Netiquette Presentation

Netiquette Presentation

Netiquette Scavenger Hunt

521: What is Online Learning? - Reflections

Part A: Quotes from Reading and Class Task Activities

• Online learning is sweeping across America. In the year 2000, roughly 45,000 K–12 students took an online course. In 2009, more than 3 million K–12 students did.

• By 2019, 50 percent of all high school courses will be delivered online 

• Students became more active learners and often challenged themselves to work harder and learn material that had not yet been introduced 

Part B: Thoughts/Questions

Week 2: Recently in my school district there has been talk about doing a blended learning environment pilot to deal with overcrowding in our schools. The most recent statistic is that even if the school district built 37 more elementary schools that still wouldn't be enough to accommodate the amount of students that are in overcrowded schools. This makes me wonder how much more our students really could gain if class sizes were a more appropriate size and if all of our students were in a proper learning environment. I also have some family members who teach in a blended learning environment and some younger family members who are students in a blended learning environment. I have seen some of the good and bad associated with it. Students become more responsible for their education but when a student doesn't do anything to further their own education a teacher doesn't have much control. The classes are also flexible! Great, until a student gets behind in required assignments. This then puts them further behind and can also do more harm than good. Maybe just being the devil's advocate here, but how does this help a student who may already be struggling?

Week 3: It is definitely interesting to listen to other people explain things and you think you understand but sometimes it is because you a) connect what they are saying to your own experience before they finish b) some people just don't explain things well or c)you weren't listening at all. I have to admit before my partner was finished describing her avatar, I was thinking about how I could have changed my avatar to fit me differently. I stopped myself and had to re-evaluate my thinking so I could completely clear my mind and focus just on building an avatar she was describing. I now know I will be more self-conscience when listening to people. 

Week 4: Online Community Building
I have been part of many online communities for all types of social media. The purpose of each of them has been different. Some were just to keep in contact with people, some were for church related activities, some were dating sites, while others have been for professional reasons. About 5 years ago I had created a LinkedIn account but never really used it. I would get the emails saying that someone had endorsed me but they had never seen me teach and some of the time I had no experience in what I was being endorsed in. It didn't seem useful to have all my friends endorsing me for whatever they wanted to. I stopped using the account and forgot about it. While trying to decide which online community to join, I thought it would be in my best interest to join LinkedIn again but this time not add all my college friends who had no idea of my present skills in the classroom. I have seen how other people have benefited from the use of LinkedIn and thought that it would be a great time to try it out but in a more professional manner this time around. 

In online learning, it is especially important to build the community with the students. Without the feeling and the actual community supporting you, doing work and being alone while trying to learn new things can be extremely hard. The community relationships that are established early on in online learning is the key to being successful. 

Resources:

http://www.dreambox.com/blog/6-models-blended-learning

http://vimeo.com/78871778

http://www.christenseninstitute.org/publications/the-rise-of-k-12-blended-learning/

International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) is the premier organization specifically focused on K-12 online. They have recently expanded their reach to include blended instruction.

 Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning The Evergreen Education Group publishes an annual report of the status of online learning in the U.S.


New Media Consortium Horizon Reports are produced annually for both K-12 and higher education

Reflection on Learning

    I had previously started this course in a previous semester but was unable to complete it because of health issues in my family. I had already completed some of the work but as I was again doing the work, I was able to learn different things. It was very eye opening to see the difference that a few semesters can make. It wasn’t exactly easy doing all the reading and research while on multiple vacations, but I made it through. The biggest challenge was trying to do so much in such a small amount of time. It is a class that is normally done in 16 weeks so to complete it in 8 weeks was a lot more challenging. It took a lot more self-discipline to sit and read required reading instead of leisure reading. There were other personal challenges within my family. This semester my parents moved out of state to take care of my grandmother leaving me to be a caregiver for my brother. He ended up in critical condition in the hospital with heart problems for more than a week. With the support of people around me taking turns to make sure he was taken care of, I was able to complete the course.

    Having previously taken this course like I previously mentioned helped me to understand the concepts of the readings a little bit more. I wouldn’t recommend that everyone do the same, but that is what helped me the most. The reading of numerous articles was, albeit time consuming, was fairly easy to read. I found most of them to be very informative and interesting, but there were some that extremely long and a little dull but those are also the articles that I found to be the most helpful to me and how to structure my classroom technology more effectively.

