ED 243 Magazine Project

From then to now 

Unlocking 

Education 

With Technology 

Citizenship and 

Responsibilities 

Classroom 

Technology 

Students and 

Recess? 

Student 

Behavior 

Digital Age 

Culture Night 

Current 

Teaching 

Trends 

1. Kosanovich, L. M. (n.d.). Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity - Lauren Michelle Kosanovich. Retrieved March 

02, 2017, from https://sites.google.com/site/laurenmichellekosanovich/international-scoiety-for-technology-in-educationstandards/facilitate-and-inspire-student-learning-and-creativity 

TECHNOLOGY 

2. Gaudette, G. (2014, October 09). Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. Retrieved March 02, 2017, from 

https://prezi.com/-j3ljg_bl7gb/facilitate-and-inspire-student-learning-and-creativity/ 

3. Ohler, J. (2013). Digital storytelling in the classroom: new media pathways to literacy. Thousand Oaks: Corwin.

Facilitate & Inspire 

Student Learning & 

Creativity… 

It is up to the teachers to help their students 

think creatively. After all, they are the ones 

that are inspiring our future. 

Our future is becoming dependent on the 

advancement of technology; how do teachers work 

around that? Instead of working around it, let’s 

instead facilitate and inspire our students to work 

with it, to use their creative minds and learn from it. 

The technology advancements are there to help us 

become better teachers to better inspire our 

students to learn, it also helps start the experiences 

our students will need in their future. It all starts 

with you. To better inspire our students with the use 

of technology we first have to be more familiar with 

it, and develop the talents needed to become more 

efficient. In some cases, there are some lessons that 

thrive on face to face, country to country- meaning 

that teachers from across the world will connect 

from classroom to classroom, making virtual 

environments for their students(Kosanovich). This 

allows students to have experiences that were 

never possible before. Not only that but it gives 

“them the tools to maximize their understanding 

and knowledge of other places, just as it says in the 

State Standards”(Gaudette). The design is to 

develop a digital age for the future of your students. 

Now keep in mind that we can’t expect our students 

to learn about technology in the way we desire 

without learning ourselves. The more familiar we 

become with the advancing world of technology, 

the better prepared we will be to teach those skills 

to our students. Another way to inspire that 

creativity with technology is to allow the students to 

work on their own. By working on their own I mean 

it would be useful to have iPads in the classroom 

filled with interactive learning apps. That would 

give them the opportunity to play educational 

games based on what you taught them. This could 

also allow you to assess your students at their own 

finger tips. Can you imagine the advancement 

students would have with technology? The ratings 

for the new generation would be well known for 

inspiration that’s for sure. For student inspiration 

collected in the classroom, you can bet that 

student achievement would be based on the use of 

a SMART board. The SMART board helps all the 

students be engaged and involved in the lesson. 

Which gives them many opportunities to be 

creative as they come up to the board and answer 

the questions. It also allows teachers to equally 

distribute the work to every student. So culturally 

speaking, no one would be divided nor left out. 

Now of course what technology you put in your 

classroom all depends on the age level of your 

students. Even then, we live in a developing world 

of technology, in one way or another it will be 

integrated into your classroom. Again, as a teacher, 

we need to become more familiar with the different 

types of technology that is allowed in a classroom. It 

can be so promoting and helpful and will allow your 

students to grow and develop creativity, which is 

exactly what you want. “Technology is what 

supports existing educational practices”, it was 

made for more than one reason, and one of those 

reasons was to facilitate the learning of others and to 

inspire creative minds to live in the “future”(Ohler, 

50). We are the future, and we are also the teachers, 

what you learn and teach your students will inspire 

them for the rest of their lives. 

1. Kosanovich, L. M. (n.d.). Facilitate and Inspire Student 

Learning and Creativity - Lauren Michelle Kosanovich. 

Retrieved March 02, 2017, from 

https://sites.google.com/site/laurenmichellekosanovich/intern 

ational-scoiety-for-technology-in-educationstandards/facilitate-and-inspire-student-learning-andcreativity 

2. Gaudette, G. (2014, October 09). Facilitate and inspire 

student learning and creativity. Retrieved March 02, 2017, 

from https://prezi.com/-j3ljg_bl7gb/facilitate-and-inspirestudent-learning-and-creativity/ 

3. Ohler, J. (2013). Digital storytelling in the classroom: new 

media pathways to literacy. Thousand Oaks: Corwin


Unlocking 

Current 

Technology Trends 

From Text Books to Tablets. And just like that, 

technology is integrated into education. And 

education is evolving into a whole new world. A 

world where just as you master one thing, another 

new thing arises. 

I don’t know about you, but when I was in 

elementary school my teacher would roll out the 

old projector and say “Spelling time!”. Now days, 

classrooms just have SMART 

boards and there isn’t a 

projector in sight. It makes 

me sound old when I talk 

about the “other” 

technology. But really, let’s 

take a deeper look into what 

technology has contributed 

towards for education. 

In the past 5 years, technology has made an 

advance from classroom to classroom. “Each year 

since 2004, a new Horizon Report has been 

released. Each edition attempts to forecast the most 

promising technologies likely to [have] impact on 

education”(New Tech Trends). Which explains why 

we went from projectors to SMART boards. The 

advancements are to create a world full of welldeveloped 

people. Meaning that as time goes on, 

and technology continues to develop, we can rely 

on the fact that everything will always be at our 

own fingertips. 

As we continue to look forward to all the trendy 

technology, we begin to notice that if gives 

students the opportunity for “deeper learning”. 

Without technology, we weren’t really able to 

beyond the classroom for learning. Before we 

would open a text book and learn about a city far 

away, now teachers are able to set up a “global 

collaboration”. This allows for students to actually 

learn from students across the world. How cool is 

that. “Teachers are asking students to use 

technology to access and synthesize information in 

the service of finding solutions to multifaceted, 

complex problems they might encounter in the real 

world”(Schwartz). The search of the world is 

literally at the touch of a screen, and it has 

provided teachers with resources they need to help 

build virtual realities with their students. It is 

simply amazing how text books were everything 

we knew, and now those same texts are put in a 

more advanced setting and instead of breaking our 

backs carrying them around, we can now simply 

put them in our pockets. 

Any child in today’s generation will ask to see your 

phone to play a game. Or in other words, they are 

bored and you aren’t 

entertaining them enough 

so the next “go to thing” is 

technology. Because 

technology has grown so 

huge in today’s generation, 

it is part of our everyday 

life. As an educator in order 

to keep today’s generation 

engaged in a lesson Technology is the Key! 

“Today’s students have grown up with all this 

technology, so schools must change with the times 

and adapt to the way students learn 

best”(Networks). This explains why technology 

trends have changed in the last five years, even ten 

years; We have a bunch of “tech-savvy” students 

and the only way to keep them in check is to hand 

them something they are familiar with. It makes 

sense. If technology is changing and affecting the 

new generation, then we have to adapt to the new 

trend by adding “laptops, smartphones, and iPads 

in the classroom” (Networks). From then to now, 

we can officially say that technology has made and 

will make a lasting impression on the face of 

education. 

1. Schwartz, K. (2017). What Education Technology Could Look 

Like Over the Next Five Years. Retrieved March 04, 2017, from 

https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/06/29/what-educationtechnology-could-look-like-over-the-next-five-years/ 

2. New technology trends in education: Seven years of forecasts 

and convergence. (2017). Retrieved March 04, 2017, from 

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S03601315110 

00844 

3. Networks, S. E. (2017). 5 Ways Technology in the Classroom is 

Changing Education. Retrieved March 04, 2017, from 

http://www.securedgenetworks.com/blog/5-Ways-Technologyin-the-Classroom-is-Changing-Education

About The 

Author 

I am Jessica Warner and I collect state t- 

shirts, love a good book, and I’m always 

up for an adventure. I am from Rigby, 

Idaho, the birthplace of Television. It is 

also the birthplace of my love story 

where I grew up with the man 

I married. 

I recently got back from 

Mexico where I was teaching 

English for four months. It was 

such a great opportunity and 

it was my inspiration to further 

my education into teaching. I 

realized that throughout all 

my life I have always done 

something that has dealt with 

teaching in one way or 

another. As silly as it sounds, 

when I was in elementary school I would 

play teacher when I would play with my 

friends. Not only that but, all throughout 

high school I taught at a boy’s scout 

camp and took a class where I spent an 

hour in an elementary classroom every 

day. 

I am currently enrolled at Brigham Young 

University Idaho, studying to one day be 

an Elementary School Teacher. I not only 

want to further and excel in my 

education, but I want to teach others so 

that they may be able to 

excel too. I find joy in 

teaching and seeing the 

progression in a child’s life. 

One day I want my classroom 

to be Learner-Centered, a 

Modern Constructionist. 

Meaning that I want to focus 

on my students and what they 

need to learn rather than 

what everyone else is wanting 

them to learn. I believe that 

as teachers, if we focus on the 

value of education we will be able to 

implement a fun learning atmosphere. 

Students will all have different 

experiences, and as we bring them all 

together, we will be able to learn from 

each other. I may be the teacher in the 

classroom, but I will also be the learner; 

as I expand their knowledge, they too 

will expand my knowledge.


Unlocking 

O&A 

With N. E. Bell 

What are your thoughts about technology in 

the classroom? I think technology in the 

classroom should be limited. Our world is 

technological enough outside the classroom. 

Coming from a parent, I think they are wasting 

valuable classroom time. Not only that but, kids 

these days don’t even know how to spell because 

teachers have told them that relying on “spell 

check” is okay. It is not okay, they are not learning 

the critiquing skills needed to know the difference 

of the words “Form” and “from”. Yes they are 

spelled correctly, but that doesn’t mean it fits right 

into the sentence. 

When do you think is too young to introduce 

technology? It doesn’t need to be introduced into 

at least middle school. Because hands on learning 

is the way kids will learn best and remember best. 

How does giving them technology in first grade 

help them begin to read? It doesn’t. When they are 

that young they need something physically in front 

of them so that they can read and follow along with 

their finger. When you touch technology, it 

becomes a game. 

