Teach Now (Teacher Certification): ITL Infographic

Module 1 Unit 1 Activity 4

For this activity, we had to make an infographic on a topic they gave us, which was on ITL: Innovative Teaching and Learning Practices. 

So here is my first finished infographic EVER! 

This is a tool you can use to explain something to your students, or you can also have your students make an infographic out of a certain topic.

Some websites to make free infographics are easel.ly and piktochart.

I started with Piktochart, but it was a bit slow, and frustrating at times, not very intuitive for a first time user, but a good thing about it is that one CAN add more pages. It has a nice presentation window when one is done with their infographic.

I was so frustrated with Piktochart that I abandoned my first project, and found easel.ly. This website was a bit more intuitive but the downside is that you CAN'T add more pages to it. I found out the hard way when I was almost done with my project, so I just crammed a lot of info in one page. Here is a screencast that will help you navigate easel.ly with well...ease.

Teach Now (Teaching Certification): Policy I Feel Strongly About

Module 2 Unit 1 Activity 2 (Part 2)

Improvement with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

            One of the core principles for the IDEA is the Zero reject-child find. This principle states that in public education, no student should be excluded because they have a disability and that each state must step in to place children who may be permitted to have special education services.

            I believe that this part of the IDEA really helps and encourages disabled children to be put into a regular classroom with other children, and also influences students to have these children in their schools. This is very important for the child with the disability as they will not only be able to get a chance at getting an education, but it will also help them learn one of the biggest skills that we learn at school which is socializing. We as humans are social beings and it is very important that children get to be with their peers, interact with them, and grow with them at the same time. It also helps regular children be more knowledgeable, less afraid, and more understanding of others who may be a little different. By knowing them they may also learn compassion and be over all accepting of others in the future.

            In my personal experience I have visited many third world countries and I occasionally see disabled children in the street, at hours when they should clearly be at school. It is really heartbreaking to see them in the middle of the day, not attending school, and instead sometimes begging on the streets without having anywhere to go. They are not only children with disabilities, but they enter another category being out-of-school children. I have seen some disabled children with their parents, but rarely out with other children their age, or just being kids. The schools don’t provide facilities for them and they are mostly excluded from receiving the education they deserve. Also children their age do not seem to include them in activities they are involved in and essentially these children become outcasts in society. If this were to be the case in the U.S., the only people that could get help in these types of situations would be the elite as they would have the means to do so.

            An act like the IDEA would really prevent disabled children to be left out with no help, or depending on the type of parents they have, left to their own means. Though there may be a few negative aspects to this act, the positive aspects really outweigh them. Although all children are unique, they are more alike than different and certainly if possible, they should be given a chance to equally live in their society without being segregated.

Resources: 

1. Including Students with Special Needs, Marilyn Friend/William D. Bursuck, 6th Edition,    2012.

2. http://www.education.com/reference/article/six-major-principles-idea/

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individuals_with_Disabilities_Education_Act 

4. http://naturespathways.com/healthy-kids/item/1524-the-importance-of-socialization-for-kids-with-disabilities

5. http://www.globalpartnership.org/focus-areas/out-of-school-children

Teach Now (Teaching Certification): Different Organizations, Policies, Articles

Module 2 Unit 1 Activity 2: Education in Social Media

USA Organizations

·         NEA – National Education Association

One of the articles I found on this site was called Social Media Made Simple (http://www.nea.org/tools/53459.htm). One aspect of the article that I really found useful was actually setting ground rules for using mobile apps in the classroom. Kids tend to be more outspoken or aggressive with their ideas online as they don’t have to be face-to-face with anyone online. Not only offline, but also online manners and ground rules should be taught and set by their teacher.

·         AFT – American Federation of Teachers

The AFT’s resource on student testing accountability for the No Child Left behind Act   states that if any school is unsuccessful in making an adequate yearly progress in four years, the district has to take some measures either changing the curriculum or staff. I agree with this stance as changes need to be made if there are no signs of improvement but sometimes improvement cannot be measured by testing.