    After reading all the articles on the digital divide and digital inequality, we were asked to make a presentation to discuss what we had learned. In my opinion, this was by far the best assignment for the class. This is where I had the most eye opening experience and gained a greater respect for the technology that we have here in America and more specifically for what I have access to. This is also the artifact that I feel was my best overall. As I read the numerous articles about the digital divide and digital inequality, I wanted to know what others thought as well. Just for fun I took some of the information and made a survey using Google Forms to see what they thought about technology use. The results were what I had thought prior to reading the information. Once I told those surveyed the actual answer, they were just as amazed as I was. Taking all of this information into account, I knew that I had to create a presentation to help others with the misconception that we as American’s have about technology, its uses, and availability. I created a PowerPoint presentation provide the information with dictation recorded. The PowerPoint was then made into a video and published on YouTube. It wasn’t an easy task creating the PowerPoint, adding the dictation, then pushing forward to make it into a video. I had never done this before and didn’t know it could be done until I started trying to figure things out. I spent the most time and energy on this artifact because it was something that became very real to me, personally.

    As a result of reading the digital divide and digital inequality and later in the class reading about tech trends, I want to make better use of the technology that we do have at my school and more specifically my classroom. 1st grade students aren’t the best at following directions when it comes to technology, but that is where they can learn the most. I want to create an environment in my classroom and the school where students are able to use multiple technological devices in the most efficient and effective ways. I feel it is important to expose students to all types of devices because they will be the future leaders of America. With that being said, not having much technology will bring its own challenges. I have already discussed the lack of technology in the school with our new administration, and they are on board with figuring out ways to get more technology into the hands of our students. They agree that the students need more exposure to technology. With the administration on board with getting more technology and using technology in better ways, I think that I, along with the rest of the staff and administration, can use technology to better our students, the future leaders of America.

School Evaluation Summary

Over the past four years, I have been at three different schools. I have had the opportunity to see technology uses in many different ways. I have seen how different administrators expect technology to be used in the class. I have been able to talk with them about their reasons and respect their opinions as the administration over the school. As I went through the survey, I had to stop a few times to think about my current location and not the district as a whole. I did add input about the district as I saw that it would fit.

When I sat and thought about the technology at my current school, I was a little shocked. None of my other schools have had computer labs, but we did have other technological devices for students to use in the classroom. One of the schools had a computer for every student to use. It was a very small rural school. Technology had not previously been used so as more technology was given to the school with Title 1 funds it made it easy to use computers in the curriculum. The other school didn't have a lab, but the school was built to have 4 pods in it. In each of the pods were about 15 computers for the eight classes in the pod to share. We have access to iPods, SmartBoards, Promethean Boards, iClickers, and a few iPads, to go along with the teacher computers and laptops. That school was very well versed in their technology use. My current school, Niles Benedict Elementary School only has a computer lab with about 35 computers and a 10 iPads. It showed me that there is a digital divide within the school district and that not all schools are treated equally. It also showed that when you have the resources to purchase technology that the curriculum can become so much more enriched. From my own experiences, I have seen that when the students have the opportunity to use any technology, they step up their game and do better in their schoolwork.

Before this class, I had never thought about and looked at the reasons why some students are able to use technology in school while others don't use hardly anything. I will make a more conscious effort to incorporate more technology into the curriculum to help make up the lack of technology at the school.

Evaluation Survey
Evaluation Summary

Tech Trends

After reading the Horizon Report, it was so hard for me to choose just one topic to further research. I had more questions about all of the topics but definitely don't currently have the time to research all of them. For this assignment I chose to research Cloud Computing.  Out of the six technologies or trends discussed, it was one that I have recently discovered and thought our district might be interested in using. I am currently looking and searching to see if our district has a Technology adoption committee that I would be able to present some of this information to. In our district we don't have access to Google accounts log-in but with this information, I think there could be some changes, at least for teachers.


Tech Trends Report

Tech Trends Presentation

EDTECH Research

For the EDTECH Research project, we had to use Google Scholar or Google Research within a Google Doc to find 5 articles that related to technology in the classroom. Using the five articles we had to analyze how they did or didn't fit our objectives for technology in our own classroom.

First, I didn't know that Google Scholar or Google Research even existed. It left me wondering what else Google has to offer that I didn't know about. Throughout reading the articles and analyzing them, I found that many of the things I have thought about technology in the classroom or technology instruction for educators has been validated. I knew that educators weren't being educated enough about technology uses, but I didn't know why it wasn't being done. I knew that technology is great to enhance student achievement but didn't know exactly why. It was a long project to complete but very worthwhile project as well. I learned more of the reasons why things were the way they were.

