My Journey

Fastforward

2010-01-07T13:58:00.000-08:00

I feel like life is on fast forward right now. I have been preparing for the UNI fair and my school is just unveiling a new course completion tool. We have been talking about it for months but it came out today.

I went to a meeting today where we talk about students who are struggling in our school and we collectively think of ways we can help support that student. It is actually my favorite meeting of the week because you get so many view points. While attending the meeting today I found myself leading the meeting. All of the upper elementary teachers were asking questions about how the tool worked and if they were right with their assumptions. It was great and you could feel the energy even though the meeting was virtual. They seemed to be excited and worried all at once. At the end of the meeting I felt like I had been in a tornado but I felt excited about the rest of the day! When teachers get together they have such great collective questions and think of things that I had even forgot to mention. Way to go upper elementary!

As for my preparations for UNI... I keep finding more schools that I am interested in. They all have different things that catch my eye and make me interested! I am sure the right school will come along and what is meant to be is meant to be!

Virtual schools

2009-12-22T21:00:00.000-08:00

Virtual schools have obvious benefits as an educator. I work from home. I work with students needs one by one. It is really wonderful during the cold whether to just sit at home with PJ's and cup of Coffee. I have learned to enjoy teaching through livelesson. Those are just some of the things that I will miss about teaching virtually if I am hired abroad.

What I would like to do is somehow tie in what I have been doing to the international world. I can see how it might come in handy if there is another H1N1 or SARS outbreak. We could teach the students virtually instead of missing a large amount of school. The possibilities forming in my mind. With technology improving it becomes easier every year.

Here are a couple of examples of teaching virtually. One thing I notice that I do quite frequently is say the word "so". I use that as space filler while I am reading the students chat. There is always room for improvement! Note to self this is a great teachable moment.

Is it already October??

2009-10-11T18:33:00.001-07:00

Where does the time go? I haven't blogged in .... well... about a month and a half. My new position as the elementary trainer at my school has really kept me busy. Who knew teachers would have so many questions. I have also moved from a 1st grade teacher to a 5th grade teacher. It is interesting, that is all I can say.

I feel like 5th graders have some of the same challenges as first graders. I am working on reading fluency still, but this is the interesting thing there are a lot more math problems. That is the part that I love. I really enjoy 5th grade math. I have found that most of the kids that are having problems in math are Kinesthetic learners. I am sure that the beginning they just got it and now that math is becoming more involved they need to know how to draw it and they just can't figure it out! ... Well that leads me to my third new position of this year. PACE!

I am now the 5th grade PACE teacher which stands for "Program for All Students to Excel". What is that? It is a program for students who nearly met on the state test. They get one on one and group tutoring to help them work on area's that they are having a hard time with. It is actually a lot of fun and I feel like I am a real classroom teacher again, but I know it is still virtually.

Those three positions have really kept me busy trying to figure everything out. I have been back with the students for a month and a half and I have finally figured out the organization for it all and I am really enjoying having more to do!

Just as a side note to add to my busy schedule my son started pre-k at the Chinese school. It has been interesting taking him there every morning and getting back for work in time. I am so excited because he is starting to sing songs in Chinese and tell me somethings that his "laoshe"tells him. Exciting times in the Harvey household!

This has left me behind in my social networking ie blogging, twitter, listening to podcasts and emailing. Worst of all I haven't applied for international schools yet. It is in the works. My cold set me back a week but I vow to work on it this week. I have registered with tieonline.com and I am working on registering for one of the international educators fairs. I still can't choose between ISS and UNI.

Summer conclusions/decisions

2009-08-05T15:14:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a long summer but it has given me a lot of incite about the future. First it reminded me that I love traveling. It was great to see the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and a host of other sites again. I even visited several new places. The Summer Palace palace was amazing! As I began my Journey to China I realized my son (age 2 at the time) is an excellent traveler. All my preparation was well worth it. He is very flexible and as long as he has me he will be fine no matter where we are in the world. Our short month away also reminded me how much I love the Asian culture. It is beautiful and wonderful. As my son grows we will definitely travel to more remote places and show him how wonderful the world is. This is what was great about my trip....

So the next thing that I found was that we are ready for the move abroad but I think we need to start off in Korea or Japan. My son would not eat anything other then dumplings and McDonald's. I think that he needs to grow up a little bit more before I push that on him I think it is the protective mommy bear in me. That is exactly the reason why I went on this trip to see what we are ready for and what we are not ready for. I have lived in Korea and have continued to eat Korean food/Japanese food since my son was born. He loves it as well. That is not the only reason for my hesitation of China but it was an overall vibe that we are just not ready for.

