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We always take pride in ourselves, our town, and our culture. We also respect others and what they are proud of!

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Teaching has always been a part of my every day life, and continues to be to this day. I love to teach my children, not only academics, but all types of life skills. This is a few years ago when my daughter helped me make homemade gnocchi.

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Some of the learning experiences I remember most are the ones that were most effective and best-designed.
In eighth grade, my teacher taught us how to write research papers. She gave us blank index cards in our own personal box. She brought us to the library and showed us how to look for the appropriate books for our topic. Next she taught us how to skim for the appropriate information. She asked us to put one fact or sentence on each index card. Later, she had us categorize our facts and group them together by topic. For instance, my paper was about wolves, and one group of facts was about habitat, another was about diet, etc. As we grouped the facts (index cards) together we were to color code them with a small mark at the corner of each index card. Within each category, she had us number the facts by what we felt should logically come first, second, third, etc. Lastly, she had us write the paper and taught us the editing process. As you can imagine, this took us more than one day. It was an ongoing project that became very involved. The students were able to immerse themselves in the project and understand not only the topic they were learning about, but more importantly, the process of researching and writing. I always remember this because it helped me become a stronger writer, a more independent writer and gave me a clear understanding of how essays and papers work.

I've highlighted some words in the previous paragraph that show why I feel certain learning experiences can be considered best-designed. The learning experience focuses on the process. It is an ongoing project that allows students to become completely immersed in the learning experience. It gives the students time to gain a clear understanding of what is being learned, and in the end, the student will become a stronger and more independent learner.

This is an example of my children at the library, reading independently and completely immersed in their own books. This  picture reminded me of what a best-designed learning experience could look like in the classroom. After a period of time of teaching children how to do something and giving them multiple opportunities and ways to do it, they can truly become independent and learn whatever it is they set out to learn.

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I'm taking EDUC 480 to fulfill the requirement for my secondary education major. I have been a tutor for many years and I've realized over the course of those years that I thoroughly enjoy helping students at the middle school/ high school levels understand all different math topics. I know this course will help me by increasing my awareness of effective methods and helping me learn how to put them into practice.

I wanted to post an example of one of my student's most recent test score(with parent permission), but the student did not have the test with him to snap a photo. This student came to me with failing math grades in December. He scored an 81 on the first test he has taken since our tutoring sessions began . These experiences have made me realize that teaching this age level is a good fit for me!

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My daughter learning how to put fringe on a blanket I crocheted for my friend. It is important to me that my children become lifelong learners. I like to try to pass this on to them!

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I’m interested in learning to be the most effective teacher I can possibly be. I want to learn how to give the most meaninful assignments and organize my classroom and instruction to meet the needs of every type of learner.

My second goal is to learn new instructional strategies that I may not have come across 13 years ago and strategies that are more appropriate for the secondary classroom. In particular, I’d like to extend my knowledge on Project Based Learning. I learned in in a special needs course and put a unit together, but I want to refresh my memory and think about ways I will be able to use it effectively in my secondary classroom.

This was the book I used to learn PBL in my previous class. It was very helpful and can't wait to refresh my memory!

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What is your biggest concern about taking this course?

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What is your biggest concern about taking this course?

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The biggest concern I have for this course is the work load. It has been many years since my last college course and a lot has changed since then. I am no married with 2 children and I am hoping I can keep up with the work. As I look at the assingments I know my heart is in education and I am really looking forward to completing my degree. Learning all of the material and doing a great job in this course is very important to me.

A small piece of my calendar from earlier in the month! I have a separate calendar for my classes and work!

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I am a wife and a mother of 2 children (a 9 year old boy and a 5 year old girl). My family keeps me very busy with homework, plenty of sports games to drive to, and all the joys that they have to offer! On the weekends, I still continue to tutor high school and college mathematics. I love to see my students progress and grasp topics that they weren't able to before. When I have free time, some of my hobbies include baking, cooking, crafting and crocheting. This past holiday season, I crocheted Santa Claus hats for my children and my nephews. I had never made a hat crochet project before and I was happy to accomplish it!

Here is a picture of my nephews and my children with their hats on during our Polar Express train experience this year!

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Playing Italian cards, like our ancestors before us!

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What are you most looking forward to learning about in this course?

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What are you most looking forward to learning about in this course?

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I am so grateful for the opportunity to continue my college education and to learn more about teaching in the secondary education classroom, The first time around, I studied elementary and special education, and really enjoyed that as well. After many years of tutoring older students (high school/ college level) I've started to feel that I’d like to gain a deeper understanding of teaching the older age group. That being said, the entire syllabus and assignment list looks interesting to me! I’m truly excited to learn about all the different facets of secondary education, Specifically, I am excited to read the “5 Hallmarks of Good Homework” article during week 8. As a tutor, I like to give my students some kind of homework to complete on their own. I am wondering, however, if I am giving the appropriate assignments and using them in the right way. I’m looking forward to gaining more knowledge on this topic in order to give the most meaningful and productive homework assignments I possibly can. Another part of this course that I am looking forward to is writing my philosophy of education paper.  The last time I wrote one was when I was 20 years old. I’m curious to see how my philosophy has changed after 13 years and having 2 children of my own. I am going to try to find my old paper so I can compare it to the one I write this semester. I’m interested to see what differences there may be.

Sample of my son's"cereal box" biography project that was assigned to him a few months ago. This helped my son learn a lot about Milton Hershey, and in my opinion, was a meaningful, creative way for him to demonstrate what he learned from his research.