Do you think teachers are becoming too 

dependent on the use of technology? YES. My 

daughter has one teacher that only relies on 

technology for her lesson. She comes home and 

tells me that she will google a random lesson every 

day for class. Which tells me that she doesn’t even 

write lesson plans! If teachers google everything 

then they are 

lacking the practice and are becoming too lazy to 

actually teach, in my opinion. 

From a parent point of view, how does this 

affect your child that is still in school? First 

of all, I make my youngest who is in 7 th grade, 

physically pick up books and read them. And 

because of that I know she doesn’t like to go to 

school to work on research projects that are 

completely on iPads. Not that she doesn’t know 

how to work them, she can in fact work my phone 

better than I can, it’s the fact that 

she has to do everything electronically when at 

home she has to do everything by hand. She tells 

me that she would rather open a book to gather 

information rather than open an iPad to search on 

google for literally anything. Not only that but when 

they don’t finish on the iPad’s, they have to use the 

“cows” (Small lab tops that don’t connect very 

well). On those school computer cows, they block 

everything completely to the point where they 

can’t finish their projects at school. So the real 

question is, are those high tech technologies really 

helping them or inhibiting them? 

We hear about inspiring teachers all the 

time; do you think that is still a standard for 

today’s generation? Well first of all, if they 

didn’t google a lesson plan then teachers would be 

fighting for the “teacher of the year”, they would all 

be inspiring. But reality is, you can YouTube or 

google anything so therefore google is the teacher 

of the year. There are ways to use technology to be 

an “inspiring” teacher, but again, some teachers 

are not even making lesson plans, so why would 

they inspire any child? Any kid can go google 

something. 

In your opinion, what is the “best” way to 

approach education to children? The way I 

see it, if you physically put something in front of a 

kid that they can physically turn the pages to, they 

are more likely to remember what that book was 

about. The way they see it and hear it, or see it, 

hear it, and feel it, a child will have that structure to 

help their brain actually remember what they are 

trying to learn. The kinesthetic movement is so 

crucial in those early ages. Using the senses in 

every way will more likely help a child remember.

In 10 years, would you suspect that the 

trend for technology is going to go downhill 

rather than uphill? In a lot of ways, we are going 

to see it go downhill, because people are using it 

as a crutch rather than a tool. It is just a tool, and 

should be nothing more. But if people continue to 

use it for more than what it should be worth. I 

believe that is why so many of us hold a device at 

all times. It’s as if their technology is growing their 

food! Now more than ever people are living a 

virtual world and I don’t think that it is changing for 

the goodness of society or 

education for that matter. 

From a substitute’s point 

of view, how has 

technology in the 

classroom (over the 

years) changed? I can see 

that they are lacking skills, 

and relying on the 

technology to do it for them. 

Elementary grades are 

lacking the reading skills, 

instead of handing them a cassette tape, they are 

putting them on computers and basically saying 

“good luck! You’ll do great!” In all reality, they 

aren’t learning how to read, they are learning how 

to play games behind your back. When I subbed 

for the first time (in high school), the teacher had 

me use the giant stereo to show the band kids what 

their song should sound like. Now days I can turn 

the same piece of music from thirty different 

sources online. Times have definitely changed. 

Again, from a parent point of view, would 

you rather homeschool your children in 

order to save them from the influence of 

technology in the classroom? Heavens no. Do 

you know what happens when children are not 

getting their social dose of playing every day? Yes, 

that’s right, they become awkward and never learn 

how to use those social skills everyone seems to 

have. In order to help a child, you have to let them 

play. There are some people that I know who are 

homeschooling their children, and they won’t let 

them play and discover what happens when they 

trip and fall. They control every ounce of play time 

and instead only let them play educational games. 

Not that anything is wrong with letting your child 

play educational games, but I believe that it 

inhibits their social learning. They will probably 

grow up to be geniuses, but they won’t know how 

to talk to anyone to get where they want to be. 

Now, I don’t want you to think that anything is 

wrong with homeschooling, those who do it, Good 

for you in having those skills to teach the young 

levels, but I believe, despite the fact that 

technology may ruin the face of education, there is 

still a chance that those kids will learn from what 

not to do in the future. And that is to not use 

technology more than a tool. 

Do you think students 

would still thrive in school 

if the teachers didn’t rely 

on technology? I know they 

do. My sister lives in Virginia 

and her kids go to school in this 

really old place that physically 

doesn’t allow for technology to 

be supported inside the walls. 

Her kids are just younger than 

my youngest and they don’t 

seem anymore behind nor 

ahead. It in fact says a lot about 

the teachers there- they are using all the old 

methods to teach the new generation, and it works. 

You’re probably wondering how a school won’t 

support technology is even possible in this day in 

age. I will tell you what, this school is so old that the 

tax payers are telling the educators that it is a solid 

building, so why rebuild to accommodate the 

support of electricity? Again, because they see no 

need to tear it down, they instead work with what 

they have. Even if retrofitting the building wouldn’t 

work, it wouldn’t accommodate for the electricity of 

the building.

AFTER 

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The Program Includes: 

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Call for more INFO 

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About the Author… 

My name is Alida Flores and I am a junior at 

Brigham Young University-Idaho majoring 

in Special Education with an emphasis in 

Severe Disabilities. 

I was born in Lima, Peru and grew up in 

Long Island, New York. I am 23 years old 

and married to wonderful husband, Steven. 

The reason why I decided to go into the 

education field was due to my missionary 

service in Charlotte, North Carolina. After I 

resumed my studies, I decided to take a 

Special Education introductory class on 

Assistive Technology and I feel in love with 

the program. I’ve come to grow fond of my 

Special Education teachers and mentors: 

Brother Christopherson and Pulsipher. 

Thanks to them, they make this major so 

much fun! 

Two years ago, I began volunteering at 

Developmental Workshop and I loved 

helping special needs adults work on their 

social skills. I am striving to be the kind of 

teacher that sets students for success and 

breaks boundaries for special needs students. 

A lot of people think it takes a “special” or 

“different” person to take the role of being a 

Special Education Teacher. I firmly believe 

anyone can fulfill that role if they set their 

mind to do it. Never in my life I thought 

about being a teacher, but luckily I was able 

to recognize my calling before I graduated. 

It is a lot of preparation and hard work but in 

the end, it’s very rewarding. 

When I came to this country I was a ELL 

student, and it took a lot of work to learn 

English. Eventually I became proficient, but I 

am grateful for my challenges because they 

taught me that I can achieve my goals. I have 

the same perspective for my students. Each 

and one of them are special and can 

accomplish anything. I hope to contribute in 

their lives, just like my professors and 

teachers have done for me. 

My absolute goal after teaching is to become 

a Special Education Administrator. I would 

love to have a leadership experience to 

mentor and guide my fellow Special 

Education Teachers. I know it is a big 

responsibility, but I with much experience, 

one day I can make it. I hope you enjoy my 

articles. I focused my topics on special needs 

students. It is important to know what to do 

to differentiate and meet the needs of these 

kinds of students.

Appropriate Apps in the Classroom 

By Alida Flores 

1. Developmental 

Appropriateness: 

Does the subject matter appeal 

to the intended grade level? 

Does the design appeal to the 

intended level? 

APP: ABC Play teaches children 

new words through sight, 

sound & touch by letting them 

play baseball, basketball and 

other fun sports. 

videos organized by a broad 

range of subject like language 

arts, math, science, history and 

technology. 

3. Motivation: How does the app 

build on skills? Does the app 

provide a bridge from the 

classroom to the real world for 

expanded learning (for 

example, via GPS, Wi-Fi, or 

Bluetooth)? 

APP: DragonBox Algebra 5+ 

This game secretly gives students a 

head start to algebra through fun and 

interactive games. 

2. Instructional Design: Does the 

app align to your learning goals 

for students? Are there 

relevant opportunities for 

feedback, assessment, and 

reflection? 

APP: BrainPOP Featured 

Movie 

It showcases original, highquality, 

animated educational

Apps can be our best friends! There 

are many apps that can be 

downloaded through Apple and 

Android products. Some may be free 

and some may subscription. To make 

life easier we have compiled a list of 

apps. 

Katrina Schwartz from KQED News 

shares some of the top apps that 

most teachers and students love and 

use often. These apps can be free or 

found at a low cost. Let’s see if 

there’s an app you haven’t used yet! 

Top 10 Apps used among Teachers & 

Students: 

1. Kahoot: This app is the top 

used among teachers. It simply 

allows the teacher to create 

their own questions and used 

them during the class as a quiz. 

Kahoot makes taking quizzes 

look like a fun game to play. 

2. Plickers: It allows teachers to 

create short questions 

(including short answer 

questions) to check for student 

understanding. The students 

will participate by showing 

their issue cards with choices 

on them (A, B, C, D). The super 

fun part is having the teacher 

scan the answer of the 

students via their smartphone. 

As the teacher is scanning, they 

can see which student needs 

help and who understood the 

lesson. This is a great app for 

immediate feedback! 

3. ABCya: This app is an 

interactive game-based 

learning for language. It is 

especially for grades K- 5 and it 

has sophisticated graphics that 

will catch your student’s 

attention! 

4. Mindomo: This app can be 

used as a graphic organizing 

tool for students to create their 

own “mind-maps” of ideas. It is 

especially effective with 

students that are struggling in 

how to start writing an essay. 

5. Nearpod: Must have app for 

teachers and schools! It 

combines interactive 

presentations, collaboration, 

and real-time assessment tools 

into one integrated solution 

6. REEF Polling by iClicker: This 

app allows you to answer 

questions using a technology

device. You can also receive 

instant feedback. 

7. Photomath-Camera 

Calculator: Point your camera 

toward a math problem and 

Photomath will magically show 

the result with detailed stepby-step 

instruction. 

8. Google Classroom: This app is 

designed to help teachers 

create, collect, and grade 

assignments paperlessly. It 

helps save time, keep classes 

organized, and improve 

communication with students. 

9. Remind: Is free text messaging 

app that helps teachers, 

students, and parents 

communicate quickly and 

efficiently. 