One fascinating thing that I discovered reading the different articles was that 20 years ago they were trying to overcome these same issues just with different technology at the time. There was a digital divide and digital inequality even back then.

I now feel that I would be prepared to discuss topics about technology in the classroom. If I had questions or I needed to find information, I know now where I can go to find the information. It was a great way to explore what technology does have to offer.

EDTECH Research

RSS in Education

RSS can be very useful. It gives a person the ability to go to one site to get updates from websites that they frequent. It becomes a useful tool to save time and energy from having to go to multiple websites in order to get all your updates. It can be extremely useful in the classroom as well.

Some of the ways in which I would find using RSS in education would be to build a website for parents to become more involved in their child’s education. I would update the website weekly in order for the parents to be updated weekly on the happenings of the classroom. It would be a great way to go green and limit the amount of paper being sent home on the weekly happenings in the classroom.

Another way I would use RSS in education would be more for intermediate elementary students, middle, and high school students. I think it would be a great way to post assignments, homework, project information, etc. to a calendar on the website. Each time the website would be updated it would show up in their feed.

The third way that I would incorporate RSS into education would be subscribing to feeds myself in order to help guide and plan my instruction. I know there are so many websites that help teachers come up with new and innovative ways of teaching the same standards that I may not yet have thought about. Even though I am not the only one teaching my grade level at my school, we discuss things but we have the same curriculum to base our instruction on. It is great to look and read about what other teachers do in order to teach the same standard. It gives me ideas on how I can better teach the standards and take it back to my team in order to have better results achieved.

RSS in education can be a very useful tool if it is used correctly. It makes more efficient use of time and because time is being more efficiently used it gives you more time for actual instruction in the classroom.

Digital Divide/Digital Inequality

For this assignment we were asked to read multiple articles about digital divide/digital inequality. After reading the articles we needed to interview/survey other teachers, etc and see their response to the issues, create a presentation identifying problems within our own setting and discuss how we think it could be fixed. While discussing the results of the articles with others I really came to a new understanding of digital divide/digital inequality.

1. What did you learn about multimedia principles in creating this artifact?
   For all of the presentations, I have had to give I have been able to put it together putting all the information on one slide. Then I read the slide and explain it a little bit more. While this is effective, it is not the most effective. Putting a little bit of information on the page and having the listener or audience listen to you is much more effective. I knew this but never put it into action so that I didn't have to memorize things before the presentation. Creating a script is something I have never done before, and it made the presentation easier to create and much more effective. 
2. What did you learn about digital divide and/or digital inequality that was new to you?
   As stated multiple times in my presentation, I was amazed at the complete divide throughout the world. I know that not everyone in the world has access to food so they wouldn't have access to internet and computers to go along with technology but it was hard to believe that only about 6% of the world has access to computers and internet. We as Americans take this for granted. For most of us, it is almost readily available at our fingertips, and there are people in the world who have never heard of the internet or computers because it is not something that is established in their rural communities. 
3. What do you plan to do with this knowledge in the future?
   In past years, I have given students tasks to complete at home that doesn't necessarily require them to use a computer or internet but it does make it slightly easier for them. I give parents numerous resources on the internet to use at home to help their children but as I was reading and thinking about those exact students, I realized I never once asked if those families had a computer at home in order to access the resources. Later on in the year I have found out that some did have computer and internet access while others didn't. I will be more self-conscious in these activities and more aware of my students digital needs.
4. How might you change/improve this artifact if you had more time?
   I thoroughly enjoyed reading the articles and creating a presentation. Looking at the statistics and the answers given by those who took the survey was interesting. If I had more time for this artifact, I might have tried to do more with the presentation. Although I figured out how to add the audio into a PowerPoint presentation and then make it a video in order to upload it to Youtube; there are so many other programs that I would like to play around with that after all the reading and gathering that had to be done it wasn't possible to utilize other tools that the internet has to offer. 

Link to presentation

Elements of Educational Technolgoy

After reading through Chapter 1: Definition in Educational Technology, A Definition with Commentary, I have become more aware of my own practices in the classroom. Prior to really understanding technology and how to teach it to my students I would let them do a little exploration on their own and then tell them the things I wanted them to know. I really wasn't sure if they even understood it but I knew that I was utilizing my time in the computer lab. After a year of doing this, I knew I had to do something more. I needed to teach them the hows and whys of what they doing.

