Lesson Plan template...

Does anyone know how to link your lesson plan template onto your web page--or are you just planning on saving it into the journal as the word document? I know that we are supposed to have links to our web page and if they don't necessarily have to be the exact links--then, are you just saving everything as the word document onto your CD? I am having issues with the whole linking thing! If anyone has any suggestions--PLEASE pass them my way! Thanks so much!!

My Reflections...

I guess from all of the assignments give to us in class, my favorite one would have to be the Blog. I am used to communicating with friends and family through the Myspace page, this is just another way I can communicate & this time--with my classmates! I am sad to say that I am one of those people that did NOT raise their hand when Dr. Merrill asked if we know about Blogs. Really, I never heard of any of the technology that we use for this class! Sad to say--I know--but, I am learning! Of course, the hardest thing that makes it so hard--is the CSS style for our Web page. I was in a state of panic for so long--right now, I just have to go with it and try many different things before I actually get it! It is frustrating, but when it comes down to the wire--I end up saving the most difficult thing to achieve for last. Completing the lesson plan for me took forever! Sure, I write lesson plans on a weekly basis, but never so thorough before! It really makes me rethink how I do my lesson plans now. When I worked in Detroit, my lesson plans ALWAYS included the Objective, Lesson, Materials used, & Assessment every day--for each student. That is why when I wrote IEP's for my students--I usually wrote the same goals for all of them to make it a little bit easier for myself in the long run. I also like the idea of social bookmarking. I never knew that you are allowed to save all of your resources in one place--and it is actually your page. Better yet--the idea of accessing it from any computer is a wonderful idea! Replying to other teachers' posts was pretty interesting. It is nice to know that there are teachers from all over the U.S. who may be in the same state as me--and to ask others for advice--well, I certainly enjoyed giving my "two cents". Thanks to Fred for creating the Google group page for us! There were so many of us that were unable to find topics out there that were somewhat of interest or to even relate to what we are doing. The Wiki page--well, I have issues with that. To me--I feel I didn't contribute very well to that. Sure, I posted a couple of website resources that you could go to--but, haven't really had the chance to read some reliable resources to post on there. I actually found some today that I plan on reading tonight and post it onto our page. Sorry Fred for not having the best participation in that! As far as the other Wiki pages--GREAT JOB! You really read into some resources and had the ability to write them into your Wiki page. Keep up the good work and hope that you will see some information on mine very soon! I want to THANK everyone for all of your support and having the ability to answer my "Oh-so confusing" questions. I am still in a little bit of a panic mode--so, I better get to work on my web page and get that finished. Thanks again for all of your help! See you on Friday!

Just when I thought I had it....HELP PLEASE!

Just when I thought I understood what our assignments were--let's see--putting them into our electronic journal and creating a web page and everything else---well, I am a bit frustrated. I was able to download Kompozer and actually create my page--but, now trying to link everything--well, that is a different story. I am trying my hardest to understand what I am supposed to do. Does Dr. Merrill want our Web page to actually BE the journal that we save and everything is supposed to link into our Web page???? I am so clueless as to what we are supposed to do right now--I just want to go and pig out on some chocolate to make myself feel better. I e-mailed Dr. Merrill, so-hopefully, I hear back from him VERY SOON about what we are supposed to do EXACTLY. Oh, I had about 6 questions ranging from our Web page, Final Essay Exam, to how are supposed to save everything. Like I said, hopefully he gets back to me by tomorrow-so, I know what to do. Does anyone really have an idea about what we are supposed to do and HOW we are supposed to save it in our journal (CD-R)? IF so--can you explain it to me? Also, did you know that we are also supposed to write a one-page paper about our experiences--from each reflection of our experiences? Yea, I read this in my notes--but, have no clue to what that means! Does he want us to write 1 page for our Blog experience, 1 page for our Chat Board experience, 1 page for our Google Group experience, 1 page for our social bookmarking experience, and so on????? Well, that will be about 10 pages!!! YIKES! If anyone has any idea at all--again, please share. I am so tired of being so frustrated and unable to complete anything b/c I have no idea what we are ACTUALLY supposed to be doing in the first place! Another thing--are we supposed to take the FINAL EXAM this Friday? I have "heard" that he is supposed to give us the questions, but we e-mail our answers about a week later? Who knows--maybe I am just being overly panicked--but, I need some clarification so my blood pressure can go down a little bit! HELP!

Boy, Administrators waste no time at all when it comes to SNOW DAYS!

Again, we had a snow day--yahoo! BUT, we as teachers, already know about days that we would need to possibly make up at the end of the year. Why are we constantly being reminded of this? I was able to check my school e-mail address and low and behold--there is a reminder about inclement weather and make-up days that would take place at the end of the year! Of course-the reminding we get when it is already said on the news Friday night! I know that we met our limit, but who is to say that we will have or not have any more snow days? You never know and you can't predict the weather anymore. I just hope that because we have met our limit or if we have exceeded it by a day or so, that they continue to think of ALL of OUR safety when it comes to inclement weather. They need to stop reminding us that now that some districts have exceeded it, we will definately make them up in the end. Well--no kidding. That has always been an issue and it will continue to be an issue year after year. When students' last day this year is SUPPOSED to be June 6th and teachers have to go on the following Monday to do Grades/Progress Reports/Report Cards---I am already there for about a week after anyways cleaning out my classroom. So, to tell you the truth--as long as we are absolutely finished with school by the end of the 2nd week of June, then I am fine. But, if it ends up that we have to continue school until the end of June-well, then I will have issues. I remember one year when I was in Detroit, we had school until the end of June--like June 21st or something like that--and we had NO snow days to make up--that was just our crazy schedule! I actually taught Summer School that year-so, it felt like I never had any time off. So, as far as making up days for snow--I understand--and so does all of the other teachers in Michigan as well--so, stop constantly reminding us of that please!

