Abby,
I agree that it would be difficult to not cast blame on others. That is how our society is set up, but wouldn’t the world be a better place if we didn’t caste blame and turned our circumstances around and found something beneficial in all things? It would be a challenge and hard to break the old habit, but I bet we would be happier.
I am also very thankful for my parents and teachers. Wow, they really did do a wonderful job of providing for me. I feel very fortunate.
Chapter 10: You are the board and you can take away from any experience with playing the “fault game”. But most of all know that what you take away from a circumstance is up to you. Relationships are the key to all things and you should be approachable and respectful towards others without judgment. Basically, be positive and try to find the underlying reason behind things without pointing fingers or giving into anger.
Chapter 11: Just this past week a mother of one of my 5th graders lost her life in a battle to cancer. The majority of my students have been together since Pre-K. Many of the students had questions and concerns about their peer’s loss. Death is obviously not a fun subject to talk about, much less in a classroom setting. But, I chose to address the issue and speak openly with respect to the family mourning. When I attended the viewing the father thanked me for the all the cards that the students mailed to his son and family. I believe this happened because the students were comfortable and felt strong enough to support their peer/friend during this time of loss.
Chapter 12:My “We” story: I had a 3rd grader many years ago enter my class below grade level in all areas and in addition could not read. When he entered my class we made a deal to take it one day at a time and in the end it would all work out. He worked hard throughout 3rd grade and kept persevering through his years of education. I have kept in touch with his mom and she is amazed out how well his academics improved and how he has soared through High School on grade level. The young man just graduated this past June and is now in his first year of college.
My presentation can be found at the following:
https://files.me.com/colishizaki/x8fzhl.key.zip
My Action Research is about exciting students to share their knowledge through technology. In cycle 1 my 5th graders created a Power Point of 5 slides. Then we incorporated all the slides as a class iMovie. In cycle 2 students chose a partner and created a movie using Movie Maker. They took pictures, imported pictures, created title and credit screens, recorded voice-over, and burned the final movie on a CD. Students enjoyed both cycles and have been asking what will they get to do next. This is just the beginning of 21st Century fun in the classroom.
Following are 2 sites I have narrowed down to publishing my AR project:
Association for the Advancement in Computering Education:
http://www.aace.org/newpubs/index.cfm?fuseaction=Info.Entrance
International Society for Technology in Education:
Completing the Abstract for my AR project was interesting. There was a 120-word limit and I wrote my first draft keeping it VERY brief. To my surprise I did not use all the words allowed so I was able to expand a bit more than I was expecting. It was a challenge, but it is straight to the point.