I have now changed how I approach utilizing the technology in my students learning as applicable to first grade students. First I started with the basics of what a computer is and all of its basic components, i.e. mouse, keyboard, tower, monitor, ear phones. Next we were able to focus on how use each of the components correctly. We discussed how a mouse works, how to use each of the buttons and the roller in the middle of the buttons. Next we discussed the keyboard and how to use it to do what they would need, i.e. capital letters, punctuation, space bar, numbers, etc.In addition to knowing how to use the keyboard we discussed how to type on the keyboard to make a document. I was first able to show them how to open a program, type into the document, and then use one of the formatting techniques.  Now, for first graders, their hands are a little bit to small to completely use the correct placement of their hands on the keyboard but they are now understanding how to use the computer to help them put their thoughts into a document.

My students are now the ones taking ownership of their own work and I am now able to utilize my time teaching them technology better. I am finding more resources for them to use and as a whole we are able to feel more comfortable using technology.

Meaning of Educational Technology Review

Assignment Details

Welcome!

I really dislike having to video myself. This must have been attempt #40 to get it this good! I really am excited to be in the EDTECH program and to build my knowledge and help those around me build their knowledge.

White Space

User:

1st grade students with basic reading skills

Justification:
The image was first created on a white background in order to get the white space needed. Second, I created the heading in gray which can also be used to create white space (pg 273). I spaced each of the 3 sections the same amount apart to be sure that one didn't dominate over the others and to make it as symmetrical as possible (pg 275). Each of the rock pictures have white space between them to show that they are separate and not together.

User Test:
When I showed this to other colleagues and asked if they found themselves looking at any one point (meaning their focus was trapped) one said that they would like boxes around each of the rock pictures to make it easier to not let their eyes wander. Before finishing the publication I made this change.

Lohr, L. L. (2008).  Creating graphics for learning and performance. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Organization

User:

First grade students with multiple reading levels learning about rocks. 

Justification:

In the chapter on organization it discussed things being organized in a hierarchical order (pg 123). In hierarchical order it also describes chunking into pieces (pg 125). In keeping with the hierarchical order and chunking I also made sure to the top to bottom left to right approach as used in Western cultures (pg 121). In between each of the groups I chose to leave a little white space (even though it's orange) to break up each of the chunks. 

Within each of the 3 chunks I chose to add a small graphic to go along with the words for my students who still are having a hard time reading or blending their words. These are the 3 symbols we have used in class many times to signal the meaning of something I know, something I want to know, or something that I have learned. 

User Test:

As other colleagues looked at this graphic they said they liked the organization and that it was ready to be used. Some said they would change the small graphics of the check mark, question mark, and light bulb to fit their class if they could. Overall I think the students will see the difference once it is completed.  

Lohr, L. L. (2008).  Creating graphics for learning and performance. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Color

I decided I should make the objectives for the lesson this week. The students need to know what they will be learning about thus I made this graphic. It will be displayed throughout the unit for students to use as a reference. They are also in student friendly terms, specifically using I can. 

User:

1st grade students with multiple reading levels just starting to learn about rocks, silt, sand, and pebbles

Justification:

In the reading we are told that color can make a big difference in a graphic. At times color can be distracting and other times it can be necessary. (pg 266) To choose which color to display there are a few things to keep in mind; age appropriateness, reason for using it, and the effect that you want it to have. With that being said, since my users are in 1st grade I chose to go with colors that children prefer: bright primary colors. (pg 265) I chose the 3 primary colors that children prefer: red, yellow, and blue. I chose the yellow as the background because yellow is considered to alert you to something. I want students attention focused on the objectives of the unit. The same goes for red. Red also is considered a color to alert or excite you. Again, I wanted the students focus to be on the objectives.(pg 270) The blue for the heading was chosen because it was the last primary color. It was also used as a contrast to red words for the objectives. I also put a black border around the heading to separate the heading from the rest of the text.

User Test:
When I showed this to the other teachers who may use this and explained my justification they agreed that this would be a great way to keep the students attention on the objectives. They also agreed that they like the separation between the heading and the objectives. Many of them also like that they are in student friendly terms unlike many other graphics that are created.


Lohr, L. (2008). Creating graphics for learning and performance. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Figure and Ground

User:

1st grade students some with higher level reading skills and some with no reading skills. 

Justification:

The image is made for students to see a visual of a rock type to then be able to classify and identify a given rocks classification. While creating the image I made sure to keep in mind the figure and grounding described in Chapter 5. I wanted to emphasize what to look for in each of the main 3 rock types students would need to identify. 

