Social Bookmarking

1. National Archives
On the National Archives website I viewed a very interesting exhibit titled A New Deal for the Arts. It explained a point of history during the 1930's the same time as the Great Depression. The government had put federal monies to support the arts. It was the first time federal tax dollars had supported the arts of this magnitude. The website displayed the works of art that were made by utilizing these federal monies. The exhibit goes in broader depth of the different genres of art supported and the controversy over using federal monies in this way during that era. A benefit to using primary sources in the classroom is that children can get a better and more accurate historical point of view.
2. National Education Association
Those that are at risk for achievement gaps include: racial and ethnic minorities, English language learners, students with disabilities, gender groups, and students from low income families.
Becoming a Culturally Competent Educator: http://www.nea.org/home/ns/10841.htm
As listed in Becoming a Culturally Competent Educator I think it is important to determine the diverse groups that your school serves. It is important to know the diversity present at your school to better serve the students, parents, and community. This is important to me because I would like to maintain an equitable classroom and want to identify the areas in which my students and their families need extra assistance. It is also helpful to network with other schools and learn from their culturally competent systems. When you learn what works for others you can apply it and develop your own successful system to better serve your culturally diverse students. It is also important to educate the school and classroom staff on issues of diversity. When staff members are educated on the topic of cultural diversity they can pass that knowledge to students.
3. Stop Cyber Bullying
According to the online quiz for cyberbullying I am an online saint. This is probably because of my age, if the internet and sites like MySpace and Facebook had been big while I was in high school I would have probably done worse. I have learned from the site that cyberbullying is very much like schoolyard bullying. It needs to be stopped and is just as harmful to the child being bullied. A good tip to someone being bullied online is to ignore it because online bullies are looking for an online reaction.
4. Kathy Shrock’s Guide for Educators
On Kathy Shrock’s Guide for Educators I found the Subject Access in mathematics helpful. It gave many sites that I can develop a lesson plan and questions that can aid students in learning math skills. Under Teacher Helpers I found the Critical Evaluation Surveys section helpful to authenticate information from websites. In this new age of technology it is important to be able to rely on the facts we find on the web as correct. I can see myself using this tool often as an educator.
5. Multiple Intelligences
My top three intelligences are according to the test: Interpersonal (94), Intrapersonal (89), and verbal-linguistic (75). In Multiple Intelligence Leave No Child Behind the children who learn their strengths early are more successful later on and go into careers that highlight their strengths. The No Child Left Behind testing is really inhibiting the schools mission, program, and creativeness.
6. Teaching Tolerance
I chose creative art for the early grades. The topic is racial and ethnic diversity. The lesson is titled Pan de Muerto and more the link: http://www.tolerance.org/teach/activities/activity.jsp?p=0&ar=83&pa=2
The lesson is intended to familiarize students with other cultures. After making a Pan de Muerto we would discuss customs and cultures of Mexico and how they relate to our own.
7. Multicultural Education
I found it fascinating and unfortunate that 84% of Physicians were caught by colleagues giving gay, lesbian or bisexual patients subpar care or no care at all. It is so unfair and dangerous that medical professionals can demonstrate such racist behavior. It was also very disturbing to learn that 40% of schools have no teachers of color on staff. Students of such schools do not have a good example of diversity. It is a shame because the children from diverse backgrounds may not be able to realize that they could become teachers if they wanted to because they do not identify themselves with the teachers of no color.
8. Netiquette Guidelines
I scored an embarrassing 60% on the Netiquette quiz:(. I think it is so important to teach students about Netiquette. We are living in an age where we us internet technologies almost on a daily basis to communicate. Each and student should demonstrate the same level of common courtesy on the web as they do in their daily lives. We want to present ourselves in a good light and we can do this on the web using proper Netiquette:).