10. Class Dojo: It offers teachers a 

wonderful way to manage their 

classroom using an iPad or 

iPhone. With the app’s simple 

interface, tracking attendance 

and recording student’s 

behavior is a snap. 

Our list will continue to be updated in 

our classroom website. New apps 

come up every day. For a teacher, 

new apps feel like we are getting gifts 

on Christmas morning. These tools 

will enhance student learning in 

different ways and make them feel 

more motivated to learn. In the end, 

the whole purpose to have this 

technology is to have our students 

succeed. So why not take advantage 

of it! 

Sources: 

1.Schwartz , Katrina . "Teacher Recommended: 50 

Favorite Apps." KQED News- Digital Tools . N.p., 

29 July 2015. Web. 

. 

2."Apps in the Classroom ." Apple Education. N.p., 

n.d. Web. 

. 

3.TeachThoughtStaff. "52 Of The Best Apps For 

Your Classroom in 2015." N.p., n.d. Web. 

Adapting your Teaching Strategies to 

Special Needs Students 

By: Alida Flores 

Are you struggling to find teaching strategies for 

special needs students? Being a full-time 

teacher can be challenging, especially when you 

are working with students that face daily trials. 

In today’s world, we are seeing an increasing 

number of students who are dealing with a 

disability. It could either be physical, 

educational, emotional, and even a 

combination of all three. As a teacher, you’ve 

probably researched different resources that 

could help you teach effectively to the needs of 

your students. There are different ways to 

modify instruction to accommodate special 

needs students. Although, if you think about it 

all the students will benefit from the good 

teaching practices you will implement in the 

classroom. 

prevent learners from meeting their goals. For 

example, there are educators who use “onesize-fits-all” 

lesson plans and assessments, now 

that could make it difficult for special needs 

students to learn. UDL will provide inclusion to 

all types of learners. 

Universal Design for 

Learning (UDL) 

First, it is important to get in the mindset of 

using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) 

framework. According to the National Center on 

Universal Design for Learning, “Universal Design 

for Learning is a set of principles for curriculum 

development that gives all individuals equal 

opportunities to learn.” Using UDL curricula will 

help teachers remove boundaries that could

Kathleen L. Bulloch a speech language 

pathologist for the Riverside County Office of 

Education in Riverside, California 

provided these different strategies to use in the 

classroom: 

As you implement these strategies write a note 

and keep track of what works and what doesn’t 

work with your students. It is all about trial and 

error. We learn by practicing it out. Eventually 

you will find the best strategies that fit in your 

classroom. 

If your student has a difficulty learning by 

listening, then you could try to: 

Pre-teach difficult vocabulary and 

concepts 

Teach the mental activities involved in 

listening (mental note-taking, 

questioning, reviewing) 

Provide visual via the board or 

overhead 

Provide written as well as oral 

directions 

Have the student repeat the directions 

Shorten the listening time required 

If your student has difficulty expressing 

verbally. 

Accept an alternate form of information 

sharing, such as the following: 

Written report 

Chart, graph, or table 

Demonstration 

Recording or video of report 

Teach the student to ask questions in class 

If your student has difficulty reading written 

material 

Provide highlighted material 

Look for the same content in another 

medium (movie clip or pictures) 

Provide questions before student 

reads a selection (include page and 

paragraph numbers) 

A website called Teacher Vision also provided 

different techniques in how adapt your teaching 

for students with learning disabilities. These are 

some of the strategies: 

Give immediate feedback to 

learning disabled students. They 

should see quickly the relationship 

between what was taught and 

what was learned. 

Provide concrete object and 

events—items they can touch, 

hear, smell, etc. Avoid abstract 

learning terms. 

Provide oral instruction for 

students with reading disabilities. 

Present test and reading materials 

in an oral format so the 

assessment is not only influenced 

by the lack of reading ability. 

Encourage cooperative learning 

activities. Invite students of 

varying abilities to work together 

on a specific project to achieve a 

common goal. 

Fortunately, there are abundant resources and 

activities that teachers can access via internet. 

Teachers must remember they are never alone 

in this path. One of the most popular websites 

that provides a activities that are specifically 

geared toward teaching basic skills to special 

students, is Teachers Helping Teachers. Their 

special education section will become your best 

friend. As I was researching this site, I found an 

activity that caught my interest. The activity is 

called “Weird Letters” and it helps students 

with disabilities identify and remember letters 

that don’t always look the way they’re

supposed to. Another tip I found is that you can 

use newspapers to create a functional activity 

that is designed to teach social studies or 

language arts to special education students. 

According to the Center for Parent Information 

and Resources, “The key to success in the 

classroom lies in having appropriate 

adaptations, accommodations and 

modifications in the instruction and other 

classroom activities.” 

Some adaptations can be simple by placing the 

student in front of the classroom if they have a 

visual impairment or to move away from the 

sharpener or the window if they difficulty 

staying focused. Let’s try to look a scenario: 

Martin is a 7 th grade student who has a learning 

disability in reading and writing. He is in his 

regular 7 th grade class and he is team-taught by 

a general education teacher and special 

education teacher. 

students. Never take for granted the input that 

you can receive from the Special Education 

teachers. They often serve on the IEP teams and 

their contribution and expertise in this area can 

help you in so many ways. Always feel free to 

ask them questions! We are all part of the same 

team to set up our students for success and 

remove boundaries. 

Sources: 

1."What is UDL? ." N.p., 31 July 2014. Web. 

. 

2.Bulloch, Kathleen . "How to Adapt Your Teaching 

Strategies to Student Needs." Reading Rockets. N.p., 

n.d. Web. 

. 

3."Teaching Special Kids: Online Resources for 

Teachers." Education World. N.p., 06 June 2011. 

Web. 

. 

4."Teaching Students with Special Needs." Teacher 

Vision. N.p., n.d. Web. 

. 

5."Supports, Modifications, and Accommodations for 

Students." Center for Parent Information and 

Resources. N.p., Sept. 2010. Web. 

. 

What kind of strategies can Martin’s teacher 

implement during the lesson? 

The teacher could have Martin a small group 

setting or work one-on-one with the 

paraprofessional when there’s extra time. The 

teacher can provide copies of lecture notes for 

Martin and an audiobook or recording about 

the material that is being taught. The teacher 

could reduce the reading level and have the 

peer work with Martin as they read together. 

Adapting the content and the delivery of the 

instruction can be extremely valuable for your

Q&A 

with Mrs. O 

1) Tell us about yourself 

My name is Elizabeth Sayre 

Oldendorp, but my nickname is Lisa. 

I am the youngest of 3 siblings. I was 

born in NY City, but my parents 

moved to the suburbs when I was 1 

year old. It was a town called 

Levittown, NY, the first post-WWII 

development built primarily to house 

veterans returning from the war. I 

went to Catholic schools from 

kindergarten through college. Some 

things were great about them; other 

things were not. My mother was one 

of 8 children of Italian immigrants. 

Both parents died by the time she was 

7 years old. The 8 children were 

raised by relatives. Because of 

discrimination against Italians, who 

were the “enemy” in WWII, my 

mother’s family spoke English at 

home (her father knew English in 

Italy) and outside the home. The 

Italian language was lost quite quickly 

in my family. My father was part 

English and part German. His 

father’s English ancestors came to 

America in the mid 1700’s and settled 

on Long Island. My grandmother was 

German; I’m not sure when her 

parents came to America. My father 

died of a heart attack when I was 14; I 

was devastated. My mom died when 

I was just 33; my children barely 

knew her. 

2) Could you tell us more 

about your background in 

education? When did you 

start teaching, and what 

made you decide to 

become a teacher?

I always loved school and wanted to 

become a teacher for as long as I can 

remember. My two sisters and I 

always played “school” as children. 

One of my aunts was a teacher in NY 

City and sometimes she would bring 

us to her school on special days. My 

elementary school and high school 

prepared me well in English and 

math, but not very well in science or 

social studies. When I got to college 

(a women’s Catholic college), I found 

that many of the students had a better 

education than I did, which made 

college quite a challenge. In college, 

I majored in French and minored in 

Spanish. I also had a minor in 

Philosophy (18 required credits) and 

nearly a minor in Theology (17 

required credits). Though I wanted to 

be a teacher, I didn’t have room in my 

program to take education courses. I 

would have had to drop Spanish, but I 

thought it was more important to have 

another language. After getting my 

BA, I substitute taught in the district 

where I lived and where my mother 

worked as a secretary. I was 21 and I 

subbed in grades 9 through 12. They 

put me anywhere—science, math, art, 

music, English, foreign language, 

P.E., chemistry—wherever they 

needed a body! In those days, you 

just needed a college degree. I 

enjoyed doing all of it—except 

general music classes. They were 

very large and unruly—about 50 

students in the class. I asked to 

NEVER have that class again. After 

college, I went to Johns Hopkins 

University on a fellowship for 

teaching and got my Master of Arts in 

Teaching Foreign Languages 

(M.A.T.) 

3) What subjects did you 

teach? 

During my teaching internship in 

Maryland, I taught French and 

Spanish, Level 1 and French Level 2 

in grades 9-12. When I got my 

Master’s degree, I came back to Long 

Island (NY) and got a job in the 

Wantagh public schools as a foreign 

language teacher for grades 7-12. I 

lost my job while I was out on 

maternity leave, due to an excess of 

teachers. For several years, I 

substitute taught a few days a week in 

various districts. Then a school 

district hired me to teach Hispanic 

high school students English as a 

Second Language. I discovered that I 

loved working with the English 

Language Learners. Twelve years 

later, the district where I had taught 

French and Spanish hired me as a fulltime 

teacher of English as a Second 

Language.

4) What was your proudest 

moment in school as a 

teacher? 

I think my proudest moment was 

when one of the students who spoke 

no English in Kindergarten graduated 

from high school as the valedictorian 

of her class. Also, many of my 

former ELL students have become 

citizens, graduated from college, and 

have become productive human 

beings. All of those things make me 

proud that I was part of that journey. 

5) What did you like and 

dislike most about 

teaching? 

