Final Project

Here is the link to my final project video.
667 Final Project

At the beginning of this course I started using a class blog in my Economics course and it was very successful.  After being observed, my supervisor approached me about sharing my blog experience with the staff and offering some brief training.  Since our staff is working in two different locations it is hard at times to collaborate and share new ideas.  For my final project I decided to create a staff blog that teachers at both sites could use to share ideas about what they are doing in the classroom. 

I asked all ABE staff members that were participating in the blog training to fill out a survey before the meeting and then again 3 weeks later. The data is displayed in the following link. (I'm giving the final survey next week to allow staff members more time to participate in the blog!) Survey Results

Link to ABE Staff Blog:  ABE Staff Blog

One of our school technology support staff filmed my presentation which turned out to be 48 minutes long.  Needless to say, I needed to do some serious editing.  I have focused on the high points of the presentation with the four clips below.  

This video shows one staff member talking about her experience with blogs.  It makes a great point about students sharing ideas and contributing to the blog outside of class. 
Video #1

This clip touches on staff members' troubles trying to log in and make a post on the staff blog.  Also, it highlights the potential benefits of sharing classroom materials across different teaching disciplines. 
Video #2

Having staff members become an author of the blog was very important to me.  This clips shows me explaining the benefits of becoming an author of the staff blog as opposed to just someone who can make comments.  Teachers begin to see this as a useful tool when I show them a screen-cast that was posted on the blog. 
Video #3

This clip shows one example of students enjoying the use of a blog.  A few teachers asked me about how I used blogs in the class and if students actually participated.  Information shown in this clip inspired one teacher to start her own class blog!
Video #4

My colleague and I share the same room and she witnessed the success I was having with my class blog.  After going to my training session she decided to create her own class blog.  She hopes to build this blog into her World Literature class curriculum.  Here is the link to her blog: World Literature

Pinterest Review

Outside the box:  
For this assignment I signed up for a Pinterest account.  My only exposure to Pinterest before this assignment was when my girlfriend would have her friends over and they would talk about using it for receipes and wedding pictures.  So I decided to explore this social media site to find out what it was all about for myself.  Pinterest is a social media site that encourages sharing of ideas through pictures, websites and videos.  There are no copyright laws when using Pinterest which allows a person to use any image from any board they find.  Setting up an account was very easy all you need is a working email account and your set.  Once logged in I immediately realized that there are a lot of educators already using this site.  It didn't take long for me to start finding resources in Economics and U.S. History.  I created a board called, "Projects to Try" and started pinning!  

Professional Uses:  
I work at a small alternative learning center where I am the the only social studies teacher.  Pinterest is a useful tool because it allows me to quickly sift through unlimited information and find ideas that will work for classes I am teaching.  At the same time this puts me in contact with other social studies/ESL teachers around the world.  If I really like what one specific teacher is doing I can follow their board and never miss any new ideas that he/she pins up! Having four preps makes me forgetful from time to time causing me to lose track of use links, pictures, lesson plans, etc.  Using Pinterest would help me stay more organized.  Reviewing new materials and websites helps my classes from becoming stagnant.  With Pinterest any idea or resource I may want to use in the future can be found in one place making me a more efficient teacher. 

Audio teaching tool

This Podcast was created to allow students to practice using vocabulary words at home.  What you will hear is a simple dictation exercise that is used in class twice a week.