social bookmarking NETS 3,5

1. I chose the "Tokens and Treasures" exhibit from the National Archive. Within this exhibit it showed different unique gifts given to presidents. The most interesting gift in my opinion was the custom cowboy boots given to Eisenhower. How funny! The value of primary sources in the classroom is that the information goes through less mediums. In the classroom the student is receiving the information first hand so they can be sure that is it accurate.

2. Three areas that fit my teaching style are:
> Network with other schools that are developing and implementing culturally competent systems. Adapt the processes and information that are consistent with your school's needs and interests.
Networking is key to the success of the school system. It is all about learning what other people are doing and fitting it in to fit your needs.
> Gather and organize resource materials related to culturally diverse groups for use by school staff.
All schools have many resources for staff and I always like to take advantage of that.
>Ensure that your school has a mission statement that commits to cultural competence as an integral component of all its activities. The cultural competence committee should be involved in developing this statement.
I would never work for a school that does not have cultural components in the mission statement. It is very important for children to be in an environment that is cultural sensitive to their needs.

3. The site I found was dinosaur art done by children. The reading level of this site is 3-6. It is fascinating looking at the art done by different children and their interpretations of dinosaurs.

4. This site is an amazing resource for teachers! I am currently teaching Spanish so the "world info and languages" was most relevant to me. I would use this site for: research, lesson plans, networking, and resources for my students.

5. The theory of multiple intelligences has always fascinated me and yet been such an easy concept to understand. It is the idea that everyone has a different intelligence and learns in a different way. The most interesting thing I learned in this website was the list Tomlinson has on the characteristics of teaching and learning in healthy classroom environments. His characteristics outline, to me, a perfect learning environment. It is all about treating each student as an individual. My favorite characteristic is: The teacher uses positive energy and humor. I like this one the most because it is something I strive for in my class everyday to incorporate.

6. This is a lesson plan on what boundary-crossers are and how to become one. Someone who is a boundary-crosser is one who crosses social boundaries to break down social barriers. The example that is clearly stated is of Rosa Parks. What I would do in my classroom with this activity is do it as a month long activity, as suggested. I would start with an open dialog about the subject in the beginning and then move to suggestions on how we can break boundaries everyday. By the end of the month I would have an activity where we would actually break down a social boundary of our school.

7. I found the question about the annual earning of a full time worker was roughly the DAILY earnings of a CEO. That to me is so insane. An average worker in the U.S. does not make minimum wage, they make a decent living and to think that is what a person i making in a day is simply mind-boggling to me. The second question I found interesting was the one about the percent of teachers who ignore homophobic remarks in class. I thought it would be 37%, and it was 84%. I find this statistic to be sad, and a big wake up call to what needs to be addressed in the classroom.

8. I got an 80% on my netiquette! :D I wasn't sure I would do so well!
Netiquette is important to teach to your students because they need to know how to behave on the internet. Since they will be using technology more and more in their education it is good to know what is understood as good etiquette early on in the game. This is the same as human etiquette in life! ;)