I loved seeing the students make 

progress over a period of a few 

months, for example: from nonspeaking 

to speaking full sentences; 

from not writing to writing phrases 

and then paragraphs; from writing 

paragraphs to 500-word essays. 

Watching students make progress 

made me very happy that they would 

be able to be productive citizens in the 

U.S. However, a lot of work goes 

into teaching: figuring out what each 

child needs and finding the materials 

best suited for him/her; writing lesson 

plans and then adjusting them when 

they don’t work; realizing that you are 

just not getting through to some 

students and you have to find a 

different approach; doing grades and 

report cards. The most difficult thing 

about teaching was to let the students 

go from the program when they were 

ready to be on their own. The thing I 

disliked most was saying “Goodbye” 

when they graduated! 

6) What are some things 

you wish more people 

understood about 

teaching? 

I wish people knew that teachers put a 

lot of time and effort into their work 

to prepare for each day. Teachers 

spend hours after dinner and on 

weekends preparing lessons. 

Sometimes, the best plans can be 

undone by an incident that disrupts 

the class; people should know that it’s 

not easy to handle a disruptive student 

in a firm, fair way that doesn’t violate 

that student’s dignity. They should 

know that most teachers are in the 

profession because they love children 

and want to help them grow to be 

loving, caring, educated human 

beings—not because they will have 

the summers off. People should 

understand that teachers are hired on a 

salary that is spread over the twelve

months so they don’t run out of 

money during the summer. They 

should also know that many teachers 

work another job during the summer 

or after school to supplement the 

family income. They have to take 

courses every year to maintain their 

certification; most states require a 

costly Master’s Degree to continue 

teaching. Many states pay teachers 

quite poorly and therefore may not 

attract the best-qualified teachers. 

Higher pay generally attracts better 

candidates. 

7) Teaching definitely seems 

to be an under-respected 

profession in the U.S. What 

could be done so teaching 

can be seen as a respectable 

profession? 

This is impractical, but I wish that 

people who think teachers have it 

easy would spend two weeks as a 

teacher. During the first week as a 

“student teacher,” they would have to 

learn about time management, 

especially on the elementary level, 

and how they need to assign adequate 

amounts of time to the basic subjects, 

while giving the other subjects like 

art, music, PE, computers, and library 

satisfactory attention. During this 

week, they should write lesson plans 

that they will implement during the 

second week. During the second 

week, they should teach the class the 

lessons they planned, make up tests, 

grade them, give extra help after 

school, know where to lead the class 

during a fire drill or a lock-down, 

learn what to do when a child has an 

asthma attack or gets hurt on the 

playground. In the upper levels, they 

need to develop academic skills, 

while learning how to handle a child 

in the class who might be emotionally 

disturbed or oppositional. Most 

people who mock and denigrate 

teachers have no idea how much 

knowledge and skill is required to be 

a good teacher. 

On a practical level, many states pay 

teachers poorly and expect them to 

pay out of pocket for materials that 

should be supplied by the school 

district. If the Federal government 

mandates regulations for class sizes 

and instructional needs of Special Ed 

and ELL students, it also has the 

responsibility to fund these mandates. 

Finally, parents always set the 

example for their children; if they 

speak well of teachers, their children 

will too.

8) Because of the lack of 

respect there is for the 

teaching profession, do you 

think we sometimes don’t 

trust teachers on the issues 

we should? 

Yes, that is possible. Teachers in 

general are very knowledgeable and 

caring. However, it’s important to 

remember that teachers are human 

beings, and therefore, they also can 

make mistakes. As a general rule, 

people should trust teachers; however, 

if there is growing evidence that 

something is amiss, parents should be 

assertive enough to challenge the 

teacher. I knew some teachers who 

should have retired long before they 

did. A parent must listen carefully to 

his/her child when he/she complains 

that the teacher “does nothing” or 

“contradicts himself” or “is mean.” 

I’ve had teachers like this and so have 

my children; they should not be 

teachers. 

9) What sort of tips or 

advice might you give a 

beginning teacher? 

I would advise him/her to always 

over-plan a lesson, but also to be 

flexible. Things rarely go “according 

to plan” in the classroom. Sometimes 

you need to just seize the moment and 

run with it when something is going 

particularly well. Always think about 

what went well and how you can 

build on it. Also, examine what 

didn’t go so well, why, and how you 

can fix it—or maybe just scrap it. 

Sometimes what worked beautifully 

with one class doesn’t work as well 

with another class because the 

students are different. Be prepared, 

but be flexible (especially when being 

observed by a supervisor!) and be 

ready to handle the unexpected. 

10) Any other comments 

or tips? 

Always remember that you are 

teaching people first, and a subject 

second. Don’t get so caught up in 

WHAT you’re teaching that you 

forget to relate to the students. To 

paraphrase a famous saying, “A child 

may not remember WHAT you 

taught, but he will always remember 

how you made him FEEL”. Treat 

others as you would like to be treated. 

Enjoy the journey.


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Promoting 

and Modeling 

Digital 

Citizenship 

and 

Responsibility 

Jocelyn Nava 

Adults can see the benefits of using 

technology with everyday life, and there are 

many continuous advancements in the world 

that occur order to improve that. Teachers 

and parents must be prepared to teach 

younger children about the importance of 

internet safety as these advancements 

continue. Adults start off learning about 

technology, and they see the benefits of 

using technology. Eventually students are 

expected to use technology to prepare them 

for the benefit of their future. Burton 

Elementary School in Rexburg, Idaho has a 

goal of having all students’ type up a full 

essay on their own, by the end of their 

elementary school education. 

Teachers need to know how to teach 

students how use technology in a safe way 

because it can lead to danger if students are 

not monitored with it. The International 

Society for Technology (ISTE), in 

Education is a nonprofit organization that 

encourages technology with education. 

Standard four of the ISTE focuses on the 

concept of digital citizenship, and this 

concept is very important because students 

need to master the skill of taking 

responsibility when using the internet. 

Teachers must take safety precautions 

because students have access to chat, email, 

blog, social media, and comments. 

Parents and teachers are responsible to teach 

children how to use technology to gain more 

opportunities for knowledge. Students need 

step by step instruction in order for them to 

know how to accurately have access to 

information that will help them succeed. 

There are many opportunities for students to 

conduct research online, and teachers must 

demonstrate legal and ethical behavior when 

teaching students how to access the internet 

for that information. Students must know 

copyright laws and intellectual property 

because those are legal documents. It is 

important for the teacher to demonstrate 

specific steps with how to use technology. 

Teachers create lesson plans when planning 

for a lesson, and it would be a great idea for 

teachers to make lesson plans when using 

the internet with the class.

the target or recipient of sexual predation, 

hate group recruitment, invasion of personal 

privacy, Internet fraud and scams, 

harassment, stalking, and harmful speech.” 

Nancy Willard mentioned in an article that 

internet filters are not enough when 

monitoring students, they must learn how to 

be responsible internet users by entering 

appropriate websites. “Such misplaced 

reliance has been the result of intense 

pressure exerted by politicians and the 

influence of the technology industry--which 

likes to think that technology tools can solve 

all human problems. ”It is important to 

understand that technology tools are not the 

solution for everything that occurs in our 

lives. That same article mentioned that 

students need internet-based lesson plans, 

and an educational website in order to 

benefit learning opportunities when using 

the internet. Communication is very 

important when instructing the students on 

the internet, there must be a clear set of rules 

when using technology. There must also be 

a plan for students to follow, when 

encountering a problem or something 

inappropriate. Willard also mentions the 

importance of informing students about 

different dangers of using the internet, 

“Additional safety concerns include being 

There are many responsibilities that come 

with using the internet. Some people have 

no idea they are breaking the law when 

downloading free music or movies online, 

because they were not taught responsibility 

when using the internet. Willard continues 

to explain the harmful internet interactions 

students may face by stating, “In addition to 

the intentional access of potentially harmful 

material, these issues include copyright 

infringement, plagiarism, computer security 

violations (hacking, spreading viruses), 

violation of privacy, Internet fraud and 

scams, harassment, stalking, and 

dissemination of harmful speech or other 

violent or abusive material. We must 

prepare young people to understand their 

responsibilities as cyber citizens.” Safety 

with technology starts off with the teacher, 

but it is also important for the school district 

to have rules and plans with how they want 

teachers to manage internet safety. A list of 

blocked sites, internet filters, and software 

blocking keywords and processes are 

important to protect information. 

Students need to be aware of cyber bullying 

because that will help them prevent 

themselves from being a bully, and a victim 

of bullying online. A research study was 

done, and the research team discovered that 

one out of five children encounters bullying 

online. Parents must be involved in what 

their children are doing online. Researchers 

were able to find that 55 percent of parents 

actually have a password for internet access 

within their home.

Many students have a social media account, 

and they have access to many things that are 

inappropriate for their age. It is important 

for parents to enforce passwords and filters 

to limit the amounts of inappropriate content 

children can encounter online. In the same 

research study, nine out of ten young 

children reported that they have internet 

access at home and outside of school. Many 

parents do not know what their children are 

doing online because they just figure it 

keeps their children entertained. Most 

females are into owning their mobile 

devices, while males are into owning 

videogames right from the very beginning of 

their internet access. It is important for 

teachers to have internet safety lesson plans 

designed for all schools that use technology, 

and the staff must be trained on internet 

safety. 

Students must know not to share private 

information, such as full name, address, 

phone number, pictures, and email address 

with others on line because there are 

scammers in the world that will take 

advantage of that information. It is 

important to address the way students should 

be able to identify reliable websites because 

not all websites are corrupt. Students will be 

able to identify the accuracy of that 

information through trusting reliable 

resources such as .gov, .org, .edu, and other 

scholarly journals for reliable resources. 

Students will be able to have access to these 

trusted resources in order to conduct 

research when it comes to them working on 

research papers, and even for their future 

careers. 