Sedimentary rocks are layered in fairly equal layers. With my arrows, I made an equal sign and put the words equal and layer mixed in with the arrows to show two types of equal, 2 lines of text with 2 lines of arrows.

Metamorphic rocks are created with heat and pressure. Depending on the pressure of an area the layers in the rock form different patterns. Instead of showing a large rock and zooming in to one specific area, I just showed the zoomed in area depicting the waves in the rock formation. 

Igneous rocks are created for liquid lava that has cooled and hardened. Being that my students don't have a well developed vocabulary, cooled was not used in the graphic as not to confuse the meaning awesome with something that is no longer hot. 

I kept the words very concise so the students would be able to focus on rock type, then picture, then what to look for. The same color was used in the arrows to better contrast and to draw their attention to the picture more for those students unable to read. 

CARP

User:

The user of the graphic will be 1st grade students with an understanding of what rocks are. This graphic is intended to help them remember what each of the 3 main rock types represent. 

Justification:

The graphic created is for students to have a reference for the 3 main types of rocks using the CARP analogy.

C- To go along with the previous graphics created for the unit I put Rocks and the rock types in orange type. These are meant to stand out from the definition of each type of rock in black type. In addition to the color contrast, I added a border line to contain the rest of the graphic. 

A-All of the text is either right aligned or left aligned depending on where the text is. Each section is aligned within itself and with the other 2 sections. 

R-Throughout all the graphics the orange type color is repeated several times. The black is also repeated multiple times. 

P-The definition of each rock type  is close in proximity to its example picture and name. There is also a line under each of the sections to show the end. 

Each of the components of CARP help to create an image that can be effectively used for the students benefit. 

Peer Review

Overall my colleagues who reviewed this image thought that it would be a great addition to the unit. They also stated the images of the rock examples could be a little larger to show a larger connection of the definition to the picture. When it is being used in the unit I will increase the size of the canvas in order to increase the size of each of the images. 

Design Process Model

User

Each of the users for this graphic will be 1st grade students between ages 6-8 at multiple reading levels. 

Justification

The graphic was designed to meet the ACE (Analyze, Create, Evaluate) model.(Lohr, 2008, p.73). With the new rigor involved in teaching I want my students to be able to analyze the graphic and make it their own. I will provide my reasoning as to why I created what I did but this will also be something that my students will be able to figure out and make their own justification as to why it is the way it is. 

First, I knew I wanted to show that Silt, Sand, and Pebbles all are centered around Rocks. These are also the 4 main vocabulary words for the unit.

Second, I wanted to use the color contrast used in the PAT model. (Lohr, 2008, p.76). The white words (definitions) against the black background makes the words stand out. Also the the four vocabulary words are in a contrasting color next to the black. 

Third, for the most part I used the same font for the vocabulary words as I have used in other graphics created to give repetition to all the graphics being created. 

Each part is an integral part in the ACE model. 

User Test

While I haven't shown this to my students because I will be doing the unit later in the year, I did show it to my colleagues who I collaborate and teach with. The liked the contrast and they liked that the word rock was in the center of the 3 other pieces to show that the rock is the main part of each of the 3 components that are being discussed in our unit. 

Use of Shape Tools

User
1st grade students studying the unit of Rocks, silt, sand, and pebbles.

Justification
While doing my own research on Rocks for the project I decided that pictures with some text would benefit my students the best. Only being in 1st grade I have some students that are not able to read so visuals are best for them. Each of the four words has a picture to go with it. Rocks between two hands represents that most often to pick up a rock two hands are needed. Each of the other three words, pebbles, sand, and silt all have rock in them.

The visual for pebbles is one hand with two fingers acting as if they were getting ready to grab something. This represents that a pebble is small enough to be picked up between two fingers.

The visual for sand is gears that would be grinding up a rock to make it small, so small that a single grain of sand would have to be seen using a magnifying glass.

The visual for Silt is the word sand and water. Silt is sand and water mixed together.

For the unit it is important to know that they are all tied together and are all made of the same basic characteristics. The main thing that they all have in common is that they all descend from what we know and call rock.

User Test
When I showed this to the other teachers they all agreed that this would be a great visual and reminder of what each of the words mean, especially those students who struggle to read. It is also a great visual for those students who can read and have a photographic memory to be able to remember the graphics associated with each of the words.

Typography

Justification

User: Students in 1st grade just learning about Silt, Sand, Pebbles, and Rocks.