Do any of you feel the same way as I do????

Are any of you confused as to how we go about our assignments in saving it into our journal? I am so confused, frustrated, and a little annoyed at myself. I promised myself that I would not waste any time in learning these techniques and not wait until the last minute before we meet again for class to complete all necessary assignments. I have been doing good on my Blog, replying to a lot of postings on teachers.net & our Google group, but now comes the tricky part--saving everything to our journal into HTML, including our Lesson Plan (of which I have yet to finish), and complete our web page in CSS style! Hmmmmm, let's see if I will actually know what I am doing when I begin saving everything and trying to go about these tasks all by myself. I have received numerous ideas from classmates and thank you very much for that--, but I just wish that I had someone right next to me assisting me along the way to make sure that I am doing things just right. I know that Dr. Merrill wants things basic--but, I want to make sure I know what I am doing prior to handing anything in. IF anyone has any thoughts or ideas about going about this, please feel free to reply and let me know about the things that you are doing to accomplish such tasks. Oh yea--I forgot, I need to study for the Final Exam--it is all essay! Since it has to deal with Web 2.0 in Education, our answers are not supposed to be opinionated--well, then--I sure hope I actually pass that exam! HELP! Oh, and another thing--I am not able to get my CD to work in my laptop! YIKES! Has anyone else had this issue as well? I guess I will look up information regarding Web 2.0 online and see what research I can find and to hopefully answer the essay questions correctly!

People who work with disabilities

I don't know if anyone caught one of the ads during the Super Bowl with the 2 Deaf men trying to find their friends house? Well, did you know that the ad was created and acted by Pepsi Co. employees who happen to have a disability? (Saginaw News, Linda Potter, February 8, 2008). Just because a person has a disability does not mean that they can' t work. I have a deaf friend that I have known for well--almost 20 years now--and there have been numerous times that he has said to me in the past years that he has been unable to find work because he is deaf. He did receive a job in a hospital, but had additional help from his mother who currently works at the same hospital and he doesn't really HAVE to communicate with anyone while he is there. I am all for having relatives or friends to aid in getting a job, but when a person with a disability has talent, why not give them a chance? He said that his job was so boring because he never communicated with anyone while he was at work. They ended up giving him horrible hours, which led to him working nights mostly and quitting as an end result. He did however tell me that he has a wonderful opportunity to work at Cedar Point for the Summer! Yahoo for him! I am so happy for him and I think that would be such a cool place to work! I asked him what he will be doing and he did not know exactly what at this time. He said that he will keep me posted. I hope he does well and I can't wait for him to start. I believe that there are so many people who have disabilities have so much talent, I just wish that there were more agencies out there that would give everyone a chance! I will include the Saginaw News link as soon as I find it! What are your thoughts on this? I guess being a Special education teacher has made me become such an advocate for people with disabilities. I look into the future of my students now and hope that they too will become successful! I see so much potential now in them now, I just hope that employers will see it in the future!

Here is the link to the Saginaw News for this topic:
(When you get on this link, just click on "Disabled people an overlooked talent pool"--it is on the left side of the page)

http://www.mlive.com/columns/sanews/index

What is wrong with students today?

What is going on with students in today's world? You know, you pretty much hear about school shootings almost every month now--no matter if it is happening in an elementary school, high school, at a college campus, or even at a mall. I just don't understand what is happening with students. If you are seriously having so many issues that you can't take anymore, why do you go and hurt other people and then end up killing yourself in the end? What is that going to do? I really don't understand how that makes that person feel any better by killing a few or a lot of people and then end up killing themselves? Reading Karen's blogs really got me thinking about school violence and how much it is occurring over the last few years. It is really scary to think that once you have been threatened that nothing gets done or the actual person doing the threatening -other people don't take it seriously. I really wish that kids today would stand up to their issues and take responsibility in getting help for themselves. If they keep all feelings inside, how are we as parents, friends, or educators supposed to know what is wrong if they don't speak up? I am already frustrated at the fact of so many people that I knew in high school take their own lives because of such depression, but do nothing to take care of it! Now, I hear all of these shootings going on and the students that are doing the shootings end up having depression issues. Well --DUH! Of course they have issues, that is why they are taking it on other people and not taking it upon themselves to get the much needed help that they so desperately need in the first place! Then, I turn it on CNN this morning and found out another student has taken it upon herself to hurt others and then end up killing herself! I know that these students can get the help that they need, they just need to take the first step in asking for help! More and more parents must get more involved in their child's lives and know how they are feeling--or to know whether or not they have a problem and can (hopefully) be taken care of right away! If you haven't heard about the latest campus shooting--here is the CNN link:

http://cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/08/la.tech.shooting/index.html

Let my know your thoughts on this! Thanks!