We Did It!

     We have finally reached the finish line. I just wanted to first say congratulations to everyone in my class! We had a rough semester, but we pulled through!

     During this semester, I have been able to explore myself as a writer. I think being able to post blogs and write reflections allows me to explore what I have learned about myself and about the education I am receiving. I also have been able to explore my classmates as writers by reading their blogs. 
    I learned that digital writing allows us to personalize our writing and post it with others. Digital writing also allows a new way to present writing. I think that it should shared with future teachers because it allows students to express themselves. I think starting a blog online is another form of journal writing. 
     The challenges of blogging is that it may be difficult to learn a certain website and share personal feelings online. Online blogging can last forever on the internet. The successes allows students to explore new ways of approaching online blogging and exploring the endless ways of showing the world something they may love.


I overall had an amazing experience blogging and hope to continue it. 

Tips I Learned from a Text that I Actually Loved :)

When it comes to reading a text, I am not usually fond of one that does not include a dystopia or love story taste to it, although I have finally found one that I enjoy. This text would be Teaching Arguments: Rhetorical Comprehension, Critique, and Response? Here are five tips I learned from a book that actually kept me thinking:

1. Its okay to make mistakes.
        When it comes to being a teacher, you make think you have to know it all. This may be true on some subjects, but not always. Its okay to not know everything. Its okay to tell your students you are not the most knowledgeable on a certain topic. They would rather you be honest than you faking it. 

2. Seeing past the surface.
      This text teaches your students to see past their first impressions. This topic can have to with writing or just in life in general. 

3. Make work meaningful.
     This benefits the student into making their writing mean something to them rather than just a boring old approach to an essay.

4. Guide to becoming a "good" student.
     This chapter was one of my favs! Whats better than reading about how to make your students imagine more and become successful?

5. You can blend theory and application. 
     Helps you provide activities in the classroom that can merge the too.


So get your hands on this book. It will make your life as a teacher simpler than it should be. :) 

Volleyball

I decided to make a Piktochart only because I have always wondered how to make these. I never knew that there was an actual website that does this (and easy too). 
I picked the sport of volleyball because that is what I have a passion for. I played for 8 years, coach high school, and coach travel teams. I thought it would be funny to make one about how "simple" it is to play volleyball (even though I know its not this simple). 
Overall, I had a blast making this. I would definitely use this tool in one of my future classrooms. 

Loss

Knowing that I will never be able to spend time with my grandma again, puts a crack on my heart that can never be put back together.

Almost everyday my father tells me that I am just like her. He tells me how I have the same features as her and how my personality is exactly like her.  She had blonde hair and brilliant brown eyes, just like mine. She had a brightening personality that would light up the room, and everyone would just want to listen to her talk. It has always been a dream for me to be able to just spend one more day with her so I can get to know her better and be able to just learn from all her knowledge. My grandma was someone that my father was always close to, but I am never going to have the chance to have that closeness that he had with her. 

I remember my dad would tell me how she was a good listener and I saw that for the short time that I knew her. Anytime he had a problem with work or anything general in life, she was there to listen and give him advice. She was known for having big elephant like ears and sat with great standing up posture that assured you that she was going to listen to everything that you said.  He also remembers how she would make my dad his favorite kook-aid. It was always grape or orange flavored. She would sneak in sugar with out telling her husband for my dad since it was so expensive during that time, just because my dad loved to drink it that way.

She would also wear the same clothing all the time and never changed the way she dressed. She did not care what people thought of her. She wanted people to see her for what she truly was and not how she looked. 

If I could spend just one more day with my grandma, I would plan many things. First, I would wake up early on the beach with her and watch the sun rise. I remember the stories my dad told me of how she loved to wake up early and go to the lake just to watch the sun and hear all the boat engines roar throughout the sky. She never got the chance to do this by the actual ocean. I thought it would be neat to bring her out into the waves and watch as the sun set across the blue water. 

If I still had time left in the day, I would show my grandma the passion I have of playing the sport of volleyball. It's my life and I would love for her to see me play in just one game and show how I play it and work hard all for her. My dad always told me how she loved seeing him play football and how it made her proud. I want to give her that same feeling about me playing volleyball just like it makes my dad proud to watch me play. To be able to spend one more day with her, it would mean the world to me and would be the best day of my life. 

My grandma died on my sixth birthday. I remember that day clearly in my head even though I was just a toddler. I was waiting for her to come to the barbecue at my house to celebrate and Tumble Gym and to see her bursting smile in the room and her wearing her favorite magenta moo-moo dress, but she never showed up. That was when my dad got the call that she passed away from a medical accident. I didn’t understand what my mother was telling me about what happened. I didn’t believe it. She was gone. My favorite person was away and she wouldn’t wake up. 

Technology Wednesday

1. When thinking about if I am a native, visitor, or resident, I would have to say that I am a visitor. For the majority of these tools, the only one I recognize is Weebly. The rest of the tools I have never seen or heard of it. It makes me want to learn about each and every one of them in order to have a more technological classroom. I live my tech life mostly with using Microsoft software and a few apps. I feel that its important for teachers to be exposed to different technological tools. This will allow them to be more successful with students and create a native technological aspect into students. 

2. Kahoot is one website that I absolutely adore when it comes to using tech tools to enhance student learning. I feel that students love to use their phones and this app allows them to do so. It does it in a way that the teacher can still keep track on how is participating and who is not. This app would be fun tool for a teacher to use before a test as a way to review with the student. This lets the students take some of the edge of nerves they might have and just review for a test in a fun way. I was only exposed to this app when I saw a student used it over the summer. I think teachers need to be brought up to speed and exposed to more useful apps like this one. 

