Future-Proofing Students Living in Poverty Activity 1

The issues with poverty are basically the issues associated with it, such as but not limited to food security, access to health care and stability at home. Due to these issues, the parents don’t have the time, energy, knowledge and/or social skills to really advocate for their child than affluent parents do. Also, as part of the school system, the schools that service the high poverty areas will usually receive the least amount of resources, mostly have a teach and drill type lessons (less rich experiences), will get the new teachers or teachers who are under or uncertified or even several teachers within a school year and facilities may not be acceptable. As Dr. Paul Thomas stated, it is very unfortunate “that schools in the United States reflect the communities that they serve” and that it does “negatively impact the willingness of the teacher to work in those conditions”. By having these conditions, this indirectly impacts the learning conditions of the child. That is why we should provide rich experiences regardless of the child's background.

E-portfolio

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http://flowerpowerteacher.weebly.com/

Video Demonstration

Video Presentation on a Fabric Bow Tutorial

This video can be found on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R3P82Uk8qk&feature=youtu.be

My Experiences through my PLNs

        According to Will Richardson and Rob Mancabelli (2011),  a "personal learning networks is a step-by-step guide for creating globally connected schools that empower students and teachers to learn in modern ways."  (p.1)  Professional Learning Network (PLN) is a place where people can share their ideas, thoughts, lessons, worksheets, resources, researches with others to be used as a reference to create their own innovations or creations. A PLN can also be used to connect other people from all over the world and discuss what strategies work in their areas, the environment they are in and other pertinent information that would like to share.  Harasim, L., Hiltz, S., Teles, L., & Turoff, M. (1995) stated that, "Networks offer learners and teachers access to new ideas, perspectives, cultures, and information - enriching locally available resources." (p.12)   and that "the learning networks introduce new educational options to strengthen and transform teaching and learning practices, opportunities, and out-comes" (p.1) In essence, there is an never ending flow of information and that people are learning together via cyberspace. The classroom is now found anywhere people can communicate.
      As for myself, I use PLNs as a source to empower myself to become a better teacher by looking for ways to improve my teaching strategies, ideas for lesson plans, expand my knowledge and enhance my curriculum. The PLNs I like are teacherpaysteachers.com, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, teacher tube, teacher channel, youtube and so forth. By using different types of PLNs, I am able to connect with a variety of people globally with diverse backgrounds, experiences, knowledge and education. For the most part, I collaborate with teachers in every grade level, colleagues on island, professionals in their field, and other people with more unique and creative minds. By doing so, they inspire me and open my mind to create better lessons within my class.  
         Overall with a variety of PLNs, I would usually use teacherpayteachers and Pinterest. Which goes hand in hand due to the fact the some items that are pinned is directly linked to teacherspay teachers website.  With the endless stream of knowledge, I tend to get distracted, or even get overwhelmed because there is too much information to sort through. 
 Teacherspayteachers website "is an online marketplace where teachers buy and sell original downloadable educational materials, hard goods and used educational resources." These is the place where I get ideas for my lesson plans, organization tools and some management tools. Then Pinterest is another network that is visually appealing because the items are in a form of pictures. Basically, it show pictures of the product or item you like and by clicking it, it will bring you to the actual site for further details. Pictures are always better because it is easier to sort out the information versus detailed words over a sea of websites and online information. 
      In general, it is beneficial to create a personal learning network as it connects to real people at any time of the day. This is one reason why I am very grateful to having one because without a PLN I will not be the teacher that I am today. 




References: 
Richardson, W., & Mancabelli, R. (2011). Study Guide. In Personal learning networks: Using the power of connections to transform education (pp. 1 - 8). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Harasim, L., Hiltz, S., Teles, L., & Turoff, M. (1995). In Learning Networks: A Field Guide to Teaching and Learning Online. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Welcome to Teachers Pay Teachers - TeachersPayTeachers.com ... (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2014.

STEM Inforgraphic

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My PLN Presentation

PLN
https://www.wevideo.com/hub/#media/ci/243920495

PLN sites:
teacherspayteachers.com;
pinterest.com;
youtube.com;
livebinders.com;
http://memegenerator.net/;
 teachertube.com;
brainpop.com;
www.instructables.com;
http://www.iflscience.com/;
http://www.TeachWithMe.com
http://www.teachingchannel.org;
facebook.com;
          https://www.facebook.com/TeachersWithASenseOfHumor/timeline;        
           https://www.facebook.com/KeepsakesbyK (materials/supplies);

Testing this video out

Intro.