The Fear of 

Deportation

There has been a constant struggle with 

accepting diversity in society. People 

oppress and discriminate each other because 

of differences. It is important for teachers to 

gain knowledge about diversity because 

every classroom is filled with diversity. The 

Merriam- Webster dictionary mentions that 

diversity is, “the inclusion of different types 

of people (as people of different races or 

cultures) in a group or organization.” Many 

fears are arising since Donald Trump 

became president, and that is affecting 

students that come from immigrant families. 

It is important to educate students and 

parents when it comes to their human rights. 

An article by Kate McGee, describes the 

emotion a 14 year old student was facing 

because his parents are immigrants, “I don’t 

want to give into the fear and give up, but 

it’s kind of hard to keep going when all of 

this is happening, and you’re just worried 

what’s going to happen to your family.” 

Students of immigrant parents are living in 

constant fear, and if teachers inform students 

about what they can do to change that, fear 

will become confidence, it will make a big 

difference in their lives. There are actually 

students that are immigrants themselves, and 

they had to cross the border under difficult 

situations. Those immigrants went for days 

without food or water, and walked in the 

desert for at least 3 days, just to get to where 

they are now. School administrators need to 

verify the fact that Immigration and Custom 

Enforcement (ICE), will not be on school 

property. Students will find safety and 

protection when attending school, and they 

will find comfort when gaining knowledge 

of this information. 

Teachers must learn how to welcome 

immigrant students and parents into their 

classrooms. Sara Burnett mentioned in her 

Welcoming Immigrant Students Into the 

Classroom article, that there are roughly 1.7 

million undocumented students attending 

school in the United States. That is a huge 

number, and it is important for us to help 

those students feel welcome and protected 

within our classroom because many of them 

have a constant fear of them being deported 

at any second. 

The article also mentioned that over 50,000 

children flee their counties because of 

persecution, and many of them have trauma 

due to the experiences they faced in their 

native country. They are not safe in their 

own country, and they must be protected by 

teachers because not many people will 

defend the rights of immigrants. Many of the 

parents do not reach out because they work 

long hours, there is a language barrier, or 

they maybe afraid of communication 

because of their illegal status within the 

country. They actually have so much 

potential!

The DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood 

Arrivals) program helps immigrant parents 

remain in the United States while their 

children receive protection and education in 

the United States. The DACA program does 

not help with the process of receiving 

citizenship, but it will definitely benefit their 

family with staying in the United States. 

There is an application process for the 

DACA program and they must apply, and 

follow the process in order for them to have 

access to that resource. These students will 

be able to help their parents become citizens 

of the United States by starting the process 

of gaining citizenship, at the age of 

21.Students must be exposed to diversity 

within the classroom by playing games that 

bring up the topic of diversity. These games 

will lead to healthy, and safe conversations 

about culture similarities and differences. It 

is important for parents to teach their 

children about diversity, and if parents are 

not able to do that, then the responsibility 

falls under the teacher. A teacher must be 

informed about what is going on in the lives 

of these children, and it often correlates with 

politics at that are occurring in our country. 

References: 

1.https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/diversity 

2.Kate McGee http://kut.org/post/schools-lookbe-haven-immigrant-students-amid-fears-icearrests 

3.Sara Burnett 

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/welcomingimmigrant-students-into-classroom-sara-burnett 

ABOUT ME: 

My name is Jocelyn Nava and I am excited 

to become an elementary school teacher. I 

remember having the desire to become an 

elementary school teacher, ever since I was 

a young student. I remember being in third 

grade and we were assigned to be buddies 

with kindergarteners. Our duty was to help 

younger students with school projects, and I 

really enjoyed doing that. I also preferred 

helping out different classrooms, instead of 

going to recess during my last few years at 

the elementary school. I was also part of a 

program in high school, in which I 

volunteered in a first grade class. I ended up 

working at four different daycares the same 

year I graduated high school. I took the bus 

to work in order to get from job to job, and I 

was able to realize the fact that I love 

working with children as I took those daily 

bus trips to work. I am a learner. I love to 

learn new things and apply them into my 

life. I know that applying things we learn 

will benefit our life, and the life of others. I 

am an initiator. I accomplish things the very 

best I can. I do not let things I have control 

over, stop me 

from pursuing 

the goal I have 

in mind. I also 

think that 

making 

connections 

helps me be 

sympathetic, 

and empathetic 

towards others. 

I always have a 

desire to make

connections with others, so that I can 

understand where they are coming from. 

I believe a student can be able to succeed in 

education, as they apply the material being 

taught. I know that younger children learn 

more when they are given an example, and 

then practice that on their own because they 

will be able to identify what they struggle 

with. They can always ask the teacher 

questions. Something great about learning in 

a classroom is that students can work with 

other classmates, in order to understand a 

topic with a different perspective. They can 

also identify their talent and help others that 

struggle with that talent or interest. I believe 

in multicultural education in which students 

may feel welcomed and safe, despite of the 

differences amongst other students in class. 

I believe students have different ways of 

learning, and it is important to make the 

changes that are necessary in order to help 

Interview: 

Why did you decide to become a 

teacher? 

I have been a teacher for 30 years. The 

reason why I became a teacher is 

complicated. I did not really like school 

when I was young, but I found out that I 

enjoyed teaching on my mission. I kind of 

realized that I liked it and had an aptitude 

because it was simple and easy to 

understand. I was attracted to it as a 

profession overall. Good work hours, good 

for family life, and not a lot of weekends. 

The teachers I knew seemed to be pretty 

good people and kind. Sometimes it’s 

different out there in the business world. I 

like academics and learning generally 

myself. I occasionally have a workshop on a 

and reach out to that student that may be 

struggling. I know that 

education is important, and students have so 

much potential to achieve any goal they 

desire as they gain knowledge and apply that 

knowledge to what they want to become. 

Teachers must explain things clearly and 

specifically if they want students to 

complete an assignment and follow 

classroom rules. Students are responsible for 

their own work, and they should be held 

accountable when they do not follow 

directions. A teacher must also create trust 

in order for a student to reach out when 

struggling with an assignment or lesson. A 

teacher is a resource for the students, and the 

students are responsible for their own 

success by the effort they put forth, when it 

comes to education. 

weekend, I do 

tutoring on the 

weekends 

through the 

school district. 

When you do 

work weekends, 

it is very rare, 

occasionally you 

might have to. 

What is your teaching philosophy? 

I think that students should be as 

independent as possible in their learning and 

in their schooling. It can be difficult through 

classroom management because you have to 

keep things moving. You have to have 

student’s independent when it comes to

learning. Special-ed is more individualized 

through special-ed schooling. I am against 

manufacturing students. I have more of an 

organic teaching. You help students grow, 

but they have different rates. We should not 

shove students down programs. It’s like 

planting a garden, you are helping them 

grow and find their own place in the world. 

Their own aptitudes. I think education is too 

much homogeneous. We are teaching 

students to become something specific. 

There is too much emphasis on the material. 

Es Meo wrote a book about a school he 

started in England based on the kids being 

self-motivated for education. It had an effect 

on me as a young teacher. A lot of my ideas 

might be considered radical because there is 

a whole establishment out there and you 

have to work with them because of the 

government while keeping my job. 

What type of classroom management 

structure has helped you? 

If you allow students to have more input in 

what they are doing it and how they are 

doing it, then students will know what to do 

themselves. You cannot force students to do 

a certain thing. Special ed is on his own 

track. You have a token economy, 

something to motivate the kids to do 

something positively. You have to have 

rules clearly stated and explained ahead of 

time & have clear consequences. It does not 

work if you wing it and get mad at the kids. 

You have to have a well thought out system. 

As the kids have more control over their 

schedule and environment the less problems 

you have. Everyone must participate & 

follow that system. Some teachers manage 

by mood, and that does not work. You have 

to be consistent. You have students you will 

not like, and you also have your favorites. 

You have to try to separate personal feelings 

to do classroom management. If you do not 

like the students they need you the most. 

Some students are great at adapting, some 

need a lot of work and you usually do not 

like them. My wife is a special ed assistant. 

Some stories are just crazy and some 

teachers are horrible and overbearing and 

pick their favorites. There is so much 

outside the class that exist. Get ready for 

politics, and weirdos. 

I am afraid to use technology because I 

grew up old school with just using 

overheads. I just don’t know how 

effective technology is because I feel like 

students spend their time worry about 

how to use it instead of focusing on the 

outcome of using technology. How have 

you used technology within your 

classroom? 

I think you are worried about certain things 

and the students are not worried about that. 

The kids take right to it and they are all over 

technology. You cannot stop it, the schools 

are always way behind bc technology 

upgrades so quick. I think your worries are 

more of an old people thing. I cannot think 

of students worrying about how to use it. 

You can be more individualized through 

technology where you work at your own 

pace. Teachers cannot stop it, be on board be 

a leader with technology bc it is our future. 

In la they wanted every student with an ipad, 

they took it away, but they still want 

students with technology in the hands of the 

students. Technology will dominate more 

and more. In ten years from now it will be 

an aspect in everyone's lives. I am a tech 

specialist I have been out of the classroom 

for a while. There are certain things students 

that could not speak and now students can 

communicate through technology. It is here 

and we need to embrace it and accept it.

There are old timer teachers and that 

mentality will be leaving in the next 5-10 

years. The new generation that has been 

raised with technology. I have seen it being 

effective with self-pacing and 

individualization to what student needs. The 

kids get into it and learn. All the testing is 

done through technology, pencil and bubbles 

will be gone soon. The test are immediately 

graded, and they will be evaluated quickly. 

How do you implement diversity in your 

class? 

You have to be sensitive to everyone’s 

needs and corks. It pays to be aware of 

culture and religion. The largest group here 

is Hispanic and latino. You understand the 

lack of motivation. They are very respectful 

of teachers and education but they do not see 

it very important. It is about a work ethic. 

When kids got in jr high and high school 

they would rather work than get an 

education. The girls have an expectation to 

help with the family and they drift away in 

high school. You have to be aware of those 

things and cannot offend people. Gender 

issues, you have to be sensitive to those 

things and celebrate the diversity. You can 

take a student and spotlight the student to 

share their differences. Make it a whole 

cultural thing. They have food, and teachers 

have to learn. Younger kids don’t worry 

about diversity. We have 20 languages & 

have to be sensitive & have a system to take 

care of it and it is tough. One way and one 

culture is not okay. There are things you can 

learn from other cultures. Make students 

know that culture is positive. I have not had 

too many issues about that. Children tend to 

get along you see more issues in high 

school. All the kids are pretty nice, until 4 th 

grade. 

