MEIT program. Below are the three that I found.


Nick Havlik's portfolio

• Nick Havlik is a technology education teacher who created his portfolio as a requirement of his MEIT cohort. He chose to organize his portfolio according to the National Educational Technology Standards. He included an artifact for each course taken and a description of each artifact. His side headings are easy to follow and functional.

Ann Perry's portfolio

• Ann Perry is a science teacher who also created her portfolio as a requirement for her MEIT cohort. She chose to organize according to the NETS. She included artifacts from each course and descriptions of the artifacts. Her portfolio is very easy to navigate and easy to read.

Jennifer Morgan's portfolio

• This portfolio belongs to a teacher who teaches in Utah. She begins by giving some basic information about herself and explaining what will be seen in the portfolio. The portfolio is very easy to navigate with clear side headings. The site is easy to read with little distractions, colors are appropriate and fonts are readable. It included artifacts with links and descriptions.

Week 6 of CEdO 550

My students are gaining 21st century skills by...

• learning about new technologies available, communicating in new and different ways, being allowed to multi-task, and gaining knowledge through student-centered learning. I have attempted to include more real-life lessons and discussions into my courses to expand my students' ways of learning.

I understand the Virtual School Legislation in Wisconsin and am concerned/excited about...

• It concerns me how much money is sent to virtual schools because of open enrollment when it does not cost the virtual school as much per student as it is receiving. That is a lot of lost money for a traditional school. Every student learns differently and I think there could be a more equal way of distributing money to traditional schools and virtual schools. 

My district involvement in online learning includes...

• My district has very little online learning incorporated into it. We have recently implemented My Big Campus. I have been working on learning all the tools it has to offer and have begun using it in a couple of my courses. 

During the module I was excited to learn about...

• This class has allowed me to learn much more about teaching online. I also have learned a lot about student-centered learning and how to adapt lessons to be more student-centered. I am excited to be able to practice some of the skills I have learned into my own classroom and see how my students react to it and adapt to it.