 Current Position: 5th Grade Teacher
Personal Blurb: I graduated from St. Cloud State University with a BA in French. After working in marketing with a company in Chanhassen, I decided to go back to school to get my teaching license. I went to the College of St. Catherine (as it was called at the time) and graduated with a second major certificate. I then was a long-term sub for a 7th and 8th grade French teacher. I was also a long term sub at Shakopee Area Catholic Schools (SACS). I was offered a position as a first grade teacher, which I really enjoyed. Just this past year, I have moved to teaching 5th grade, which I also enjoy. I've been married to my husband, Rich, for 5 years. We have a son, Jack, who is 2 1/2 years old.
Two Truths and a Lie My favorite place in the world is a little town in northern Minnesota.
I love to read in French.
I really want a SmartBoard in my classroom.
A Psalm that I Like: I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14
Final Class Reflection What skills, technologies, or insights have you learned in the class? Can you use anything in your classroom?
I have learned how to use Web 2.0 to interact with my students in different ways. Many of my students are more interested in what is being taught, when technology is involved. Teachers constantly invent new ways to capture and hold students’ attention. The use of blogs, podcasts, Wiki sites, and other online resources can be one way educators do this.
As a part of our final project, my group and I have developed a Wiki site that can be used for reflective journaling in Language Arts classes. Our Wiki site is a safe online source for students to promote their comprehension of novels being read in class. We developed the site to use safety features, such as restricted access, to guard against online dangers to our students. Many features may be added to this free site to make it a valuable teaching tool.
The site could be adapted to work for any course; however my main goal for the use of this site is to create an ongoing dialogue between teacher and students, and between students and their classmates about our current novels.
As a result of this class, I hope to make all of my classes more technologically interactive. This class has given me the confidence to incorporate technology regularly into my lessons.
Survey Results
My Screencast
Honor the Absent
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Welcome Courtney. Little Jack sure is adorable. About your two truths and a lie, I'm thinking you don't love to read in French?
Courtney I think that your lie is your most favorite place. Is there a story here?
Courtney nice photos, I put some fun links on my page for Social studies you might like.
Are you still enjoying teaching 5th grade? You made a big age jump this year. I was wondering which you prefer.
I think you really don't want a Smartboard.. ??
Andrew- You are right! I don't like reading in French. It is too cumbersome for me to enjoy.
Courteney- Thanks for asking. I like 5th grade very much. I do miss the little one sometimes, though.
I like the welcome ppt Courtney. The pics/graphics do a clever job of reinforcing the message. A conversion to a pdf and you can email it or post it on a web page to have the messages (habits for learning) reinforced at home.
Nicely done. Polly that's a good idea. PDF works well for that.
Your final reflection and project touch on some areas that Kate and I will cover in our prsentation. Our final projects will go hand and hand.
Courtney--I agree with you entirely. I am hoping to implement more meaningful technology as well. It is true that the students interest in GENERALLY increased when technology is involved! Good luck!
Courtney your integration of technology juices are flowing… Encouraging students to write/journal and finding time to grade/give feedback to writing/journaling can be a challenge in time management. I believe you will discover using a discussion board/blog/forum feature a resourceful interactive tool to engage students in using understands meaningfully. A bonus, you are guiding them through the habits and responsibility of using such a tool. Soar...
Courtney I can see you are getting the Tech. bug. There will be times that the tech. is challenging but over all I think you will embrace it in your classroom and it will enrich your teaching and students attitudes about the class.
Courtney, I am excited to see the wiki page that you all set up. I agree that wiki pages are a great tool that students can use, like you said, with the teacher, but also with other students. My goal is also to set up a page for my classes that can serve as a resource for them.