US Educational Policies

·         IDEA – Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

This act protects children with disabilities to have a chance to receive free public education equally as other children. I believe this is so important especially living in Korea where in my 10 years as an educator, I have never had a disabled student because it is stigmatized. Laws are improving in this area of education. Here is a link that relates to Korea and disabled students by the NCEE. (http://www.ncee.org/programs-affiliates/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/top-performing-countries/south-korea-overview/south-korea-education-for-all/ )

·         NCLB – No Child Left Behind

In this site I have mixed opinions about their stance on high qualified teachers. It states that all teachers must have passed a licensure test and have a license to teach in that state. I believe that licenses are important, and it is useful to upgrade one’s education whenever possible, but just because one passes an exam or has a license, doesn’t imply they will be a great teacher. Experience, in my opinion is also truly important and maybe years of teaching could also meet the criteria of being a qualified teacher.

International Organizations

·         UNESCO – United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization

One of the links I found interesting under their education tab is that the conferences that they are holding about vocational pedagogy is being held online now. I never really thought of heading to virtual conferences just to hear current discussions about education in the 21^st century but I know now that this is a great resource for the future.

Worldwide Movements and Policies:

·         GPE – Global Partnership for Education

One interesting article I found here was about out-of-school children (http://www.globalpartnership.org/focus-areas/out-of-school-children ). Many children around school don’t have schools in their community and in places where poverty is prevalent, children seem to enroll and drop out, or not attend school at all. This information really affects me as the country I come from is very poor. Many children want to attend but as they are another helping hand in their family, lots of times they have to be out working to help their families. It also states how instead of building more schools, or training more teachers won’t help improve this situation and basically how the school system should be made more solid by specifically focusing on reaching out-of-school-children.

Useful links for teachers in Korea

·         Kotesol

http://www.koreatesol.org/

The Kotesol is an organization that runs conferences in Korea. A lot of my friends whom have been here for 10+ years are part of this group, giving presentations and sharing their knowledge with others. You can sign up and go to one of their conferences where you get to meet other educators, get introduced to new books, listen to different speakers, etc. I am going to try and get into one of the conferences this year. Anyone go to one of these? If so, what did you think and was it worth to join?

·         Ministry of Education

http://english.moe.go.kr/enMain.do

In the Ministry of Education page, I found an interesting article about how Koreans are trying to change the education system, so the instruction is not so teacher centered, and it becomes more of a student centered instruction (http://english.moe.go.kr/web/1717/site/contents/en/en_0275.jsp;jsessionid=GB19wylhrZ5Zkan9YnaMyVg0tSnNaJvahnXO73thckFYHF5SS1ZBzGoMqSeoXlTa.homepageAP2_servlet_engine2). I would love to see a change like this in the education system here. I find that as an educator, half of the time I am trying to convince my kids to ask questions, and not be so afraid of being wrong. It has been taught that they shouldn’t question the teacher and that if they don’t think their answer is correct, that they shouldn’t participate. Though I have high hopes for this to be noticeable, they started making these changes in 2009 and I still do not see much shift from teacher centered instruction to student centered instruction in 2014.

·         NCEE

http://www.ncee.org/programs-affiliates/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/

This website has some articles about how the government in Korea is trying to support families from lower incomes, migrant families (because they are not accepted easily in Korean society) and children with disabilities when it comes to education. I really believe things are changing slowly but there is still a lot of stigma attached to these situations. Does anyone think that this is actually going to help these families or is it only a “good” concept? This site also has downloadable acts from the Ministry of Education here in Korea.

·         Asia Society

http://asiasociety.org/

This site has a lot of different articles in education in Asia. I have found a lot of well written interesting articles that would’ve been great for me to read if I were coming to Korea without any previous knowledge of the education system here. They explain the calendar year, school system, subjects, people’s view on education, and how there is a high percentage of college graduates that once they are done with school they come to a halt in educating not really going on to becoming lifelong learners.http://asiasociety.org/education/learning-world/south-korean-education-reforms

Teach Now (Teaching Certification): Reflection on Teaching Survey

Module 2 Unit 1 Activity 1

Here is a screenshot of our first assignment for this module. It was a non-graded assignment.

What are the 3 reasons you are have become a teacher?

I wish I could say that it was because that was the only thing I dreamed about becoming when I grew up... but to be honest, I started teaching as soon as I finished university. I really got thrown into this profession and I never dreamed of becoming a teacher. I came to Korea to visit my family after I graduated university, and because I was low on money for the summer, my brother introduced me to some parents so I could tutor their children. That led to teaching at summer camps and from there I got offered a position at a university.
One of the top reasons for me to be a teacher is the fact that I can be very mobile. Being a TCK, I feel like seeing the world, understanding different kinds of people, and being familiar with different cultures is of utmost importance to me as a human being.