How do you see politics affect your 

classroom? 

Schools are highly political and 99.9 ultra 

liberal teachers and education is a liberal 

type feel because it is a govt agency. We 

spend and do not make money. The federal 

govt does not give too much money. We get 

funding from the govt. we work for the state. 

The federal govt tries to influence by federal 

grants. The federal budget is hardly 

anything, it is nothing it is mostly 

philosophical. CA is very democratic. We 

provide a lot of services, breakfast in the 

classroom, almost every kids is given food. 

All the responsibility is given to teacher and 

lesson parents. I work where families do not 

have too much money. The federal program 

creates programs like no child left behind. It 

is gone. Education works in cycles, it comes 

and goes. We try new things and get rid of 

old things, and it is a cycle, when realizing it 

does not work. It does not progress as much 

as it should. Schools are political. They were 

created to put on political attitudes for 

countries. Teachers could not be so biased. 

We try to indoctrinate students the American 

way. Not a strong permanent influence from 

the government. 

The figure head we have now will not affect 

education. The state govt is more into the 

details. They will put out a philosophy and 

everyone hates her because she was chosen 

by trump and she will not affect education. I 

think she is pretty smart, but not a lot of 

influence on individuals. The only power 

they have is through money and they are 

cheap. If they did the schools would do 

whatever but it comes through taxes. 

How do you create trust with your 

students and parents?

You have to be consistent, and that is the 

main key. They have to feel like there is no 

favoritism, they cannot feel like they are 

personally attacked. Open communication. 

Always you have to be available and have to 

have email and a lot of communication each 

week. The parents have to know what 

students will be doing every week. It has to 

be an open door policy. Some parents will 

bother you because they only have one kid. 

You will have to tell them that you have 30 

students. A lot of the parents here do not 

care about their students, free babysitting. 

You will have all types of parents. It 

depends on parents and their involvement in 

student work. You have to treat them all the 

same. 

How would you react in case of a school 

shooting? 

You have to be aware and there are plans 

and set ups. There are lots of trainings about 

child abuse, depression, there has to be a 

plan. I would think all schools have a plan if 

that were to happen. School lock down if 

kids are in danger. Some schools have metal 

detectors. Weapons have been found. It is 

more common where students get shot after 

work. I work for L.A unified school district. 

I work in Carson. It is a large district. We 

had 1 million kids enrolled. We are losing a 

lot of kids. 

Are you satisfied with your schooling? 

What would you change if you could go 

back? 

Education was not important as a kid. I had 

a negative experience in school. It seemed to 

be boring, and slow, very slow. The teachers 

seemed slow. I needed that kind of 

individualized education bc I wanted to 

move faster. You had to move with the 

crowd and you were stuck. 

I would have become a speech therapist, 

there is so much demand. I had no idea that 

was a thing. There is so much more 

specialized, you have to plan ahead and keep 

grades high. Very few spots. I would be a 

speech therapist. I was laid off because there 

was a low reduction in force because 

economy. We had to work 2 years to get 

their penya. We had no protection and 

would get released. I got released bc the 

principle did not like me. I went to special 

ed & speech therapy is needed constantly all 

across the country. You could get a job 

anywhere. There is a lot of testing and 

reports and meetings. Teachers are being 

evaluated through test scores and that is 

ridiculous bc each student has a different 

background and they are moving around. A 

lot of testing came under Bush, Obama did 

not do much with education. I do like Trump 

that he is moving kids back to the states. 

Do you ever question if you are teaching 

your students enough? What makes you 

know that your students are learning 

what they need to know? 

You will find that it is not so much about 

teaching. If someone wants to learn 

something, they can learn from anyone. The 

problem is that a lot of the stuff we teach 

does not make a lot of sense to them, only 

the teacher. I feel like students are not 

learning a lot. You have to know what 

student has to learn. You have to think what 

is the most important thing for them to 

know. You have to think about it. They are 

very happy even if they do not succeed with 

education. You do not want to damage 

someone’s life just bc they cannot write well 

enough. We have to accept kids as 

individuals. They will not appreciate your

literature books, we have to accept that. 

They will learn what they need to. Teachers 

work hard, even the bad teachers. It is hard 

work and stressful, but you have to 

understand what is important and know the 

big picture. You have to be careful bc what 

you think is important is not important to 

everyone else. Every kid will not be a 

success. You cannot be hard on yourself, 

you can only judge that through test scores 

and even then it is up to the students. You 

will have pressure from outside sources. 

You need to know that each kid is 

individual. Put your personal things aside 

and focus on what they like, it is their way 

in. The trend is to go backwards where it is 

less individualized, it is never going to work 

bc everyone is different. Everyone performs 

differently, and you have to accept it. 

Difference between boys and girls. 

Education is set up for women, it is a girl 

based thing. Emphasizes language and 

writing, things boys do not care about. Boys 

want to play and build. There have been 

times were I am the only man at the school. 

I am the only man that uses the men’s 

restroom. Women have to be aware of that. 

The whole concept is made for girls, get out 

of your comfort zone and help the men. 

Most people are dumb. Many people do not 

appreciate it. It is considered nursing. I see 

teachers driving mercedes because they are 

married to rich men. Academic life. The first 

year is a horrible nightmare.

Cultural Night Event 

March 20th, 2017, From 6:30 p.m-8:00 p.m, FREE 

ADMISSION 

We welcome you to our annual Cultural Night. This 

event will be very similar to a potluck, and we invite you 

to bring your favorite cultural dish to share. Students 

will be performing a talent show, and they will express 

their culture through dancing, singing, and various 

other talents.

ABOUT ME: 

My name is Kylie Stradling and I am a 

junior at BYU Idaho majoring in Early 

Childhood Special Education. I am from 

Mesa Arizona and I have lived there my 

entire life up until last year. I have always 

enjoyed being around children from a 

young age. I had the opportunity to work 

at an Early Childhood Center my senior 

year of High school. Working with the 

preschool aged children helped me 

discover my hidden passion for teaching. 

Ever since then I have been striving 

towards my goal of someday having my 

own preschool classroom. I, 

personally, believe that children have 

such great potential. I often feel like 

people underestimate 

children’s knowledge 

and ability to learn. It is 

important to set high 

expectations for 

children because they 

will raise to meet the 

goals you have set if 

they are within their 

developmental capacity. 

I also find it extremely 

important to always 

implement 

Developmentally 

Appropriate 

Practices (DAP) into 

teaching. Many 

children that are 

within the same 

grade level vary at 

where they are at 

developmentally 

and may need 

specific 

accommodations 

made accordingly. Children also need to 

feel loved and cared for to learn the best 

that they can. Classroom environment sets 

the basis for learning. Children must be 

comfortable in their 

learning 

environment to 

ensure the best 

possible learning 

opportunities. The 

students also need 

to know what to 

expect when they 

walk into the 

classroom every 

day. 

Image 

Sources: 

1.https://s-media-cacheak0.pinimg.com/736x/6e/e3/6e/6ee36ed4347cd9d3cbc5948c1c4 

52349.jpg 

https://s-media-cacheak0.pinimg.com/736x/7c/e4/80/7ce480e052f285a3a9037562cf00 

a58c.jpg 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/- 

VWZJERbdyeM/U18XamiL5_I/AAAAAAAAJo/AHXz5gZeNbY/s700/Teacher%20Appreciation%20Quote%20%7 

BIt%20Takes%20A%20Big%20Heart%c3%a2%e2%82%ac%c2%a6% 

7D.png

Designing and 

Developing Digital 

Age learning 

experiences and 

assessments in the 

classroom 

In the world, today, technology has 

become something that almost 

everybody relies on. It has advanced 

so much over the years and it seems to 

be rapidly progressing more and 

more as time goes on. As future 

educators, we must know how 

important these technological 

advances can be in our classrooms 

someday. Technology is an important 

tool that needs to be used in every 

classroom to benefit effective learning 

at its best. It is a tool that students are 

interested in and it can help them see 

and learn skills they can only develop 

through technology. Over twothousand 

school districts in the United 

States have begun using electronic 

devices to help aid their student’s 

educational needs. Designing and 

developing digital age learning 

experiences has been something that 

some educators have needed to adapt 

to. However, implementing technology 

in the classroom can be quite simple 

when you are given technological 

resources through your school. There 

are so many various methods and 

techniques we can use experiences 

can be implemented in the classroom 

is by using smart boards or smart 

projectors. Both things are great tools 

that can get students involved with the 

lesson by simply having them come up 

to the board to write a question or 

idea. You can also have the students 

create their own power point to 

demonstrate their understanding on a 

subject. This will not only show what 

the students know about the subject 

criteria, but it will also help them work 

on their familiarity to implement 

technology in our students learning 

experiences and assessments; which is 

what this article will be discussing. 

One of the greatest ways to implement 

digital age learning experiences in 

your classroom is through educational 

games offered either online or through 

apps on iPad’s or tablets. Many 

classrooms across the nation have 

several iPad’s or tablets, as well as 

computers in each classroom. 

Educational games on these devices 

can be used as a great tool to help 

students learn and master the

materials gone over in class, as well as 

have fun while they are learning the 

content. Overall, these kinds of games 

can make learning and skill mastery 

more enjoyable for the children. 

Another simple way digital age 

learning with technology and how it 

works. By letting the students create 

their own work through technology 

they can learn problem solving skills 

when figuring out how to work the 

computer, as well as working on their 

creativity. 

Technology can not only be used to 

develop digital age learning 

experiences, but it can also be used 

when creating assessments for 

elementary aged children. In fact, 

many states have even begun offering 

their state assessments online by 

having students take them via 

computer. Teachers can also create 

their own classroom assessments using 

a variety of technological tools. A 

technological tool called an i-clicker is 

a device that enables students to 

answer questions through the device. 