The 4 words shown in the picture will be the focus of a unit for the 1st grade science curriculum. While working on the project I changed many parts of it many different times until I found what I knew would work for my students. I decided to use 4 font types in order for my students to see that each of the words and "dirt" types were different. For silt, I used a wide Sans font because often times silt cracks into wide areas. The font for Sand was chosen because the pieces around the word depict how sand is really small and scatters everywhere. The word pebbles is in a font that is rounded on each of the points. This is because pebbles don't come to a point. All their edges are rounded. Finally, the word rocks is very jagged and very pointed. This is because that is the way that we see most rocks. I put them all vertically because each one builds upon the previous type. I used a font size of 125 for each of the words. Each of the words has it's own picture depicting what you would actually see when you are looking at that element. Silt was used for silt, sand was used for sand, pebbles were used for pebbles, and 3 major rock types were used for rocks: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic, in that order of the word. After reading about type size and looked at the visual diagram (pgs 240-241) I evaluated where my students were. As I project it from the computer onto a screen, yes,  this may seem large for students in the front of the room but for those in the back of the room this will improve their legibility (pg. 227).

When I showed the draft to my other 1st grade colleagues, who will also be teaching this same type of unit, each of them had their own opinion about what they liked or didn't like. As I finished and made the final product I took each of their thoughts and decided what I liked or didn't like as well. I only had one type of rock type showing in the word Rocks. Many of them asked if I could make more than one in the word. I was able to make that work. Most of them liked the word pebbles because of the way it looks smooth just as pebbles often look and feel. They really enjoyed the word sand as it really could look like sand.

I never realized how much time, planning, and knowledge goes into creating an image to use in textbooks, etc. As I continue making graphics for my students, I now have a broader depth of knowledge to help me help them.

Lohr, L. (2008). Creating graphics for learning and performance: Lessons in visual literacy (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Education, Inc.

506: Universal Design

Week 2 Project Instructions

How to Tie a Tie

As I was trying to decide what visual literacy concept to choose for this assignment I watched some family members putting their ties on. I thought to myself, I have no idea how to tie a tie myself. I have seen it done thousands of times but never have I been able to figure it out. I decided it was finally time to learn. I browsed the internet to find different visuals and although there were many designs available, this is the one I found to be the most helpful.

I consider this image to be an Organizational Design. It "helps learners understand the structure, sequence, and hierarchy of information." (Lohr, 2008, pg. 18) It gives a visual understanding for those wanting to learning how to tie a tie. It clearly communicates each step with the visuals of the arrows and the numbers in order going from left to right.

Lohr, L. (2008). Creating graphics for learning and performance. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
http://www.ties.com

EdTech 506 Personal Introduction

At first when I read the assignment I was reluctant to start because I wasn't sure what I would put on my image. As the week went by, I was able to figure out the most important things about me. With that being said, here I am.

Starting with family and going clockwise, here is my crazy life! Family always comes first in my life. I am not married and have no kids so my siblings and my parents is all I have. There have been many medical issues in my family recently and it has brought our family closer together helping us realize how lucky we are to have each other. Going along with family, I love to make crafts like the one pictured. Next is a picture of myself. This was taken one summer when I was able to help with a girls camp helping teenage girls realize their potential and becoming the best person they could become. It reminds me of the same thing, to be the best me. Continuing down is a picture of the Las Vegas, NV LDS Temple. It is a place where I go to relax and to find peace in my life. Religion plays an enormous part in my everyday life. The bottom right picture is a picture of the Las Vegas Strip. This is just about the same view I am able to see everyday. I was born in WY but moved here when I was 2. This is what I call home. In the middle on the bottom is another passion of mine. I love to bake and cook. It is my stress reliever. On the bottom left is a picture of the Eiffel Tower representing my dream to continue traveling. I was able to travel to Europe 8 years ago and I hope to continue traveling once schooling is over. Finally, the apple. I am a 1st grade teacher to 32 students. I team teach with another teacher. This has been one of the greatest and hardest experiences in my teaching career. This is my 4th year teaching. I have yet to have a year in a "normal" classroom setting but I wouldn't trade any of my experiences. Continuing on to the background. My favorite color is blue. I choose this pattern because it starts and stops, has ups and downs, and has small and large parts just as my life is. Life has ups and downs, paths that are chosen and maybe changed, small and large circles represent the impacts that people have had on me. My life is busy but it's because of my choices. I am who I am because of all that I have done and all that I choose!