Media and Lit Summer 2021

  The strongest memories I have of my learning experiences are the ones where connections were made. I felt connected to my teacher or my peers in some way. It may have been a mix up in a science lab that left us laughing or a personalized learning example where my teacher sought me out to encourage me to continue the task. None of my lasting memories are centered around book work. None of them are of me sitting in my seat by myself completing worksheets or class reading, although I am sure there were plenty of tikes where these types of learning took place.  General learning activities are designed to meet the needs of specific students. These students are the ones that are self-motivated, completion driven and able to accept direction and bring about a desired result. Not all students learn this way.  In his Ted Talk  Dr. Michael Wesch  outlines the way he learned to re-imagine teaching college students, and the effect his new approach had on the members of hi...

                     If I had been introduced to  Prensky's idea of someone being a digital native or digital immigrant due to their birth date and circumstances of growing up with technology being ever present prior to 2020, I probably would have believed it. People like to believe that children and teens are capable of utilizing technology, in all it's forms, rather easily. They play online video games where they can communicate with their peers while they are all sitting in the own homes. Many teenagers have personal cell phones and carry the internet with them wherever they go. educational systems today require students to create assignments on computers utilizing a variety of programs and sites. My eight year old, for example, utilized Google Slides and Microsoft Word to complete a project for school. Prior to the Covid-19 world wide Pandemic I would have assumed that technology was relatively easy and seamless ...

I have been married for 17 years, or I will be as of July 31st. I have a nine year old son. I currently teach Pre K at Pleasant View Elementary, a Providence Public School. I have been at PV for 6 years. I am currently enrolled in the TESOL M.Ed. program at Rhode Island College. I currently hold a bachelor's degree from Wheelock College in Boston, MA. and a master's degree in Special Education from Rhode Island College. I am the first person in my family to attend college.  This past year has been a crazy and exhausting. Teaching in person and virtually at the same time was stressful. I am ready to unwind with my family and breathe for a while. Much of my relaxing will be done back at home, on Cape Cod. I have found that there are so many things that I never experienced there as I was growing up as my parents were concentrating on providing. As an adult I am enjoying the discoveries with my son.  Over the summer I also intend to connect with families and find some new playgrou...