The teacher makes up the questions, 

and when the students submit their 

answer the teacher is then able to see 

how each student responded. This 

could be used as an alternative to 

paper/pencil tests, or could even just 

be used to assess student 

understanding at the end of a lesson or 

unit. Teachers can also set up adaptive 

assessments online if they can have 

their students test on computers. 

Adaptive assessments adapt question 

complexity based on whether they are 

answering the questions correctly. For 

example, if a student answers a 

question correctly, the next question 

will most likely be more complex. 

These kinds of assessments could be 

very beneficial to both students and 

teachers by having their knowledge 

tested more accurately through 

technology. 

All in all, if we introduce ourselves and 

our students to new technology and 

become familiar with it, it can benefit 

both the teacher and the student in 

numerous ways. Technology can give 

students the opportunity to express 

themselves in creative ways online. 

The skills 

they learn from adapting to new 

technologies will not only help them 

understand the content they are 

learning in school through online 

educational programs, but it can also 

help prepare them for their adult life in 

their careers. Both technology and our 

students are only moving forwards, not 

backwards. 

Sources 

● 

[. (n.d.). Computer-Based Assessments: Things to Think About. 

RetrievedMarch03,2017,from 

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/classtech/Computer-Based- 

Assessments.html 

● Digital Technology Tools for Implementing Formative 

● 

● 

● 

Assessment – Post One. (2016, November 23). Retrieved March 

03, 2017, from https://www.nwea.org/blog/2013/digital- 

technology-tools-for-implementing-formative-assessment-post- 

one/ 

National Association of Elementary School Principals: Serving all 

elementary and middle-level principals. (n.d.). Retrieved March 

IPad Use In Schools on the Rise. (2013, July 05). Retrieved 

March03,2017,from 

03,2017,from http://www.naesp.org/principal-januaryfebruary- 

2012-technology/technology-integration-new-21st-centurylearner 

http://www.educationnews.org/technology/ipad-use-in-schoolson-the-rise/ 

https://slwrig02.expressions.syr.edu/fall2014wrt205/wpcontent/uploads/sites/4/2014/10/SMART-Board-300x225.png

How educators can 

make 

recess 

even better! 

Recess seems to be a work in 

progress today in the United States. 

During the mid-two thousand’s, many 

schools began to reduce recess time, 

or even completely cut it out of the 

school’s schedule. According to The 

Atlantic, these decisions were made 

due to the “No Child Left Behind 

education law—which emphasized test 

scores—prompted some schools to 

scale back recess (along with art and 

music) to spend more time on math 

and reading.”. Studies show that even 

now, only a handful of states in the US 

require recess breaks throughout the 

school day. Fortunately, as schools 

began to reduce and cut recess, 

science began to increasingly show 

the benefits of play for children. Due to 

the scientific backup and other 

elements such as research on reducing 

childhood obesity, recess has begun 

to make a comeback in schools across 

the nation. 

As of January 2017, CDC (Centers for 

Disease Control and Convention), and 

SHAPE America (Society of Health and 

Physical Educators), have recently 

released resources to help promote 

active recess in schools across the 

United States. Both CDC and SHAPE 

America released a School Recess plan 

that “identifies the strategies a school 

will use to organize and implement 

recess at the school. This plan should 

be a written document that can be 

shared with all school staff, students, 

and parents.” According to this plan, 

there are five strategies that should be 

used for recess time in schools. These 

five strategies are: 

1. Make Leadership Decisions 

Communicate and Enforce 

Behavioral and Safety 

Expectations 

2. Create an Environment 

Supportive of Physical Activity 

During Recess 

3. Engage the School Community 

to Support Recess 

4. Gather Information on Recess 

The School Recess Plan was designed 

to help boost academic performance, 

improve behavior and focus issues, 

and enhance physical and emotional 

well-being. This plan also helps 

increase student’s participation in 

recess time. It ensures that each 

student is involved physically, rather 

than only a few students engaging 

physically. Recess can boost academic 

performance by letting children 

simply burn some of their energy out 

during recess. Children are not able to 

sit and focus for long periods at a time. 

They need time to move their bodies 

and free some of their energy and 

stress. Having a brief period away 

from the academics helps the students 

be ready to go back to the classroom 

setting to learn. It refreshes their focus. 

Being physically involved helps 

enhance their physical well-being by 

helping them create a healthy lifestyle.

Exercise is part of a healthy lifestyle, 

and recess gives them the opportunity 

to exercise. 

With this new teaching trend that has 

just come into place, pro-recess 

educators can only hope that these 

resources help convince schools to set 

apart time for daily recess in 

elementary schools across the country. 

Educators with sufficient knowledge in 

child development know the 

importance recess has on the 

elementary aged children. Play has 

been proven to be an important asset 

in learning and helps children build up 

their imagination and creativity. If 

schools across the nation will take this 

plan into action, they could be very 

pleasantly surprised by the results. 

This trend hopes to improve academic 

success, and plans to help minimize 

behavior issues. Improving these two 

areas will also improve the success of 

classroom management by the 

students being more focused during 

class lectures, more motivated to 

learn, and by not interrupting as much 

during class lessons and discussions. 

All in all this current teaching trend 

will hopefully get more schools to 

realize the importance of recess. 

Sources: 

● https://www.communitycommons.org/groups/saludamerica/resources/19-evidence-based-strategies-forrecess/ 

● Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and SHAPE 

America—Society of Health and Physical 

● Educators. Strategies for Recess in Schools. Atlanta, GA: 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Dept of 

Health and Human Services; 2017. 

● Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and SHAPE 

America—Society of Health and Physical 

● Educators. Recess Planning in Schools: A Guide to Putting 

Strategies for Recess into Practice. 

● Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 

US Dept of Health and Human Services; 2017. 

● Education Trends:. (2017, January 10). Retrieved March 

04, 2017, from 

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/01/prweb13971218.ht 

m 

● DeRuy, E. (2016, September 13). Learning Through Play. 

Retrieved March 04, 2017, from 

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/09/lea 

rning-through-play/499703/ 

● Chang, R., & Coward, F. L. (2015, November 1). More 

Recess time, Please! Retrieved March 04, 2017, from 

https://eds-a-ebscohostcom.byui.idm.oclc.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=249ce89 

c-81d6-47a6-ac63- 

3d311040f002%40sessionmgr103&vid=8&hid=117

Q&A 

Interview 

responses 

This is Mallory Stradling, 

teacher of five years. Mallory 

has taught both 7th grade 

English Language Arts and 8th 

grade Social Studies in 

Arizona. 

1.) How do you incorporate 

technology in your classroom? 

I incorporate technology on a 

daily basis and can divide my 

uses into two groups. The first 

group is how I teach using 

technology, this includes news 

videos for students (CNN 10), 

misc. YouTube videos, slideshow 

presentations, smart-board 

activities, projecting items on the 

screen and modeling to the 

students, class Snapchat etc. The 

2nd group of technologies is how 

the students use it. The students 

use technology through a chrome 

book by typing assignments, 

completing hyperdoc 

assignments, creating 

slideshows, researching 

information, accessing school 

email, being a part of Google 

Classroom, playing games 

through sites like kahoot and 

quizzes, etc. 

2.) Do the students seemed 

more involved when you do 

integrate technology? Yes and 

no. My students are so used to 

technology in their lives that they 

don't see completing 

assignments via the chrome 

books as a novelty, but as the 

norm. However, when it is 

something they are creating 

using technology, or if it is in the 

form of a game/competition they 

do seem more motivated and 

involved. 

3.) What are some of your 

classroom routines? Some of 

my classroom routines include 

Bellwork, Student News, 

anticipatory sets that happen 

throughout the lesson,

learning/completing activity, 

closure(various activities). 

4.) What are some of your 

classroom procedures? Some of 

my classroom procedures are 

how and when students use the 

bathroom, getting a drink, they 

have certain hand signals for 

each one. 

5.) What do you use as a quiet 

signal? I have a triangle bell that 

I ring to gain their attention. 

6.) How does teaching seventh 

grade English language arts 

compare to teaching eighth 

grade social studies? Besides 

the difference in subject the 

students are more mature and 

have different behaviors. The 

good thing is that I was able to 

take skills I taught as a language 

arts teacher and implement them 

as I teach social studies. I am 

able to implement reading 

strategies and writing activities 

as building blocks for them to get 

to the objective I want them to 

master. 

7.) Do you see a difference in 

behavior between seventh and 

eighth grade aged students? 

The eighth grade students are 

more mature and competent, but 

they still are at the age where 

most of them are more focused 

on social life versus the reality of 

graduation coming closer. 

8.) What are your views on 

assigning homework? I give the 

students all the time needed in 

class to complete all 

assignments. It becomes 

homework if they do not 

complete it. I know that they get 

homework in a lot of other 

classes and have 

sports/activities/family life as 

well. 

9.) How do you manage crisis 

in your classroom? If it is 

endangering others, I get the 

other students out of the room. I 

try to avoid any crisis situations 

by asking the student to go sit 

outside or go to the office. 

10.) How do you prepare 

students for assessments? I tell 

them exactly what they should 

study and try to have a review 

activity or game the day before 

or the day of the assessment.

Tired of always 

having the same 

problems occur over 

and over? 

Learn how to effectively 

manage behaviors in 

your classroom! 

After attending this workshop you will 

be better able to identify how to solve 

behavior issues to the benefit of 

both you and the 

student! 

Join us on Saturday March 25, 2017 for a workshop designed to help 

you learn more effective strategies for managing behaviors with your 

students! 

https://blog.udemy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/shutterstock_142995178-300x300.jpg


Unlocking 

My Name is Alex Kerns and I am a junior at 

Brigham Young University Idaho majoring 

in Elementary Education. 

I was born and raised in Ogden, Utah. I am 

26 years old and am going to be one of the 

first people in my family to get a college 

education. 

The reason I want to be an elementary 

educator is because of the teachers I had 

in elementary school. I attended three 

different elementary schools when I grew 

up. At each one of those schools I felt so 

welcome in each of my elementary 

teachers’ classrooms. I knew that I was in a 

safe place for learning when I attended 

class each day. 

