Philosophy

I first created the answers to the two provided questions in Microsoft Word,changing the wording and sentence structure of my paragraphs until the Flesch-Kinkaid reading level was as high as I could get it (22.7). Finally, I uploaded the document to google docs. and posted my philosophy to the web.

I then created an avatar using the voki link on the assignment page.

The ISTE NETS standards, I feel, used in this assignment are I-B, III-B, IV-B, and V-C. Since this activity provided a demonstration of growth in technology for myself, it supports learner-centered strategies by addressing the diverse needs of the students (reading levels), improves instructional practices by assisting the teacher with preparing activities appropriate for all reading levels, and finally, increasing teacher productivity when students "get it" the first time when the assignment is on-level with their reading abilities.

Test Questions- Learning Styles

The learning styles are visual (spatial), aural (auditory-musical), physical (kinesthetic), logical (mathematical), social (interpersonal) and solitary (intrapersonal). Knowing the learning styles of your students and even yourself can assist students with retaining information. The more areas of the brain involved in an activity the better since research has shown that this improves that speed and quality of learning. If you know your own learning style you can better assess your teaching methods to see if you are favoring one type of learning. In other words, do you pick activities related to your own type of learning style(s) or do you encompass all learning styles in your teaching methods?

I believe that it does matter, especially in special education since these students all struggle with education for different reasons. Knowing the learning styles of your students helps you to work through some of the issues each individual student may have with learning the material you are presenting. It teaches them a thought process rather than basic facts.

Introduction of Me

I am married with two young-adult children whom are both currently attending college at WVU. My husband and I just celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary on the 20th of May. I entered the teaching profession as a second career in 2000. I currently co-teach Biology and Chemistry at the high school level to both special education and regular education students. I am taking this course to finish my Master's Degree in Education. I look forward to learning all that I can about helping students succeed in the classroom and prepare each of them for their futures in society which will, of course, involve technology.

Browser Wars Test Questions

I learned that a Browser is a software app used to retrieve, present and traverse information on the world wide web. Also, according to the linked website provided in this course, as of April 2011 Firefox is number one with 42.9% of the market and Chrome is second at 25.6%, Internet Explorer is third at 24.3% and Safari is fourth at 4.1%. Personally, I currently use Google Chrome. I just recently (within the last 3 months or so) switched from Firefox although I still have Firefox loaded onto my computer.
A browser war is just that a war between companies to control the market and remain on top by producing better and better features to meet the needs of a diverse population that includes many different world cultures. It's all about the money. This is what drives the war. If a company can remain on top then they can market their software to more and more companies making compatible games, software, etc.

Just my thoughts:)

Post my Resume

I have uploaded my resume to google docs and I am placing a link to access it now in order to receive credit for the assignment.

Learning Style Test Comparison

 My results were Kinesthetic 10, Visual 6, Read/Write 6 with Aural at 3. Comparing these results to my previous results/thoughts, it looks as if the results are basically the same. [I am assuming that Read/Write is equivalent to Logical.]
I find that these learning styles also seem to be my preference with teaching students various concepts. In other words, I tend to avoid the textbook and note taking methods and instead prefer more hands-on activities. When I first started teaching this was very difficult especially when I was assigned to teach subjects that I was not very familiar with, especially when I taught language at the middle school level. The most difficult part of teaching for me sometimes is trying to figure out what the students do not know and therefore need to learn before I implement the activity.

Learning Style

I had my students take a learning style test several years ago when this became a focus in education. I took the test myself at that time. Although I could not find the print out I believe that it showed me that I was somewhat equal in all learning styles. However, Aural (auditory) was marginally weaker with Physical (kinesthetic) being marginally the strongest of my learning styles. However, I always felt that my strength was in Logical since my best subject in school was always math. Additionally, I could NEVER memorize anything without some type of mnemonic device to assist me or some type of logical progression.

Link to my course page

When I sign onto my computer and log into gmail I can access my blog easily so I wanted to get to my course quickly from my blog page since this is where I will be finding my daily assignments.