In the last few days my son has also started a Chinese immersion school. With a lot of tears and strength on both of our parts he is now a preschool kid. We definitely needed this year to grow up and work up to more new things.

I am hoping for the best as I try for a job in Korea or Japan but I will let the cards fall where they may. From this trip I know my living limitations and where I would feel most comfortable. I had fun traveling with my little guy and we are excited for the future of seeing the world!

The world of Twitter

2009-05-16T23:11:00.000-07:00

I have heard many people say "I have facebook and myspace and a e-mail account I think that is enough". I have to admit about 3 months ago I would have said the same thing but I can now see the benefits of twitter(and a host of others I will not mention now). It is amazing all the information that people can share together in such a short space. I have seen numerous blogs that I would have never have seen without twitter. I am finding international educators and I can even see what Oprah is up to. No I am not following her but I did look at her twitter today. One thing that I found today was Bubble Tweet. Thanks to no other then Pdiddy (okay I was bored). The idea of Bubble Tweet is great. I don't know if I would use it on my twitter site but on a blog where you can give a little video of yourself giving instructions on what to do or what you are thinking definately seems more powerful then a Voki. Let me know if anyone finds the blog equivalent of Bubble Tweet.

Using standards in teaching

2009-05-13T15:24:00.000-07:00

Today I was listening to the SOS podcast and it made me remember something that I have been thinking about. In the first grade we have not been using standards as much as we should and I think that it is a valuable tool to measure what a student should be learning and what they are capable of learning. I have been creating some PowerPoint to share with colleges and my learning coaches so they can see what the first graders should be learning, mastering and working on during the course of a year. I also made this PowerPoint in an effort to get over my frustration when my learning coaches help the students too much in writing. I don't think that it is bad to have expectations of students and have a clear goal and aim. I think it is almost better to have standards and then get rid of the curriculum. I really like the idea of project based learning. I wish all my students would take to the idea of published work.

This is a copy of the PowerPoint that I am sharing with my students and parents.

Click here to view the PowerPoint

Some things I have learned

2009-04-15T20:24:00.000-07:00

I am amazed everyday with the things I am learning about teaching in classrooms that really utilize technology. I know what I would do but with the help of a school that actually wants you to use technology..... Wow... I can't even imagine!

I want to list some of the great sites, blogs, podcasts, videos A.K.A. vodcasts.

This is a great podcast that talks about some of the great technology that is used in international schools. http://www.sospodcast.org/
I didn't even know that my school was basically created out of a Moodle. http://moodle.org/
This is really cool a advatar that speaks on your blog basically as an introduction to you and your page. http://www.voki.com/
A great youtube video on what is web 2.0 and I found that it was made by Jeff who also does the sospodcast. http://www.youtube.com/user/jutecht
E-learning Journey's this directed me to some of these other sites. I am amazed how connected all of the international school teachers are. http://123elearning.blogspot.com/

There are a ton more sites but I haven't had the time to go through them. I just found beyond school and lesson's learned. I am excited to check them out.

I think I am going to be somewhat prepared for the big job search starting in the Summer continuing on until I A) get a job or B) go to a job fair.

The problem with public schools in the States

2009-04-08T16:22:00.001-07:00

I had some great idea's of making a web page for my class my first year teaching in the states and sharing idea's with families about how to really help their children get the most out of their education. The problem is so much is restricted and everyone is afraid of a lawsuit and loosing their teaching license that teachers with great ideas seem to get silenced and you do your job instead of making it a career that you love and want to take risks with I would love to try some of the new ideas out there.

I have been listening to the SOS pod-cast and I am amazed at the freedom they(the international school teachers) have with education to try new ideas. As I have been listening to the things those educators are doing it makes me miss the freedom and trust that I had as a educator in Korea. I was only a ESL teacher then but I still had a lot of free reign and a faculty that was so excited about teaching the kids and seeing them learn.

Learning about international schools

2009-04-07T22:30:00.000-07:00

I am working on the idea of working at an international school. By doing research just for a month I am amazed all the technology and idea's that the international schools are able to utilize that we are not even hearing about in the states. I work for a virtual school and we have some more advanced pieces of technology but it does not compare to the international schools.

I want to add posts about the pieces of technology that I find that the international schools are using that we have not even touched on in the states. I have listened to the SOS pod-cast and it is amazing the amounts of names of technology they talk about that I haven't heard of. I have a background in computer science and I feel like I am always one of the most technologically savvy people in the room but this is another level.