My learning experience after elementary 

school has been a rocky path, but I know 

that I can help influence the future world 

through teaching. I believe that each 

student has a potential to be their very 

best selves, and succeed in whatever they 

choose. I want my future students to know 

they are important, and their success in 

their education is the most important thing 

to me. 

My teaching philosophy is that the 

students come first and their success in 

education is needed for them to have a 

successful future. They are not just names 

in a grade book, statistics on a national 

testing average, a noisy kid in class, but 

they are our future. It is my job as their 

teacher to remind them of their infinite 

potential, and help them to achieve their 

potential through education. 

My favorite thing about teaching is when a 

student is engaged in their learning. I love 

the moment when they are trying to 

understand a difficult topic and it finally 

clicks in their head. I love their enthusiasm 

when I ask a question, and most of the 

students raise their hands. I love working 

one on one with students and asking them 

what questions they have.

In Education, it is inevitable that you are going to 

have to learn some type of technology at some time 

during your career as an educator. How do you 

keep up with all the changes that happen and how 

can you stay ahead of the curve? This article will 

help you to know on how you can keep up, and 

look for new ways to innovate, and become a 

leader in technology your classroom. 

It is true nowadays that the kids in classroom 

probably knew how to use an I-pad at 6 months old. 

They probably know how to program your smart 

phone in 5 minutes in the way it would take you 

about six months to do. So how do you keep up 

with your students? Truth is you probably will 

never be able to keep up with them, but that is 

okay you are reading this article. Here are 3 ways 

that you can research and learn how to use new 

technology. 

At this conference held in Orlando, Florida 

thousands of educators and inventors collaborate 

on successful ways to bring technology into the 

classroom. There are classes on how to use I Pads 

in English and Math without out taking away from 

your valuable instruction time, and the best thing 

about that workshop is taught by teachers who 

used it their individual classrooms. There are 

classes on how to help students begin their own 

blogs for creative writing in safe online 

atmosphere. They have workshops on how to teach 

your students through a popular video game 

named Minecraft but it is Minecraft Education. This 

session is taught by a student and his teacher who 

uses it in her classroom. There are many other 

sessions that will help you become more 

comfortable with using technology in your 

classroom, and to collaborate with other educators 

from around the country. 

Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers have so many 

and pages with ideas on how to use technology in 

the classroom. There are 14, 839 results for 

technology related lessons on Teacher Pay 

Teachers and over one hundred pins to use on each 

website. It is important to know that you can use 

these websites for multiple grade levels, and adapt 

them according to your classroom’s needs. 

Teachers Pay Teachers does have free lesson plans 

as well, you just have to select the free option on 

the left side of the website. You may need to search 

a bit in these websites, but these will be a great 

help to you as you go throughout your teaching 

career.

As a teacher, you may be able to apply for a grant 

through the Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow 

program (TCT). This government funded program 

allows you to develop and implement programs 

that advance technology while receiving a master’s 

degree either part time or full time. This could help 

you improve yourself and become an educational 

leader as you develop new technology 

programs for your classroom and the nation. This 

will allow you to do your own research and focus on 

ways to provide more inventive ways in using 

technology. If you are already talented at 

programming this will help you to have money for 

your technology.


Unlocking 

Kendra Bindrup is 26 years old and is a sophomore 

at BYU-Idaho. She is from Ogden, Utah and the 

oldest of five kids. She is the first in her family to 

pursue a college degree. She is studying Family 

and Consumer Science with an emphasis in 

Secondary Education. She for the most part wants 

to be a Home Economics teacher. She already has a 

certificate in Culinary Arts. 

Question: How does it feel to be a firstgeneration 

college student? 

Answer: I feel proud of myself. I am thankful to 

have the opportunity to do something that no one in 

my family has ever done. I am grateful that even 

though it is hard I know that I can’t give up because 

I know I count on this degree and my family counts 

on my education as well. There is a lot of pressure, 

but it’s worth it. 

Question: What is your favorite thing and least 

favorite thing about college? 

Answer: I love being able to learn new things that 

will make me better in the long run, and also love 

all the activities campus has to provide. My least 

favorite thing is the pressure that comes from being 

a college student, and the deadlines that 

assignments have. 

Question: How do you keep up with the school 

work that you have to do? 

Answer: I write a to do list of all the assignments 

that I need to get done throughout the day, and try 

my very hardest to not get distracted with Netflix. It 

seems to work well for the most part, but can be 

difficult if I ever fall behind. 

Question: What do your parents think about you 

pursuing your education, and being the first one 

to do so? 

Answer: They are for the most part supportive. 

They help me when I am stressed to calm down 

when I call them. It is hard for me and them to be in 

different states than them. I have lived with them 

for 24 years of my life, so it was a big change to 

move to Idaho. We however talk on the phone for a

few hours every week to keep up with each other’s 

lives. 

Question: Who was the teacher that inspired you 

the most when you were deciding to pursue your 

education? 

Answer: Her name was Mrs. Dee and she was my 

high school cooking teacher. She saw my talent and 

love for cooking that I possessed and encouraged 

me to go to the same culinary arts school as her. 

She worked with me and the other students in our 

class to learn different skills in the kitchen to 

perfect them. Because of her cooking was my 

favorite thing to do. I loved it so much that I retook 

the same cooking classes over and over again. I 

was not planning on going to culinary arts school, 

but Mrs. Dee signed me up for a scholarship to the 

local community college. I received the 

scholarship, and ended up attending and receiving 

my culinary arts certificate. 

Question: Was she Mrs. Dee your favorite 

teacher? 

No. she was not. My favorite teacher was my firstgrade 

teacher Mr. Leek. Mr. Leek always had the 

ability to make learning interesting. I remember 

that every morning to help us learn how to spell he 

sprayed shaving cream all over our desks so we 

could make the letters in the shaving cream with 

our fingers. I thought this was weird, but so much 

fun at the same time. He was the only teacher 

that had to call my parents because of my 

misbehavior, but he did it in a very kind way. I 

still see him all the time when I go back home, 

and he always acts so happy to see me. He still 

remembers my name as well, and always asks 

me what I am up to. 

teacher cared about our input in the classroom. I 

also like the way that Mrs. Dee put personal 

attention into observing our methods of cooking, 

and correcting us if needed. Mr. Leek just made 

learning fun in his classroom. He always came up 

with weird but fun ways to teach us the different 

subjects. 

Question: Why did you choose to get your 

bachelor’s degree after you had already 

received your culinary arts certificate? 

Answer: I really love cooking, but did not want to 

be a chef. I thought that it may be a good idea to 

put those talents that I have into teaching. A lot of 

people these days only know how to eat out, and 

only know how to cook using the microwave. It is 

my goal to bring my students the love of cooking 

through teaching them through Home Economics. 

Question: What advice would you give to other 

first generation college students or any college 

students? 

Answer: Don’t give up. There are probably easier 

ways to make money, but college is something that 

improves you, and it will improve your family’s 

lives as well. Your parents may not understand why 

you want to receive your education, but keep 

reassuring them that it will be worth it in the long 

run. They will be proud of you. 

Question: What did you learn from these 

teachers that will have an impact on your 

future teaching? 

Answer: I loved how Mrs. Dee always asked for 

our favorite recipes at the beginning of the 

semester. This made me feel like that the


Unlocking 

3 Steps on how to be an effective classroom manager 

By Alex Kerns 

The classroom can be a scary place if you are not 

prepared. Here are some words to the wise as you 

begin teach each school year. 

1. Set up your classroom before your students even 

arrive. Classrooms need to be organized in such a 

way that it facilitates learning. 

a. Start with arranging your desks in 

order for your students to clearly see 

you when you instruct them. Know that 

there may be some students who need 

to be closer to you or the white board 

for various reasons. 

b. Make sure your classroom is clutter 

free. Students need to have a well 

organized classroom where they can 

easily be directed and not distracted 

with objects that you may have around. 

c. Make a seating chart. If you don’t know 

your students then try to arrange your 

classroom in such a ways by previous 

teacher’s knowledge. If there is a 

student that has a paraprofessional 

make room for them. If you know two of 

your students may be a distraction to 

each other move them to opposite sides 

of the classroom. 

2. Try to have minimum class rules. Less rules 

means better behavior in your classroom. 

that is conducive to their behavior in a 

respectful way. 

3. Do not be afraid to ask for back up. If a student 

needs to have a behavior corrected and it consists 

more than 4 to 6 weeks with that same behavior 

than it may be time to call in for back up. 

a. Ask fellow teachers if they have any 

solutions on what they have done with 

students with similar behaviors. 

b. Call the parents. If the student is not 

improving their behavior, then maybe 

it is time to call his or her parents to ask 

for help and guidance. This may be the 

ticket to help a behavior stop if it is 

practiced both in the classroom and in 

home. 

Don’t be afraid as a teacher to have good 

classrrom management. Set up your plan at 

the beginning and follow through with that 

plan. You can do this! You can have 

successful classroom management if you 

start at the beginning. 

Sources: 

Setting Limits in the Classroom by by Lisa Stanzione; 

Robert J. Mackenzie, First Days of School by Harry J. 

Wong, and pinterest.com 

a. Instruct your class on the rules you 

come up with at the beginning of the 

school year, and remind them 

throughout the year if needs be as well. 

b. Make your rules broad so that various 

things can fit under one school rule. If 

your rule is be respectful then raising 

your hand or not talking while others 

are talking can fit under that rule. 

c. Set up consequences that would be 

fitting if that rule is broken. If a student 

does not do his or her work during 

class time then have them stay in 

during the student’s recess time. 

d. Do not to be too permissive or too 

forceful when carrying out these rules. 

It is your job as a teacher to correct a 

behavior if needed, and do it in a way

From then to now. 

Education is changing 

every day. 

Unlocking 

Special Thanks to: 

Jessica Warner. Jocelyn Nava. 

Kylie Stradling. Alex Kerns. Alida Flores

ED 243 Magazine Project

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