Personality Type

I think that a person's personality type plays a large role in the way they learn. A more introverted student is unlikely to learn by working with groups on projects, and a social person is less likely to learn from just reading books and attempting to teach themselves.

Knowing a student's personality type can help you determine the best way to get through to a particular student. If a student is having problems in your class, this information can show you how you can better help this student.

Spreadsheet

I think that a spreadsheet is extremely useful and by far the best way to keep a gradebook. You can also use material aids to help create lesson plans but I think as a teacher I would use it more for a grade book. A spreadsheet is far superior to a calculator. It essentially is a calculator, however it lessens the risk for error because on a calculator you have to press all of the mathmatical functions yourself, and if you mess up on a single symbol you get the wrong grade. It is much easier just to type the grades in and let the computer do the work for you.

Ch.4-5 & Inspiration

The Inspiration software seems like a tool for students to use when they are writing papers or doing projects. In the classroom, I would definitely encourage my students to use this to help with brainstorming and outlines. From the tour, it appears to be the best way that I know of to organize thoughts and ideas.

When I was in high school, I greatly benefited from the feedback that I received from peers on my papers. The SWoRD system is a good way for students to be able to provide and receive feedback from fellow students. I think it is a good idea because teachers don't always have the time give every student in all of their classes feedback on papers. I think that teaching a particular topic requires you to get to know the topic to a much greater extent than before you teach it. The first time I taught anything was for a history project in high school. By the end I knew much more than I previously did.

Blogs Week 2

I think that blogs have helped speed up the flow of information tremendously in the past few years. For education purposes, when used properly, blogs can be a great resource for the students at home. While in the classroom, however, I feel that time would better spent on teaching the material rather than creating blogs. In my opinion, blogs are simply a good way to reinforce instruction given in the classroom.

I think that the knowledge forums and wiki projects shown in chapter 6 are a great way for students to demonstrate what they have learned and take an active role in their class. It is a fun way for students to review what they have learned but it also requires that they put more thought and effort into it than a review sheet.

Introduction

Hello. I'm Kris and I am a junior majoring in English with a certification in grades 8-12. This is my second semester at this college after transfering from Texas Tech. I live in Rowlett with my parents and my younger brother. I am looking forward to getting to know you all.