3. I think I will always continue learning outside of school by being with other colleagues and in the actual teaching environment. I think more and more experience is what will benefit me most. I also think participating in NCTE and keeping up to date with the website will be super useful. I am actually going to the conference this November in Minneapolis :). I have actually also participated in the ed chats on twitter in the past. It was very enjoyable and I learned from other educators on their intake of what education is and should be. Finally, I will be sure to keep up with my Pinterest account with all of my teaching stuff and ideas in my folders. I think I will never out grow using this website. I plan almost everything on it. 

4. Having students write virtually will prepare them for the real world and in jobs. You never know what career path the student might take and writing virtually can only benefit them. I think using Prezi and Survey Monkey are extremely popular and should continued to be used in the classroom. These can be used for the rest of their life so having the knowledge now can help them expand more into it. I think that all of these websites listed can be good for students. Its important to expose them to numerous of websites because everyone has a different preference or personality that might get them to love that particular website. We learn as teachers that no student is the same, therefore we should not expect all students to love the same website. Giving them options can only be a positive, not a negative. 

5. I love the review that Jane Hart did on todays technology websites in the world. I felt that it was very on point into what we use today. This is one website that I will for sure bookmark because I was exposed to websites that I have never seen before. These are all tools that can only benefit the classroom and make it more diverse.

6. I have never seen this digital Bloom’s Taxonomy before. I feel that when a teacher is trying to implement one of the taxonomy’s, a teacher can look at this chart and can be able to implement technology with it too. It gives a better range of creativity for the teacher for their students. All of these are useful tools that can be used across the curriculum. 

7. I think that I will try all of these tools that I was exposed to. This is my goal because I want to be a teacher that exposes students to new ways of learning every day. I think thats important to keep students engaged and versatile. You want them to continue to grow and learn throughout their education and in their future life. I will be saving this document of all the tools for future reference and hope to continue to use them throughout my life in education. 

Non-Typical Tuesday

Every night I come into work, I know that it will be different from the night before, but I wanted to do something extradorinaiy tonight. 

Every situation is different especially when you work at the front desk of  a resort. 

Working at a resort has taught me more than any other job I have worked before. Its amazing how your customer service skills you learn can be used in your everyday life. Everything comes together and makes you who you are.

Tonight, I had the privilege of doing something great for a guest. I noticed that she was tired and just wanted the perfect vacation for their family. Most people would just not want to do anything for anyone, but I decided to have a different outlook on it. You always have to remember that you do not know what the person might be going through so it does not hurt to try to brighten their night. 

I wanted to make a difference for this family and luckily I can do that with my job. I decided to call a top deluxe resort and get them a free upgrade. I was so ecstatic to tell the guest that when I finally told her, she could not believe it.

She started to cry in tears of happiness.

I turned her entire vacation around and made it better.

This act of kindness I did will always stick with me. Knowing I can turn someone's once in a lifetime vacation reassures me that I am doing okay in life. 

You always have to remember that you will be okay. 

Life Changing Moment

Life Changing Moment

I remember waking up on a cold November morning, excited that it was my sixth birthday party. My birthday fell on a Wednesday this year, so we decided to have the party the Saturday before. I was so pumped for it because it was at Tumble Gym which was the hot spot for a six year old. Every kid in my class wanted to have their party there, and my selfless grandma made it happen. Everyone was going to be there. My friends from soccer, my friends from school, and of course all of my family. It was the perfect birthday dream for any five year old really. 

As my mom was loading up the car, she got a call on the house phone. Back then, my mom did not have a cell phone so we were lucky that we caught the phone call in time. 

She answered the call with her usual happy tone.

After the other person on the other line was talking for awhile, my mother’s usual happy face turned into a gloomy stare. She dropped the phone as the battery fell to pieces from the hardwood floors.

That is when she got the tragic news. My grandma suffered a heart attack. She passed away. 

This day turned out to be one of the worst days of my life. I did not understand what was going on. My mother was crying tears and scrunched down to the floor into a ball. She held me in her arms saying “I am so sorry baby”. 

What is she saying sorry for? It is not her fault this is going on.

I did not know how to comfort her. I mean I am only six old and I wasn’t sure how to comfort a grown adult. I was use to my mom being the one that always comforted me.

My mother told me the news and we cancelled my birthday party. As I sat in my living room, watching my favorite tv show (Rollie Pollie Ollie), my mom started making phone calls. My dad came home instead of meeting us at the party, like he was suppose to. 

I did not understand what was going. Why is my only grandma gone? What is death?

The funeral was on my actual birthday, November 8th. Everyone was there including all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I saw my grandma, sleeping peacefully in the coffin. 

Then I did something unexpected. My body triggered this emotion that I did not think could come out of me. 

I screamed, “Maybe if we all talk loud, Grandma will wake up and we can celebrate my birthday together like we are suppose to!” 

Everyone broke down into tears and sobbed. 

I did not mean to make everyone cry worse. I was trying to fix the problem so everyone could be happy. I just wanted everyone to be happy forever. 

Looking back on this moment, I did not understand what was going on through my head. Its crazy that as a child, you don’t really understand what death is. You think that they are only sleeping and that if we come together, the person will wake up. At least, that is what the toddler me thought. I thought that as a four year old, I could fix any problem in the world by just being happy.

If only life was just simple as happiness. 

Losing my grandma has changed my life forever. Its crazy to think how losing someone at such a young age, can change your entire life. Without knowing my grandma long, she taught me about what life truly is. Life is about taking chances and doing what makes you happy with the people you love because you never know when they will be gone. Its about coming together as a family all the time and not just when someone dies. 

I feel that if everyone learned these lessons of life, they would erase the what ifs and just do it. My grandma always did what she loved and excited her, and today I continue to live my life, just like she would.