I chose long summer vacations as my second reason to teach because without being able to travel, I wouldn't be able to fulfill my first reason.

The third most important reason for becoming a teacher is that I believe in the importance of education in society. Education is truly important to progress not only as an individual, but as a society, or even further, globally. Having lived in a third world country most of my life (Bolivia), where many are illiterate and poverty is prevalent, I really believe education is the only way to change this situation. One proof of that is the current country I live in now, which is South Korea where this nation really takes education seriously and tremendous leaps were taken in the last few decades.

It’s important for new teachers to take a survey as such to see if they are really making the right choice. From the list they can also see many reasons they didn't think of that are beneficial to being a teacher. Long vacations are an advantage, but in entering this path, one has to realize that this personal choice, directly impacts others (i.e. the children you are teaching). One can realize how overwhelming it can be at times but at others it is so gratifying and fulfilling to actually guide children and make an impact on them. Even though I chose those three particular answers in my survey, my reasons to teach are always evolving. I truly believe anyone can teach, but not everyone is suited to be a teacher.

Teach Now (Teaching Certification): First Experience Practice Presenting/Hosting

Module 1 Activty 2

Attending a virtual classroom is definitely something very new to me. The class tonight was very useful in making me familiar with the platform and helping me feel more prepared and comfortable for future projects and presentations to come.

Once I knew where the tabs for sharing, discussion board, collaboration board, and poll board were located, it was very intuitive for me. I feel it will be a program that will be easy for me to get accustomed to and navigate after a few more times practicing hosting/ presenting. It has modern tools to help us make our virtual classes feel more dynamic, making explanations of lessons to each other easier as we get access to visuals, audio, video sharing among other things like PowerPoint presentations and PDF files.


The only aspects I didn't like about this platform were the lagging time and the fact we can't share YouTube files directly without opening our desktop view. With that said, I can see that this is only the beginning of a solid virtual program that will be taking immense leaps in the near future.

Teach Now (Teaching Certification): First Day In a Virtual Classroom

Module 1: Day 1

There are many reasons why I was hesitant to start this teaching certification. First of all I am not very good with computers or technology, and second of all, I am swamped with SOOOOO much work at the moment finishing my M.Ed in Education and yes, third of all, I am also doing my Advanced Raja Yoga Teaching Certification simultaneously with this virtual program I just started.

There are also many reasons why I decided to go with this program. First of all, I've done a lot of research and this program is completely legit. I was going to go with Teacher Ready at first but not being American, I could only get a piece of paper at the end of it saying that I have done exactly all the courses that a teacher in the state of Florida would have done to get certified.... except that I would be able to get a legit certification  (BTW I checked their website out but it wasn't as helpful as when I contacted cshears@teach-now.com as he had more information for students teaching outside the US). Second of all, I don't have to quit my job completely to go and finish my certification like many of my peers have. I CANNOT afford to do that!

So what was my first day of virtual class like?
Well the platform they are using is called Adobe Connect, and I have to say it was pretty. darn. cool. Everyone's faces appears in small boxes, there is a chat box, a poll box, and a board box. I will try and get a screen shot in my next class and post it on here.

What did we do on the first day?
Emily, the brain and CEO of Teach Now, introduced herself and the program, and made us all feel really comfortable that this program is truly legit and just as intense and as valuable as any teaching certification program in Washington DC. We then went around introducing ourselves one by one, and at the end, she was open for any questions or concerns we were having. THAT took an hour and it was over.

What is my first impression of this program?
I think it felt a little overwhelming at first, but I am writing 3 days after the start of this class and now that I've had a bit of time to browse around their classroom, like anything, it is starting to become more familiar. The only downside I see to this platform is the speed. I live in S.Korea, so I am accustomed to incredibly high speed internet and yes, I know I only have to wait about 3 seconds between clicks... but still. I AM spoiled..LOL! Looking at their homework, I have a feeling that it's going to be very similar to the Ed. Tech. class that I took in my master's courses, where one of my assignments was to start my own educator's blog.... sooooo I thought, I already have this anyway, and why not just document everything I do in this program to help others see if it's for them too :)