Where I'm From - Poem (draft)

I am from the Maple trees whose leaves shade my front yard, and the sidewalk that leads to my porch,
from sloppy wet kisses, floppy black ears, and the paw prints that stand by my bed every morning to greet me into a new day

I am from the top of Homewood at the edge of Buffalo creek, in the house with brown siding and burgundy shutters,
from Wranglers and Remington's, and the smell of mom's homemade pepperoni rolls in the oven

I am from a worn in glove, and endless nights of pitching to my favorite catcher, dad.
from daisies and Easter lilies down over the hill, and the comfort of the matted fabric of my old stuffed animal, Sam

I am from watching my dad and little brother catch Native Brook trout in the secret streams of Tucker county, and the camp fire that warmed my sister and I as we sat on a rock and ate s'mores

I'm from the ripples of the Cheat river that washed me in the blood, and the versus to Amazing Grace that remind me who lives in my heart and gives me strength everyday.

I am from the sound of a Taylor guitar, and the harmony of my family's voices singing together around the Christmas tree,
from my grandma's words quoting, "She wiggles and giggles and walks with a twist," from the poem she wrote for me

I'm from the eyes of an angle who watches me from heaven; my pap Bernie who loved football and his five kids,
from "Aim small, miss small!" and "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might."

I am from the heart of Poland and the determination of Cherokee Indians, from Metz, Latocha, and Wildman

I'm from parents who taught me what love and happiness looks like, and the hope of a bright future.

I am from all these moments that collect through my life and grow into my memories

My grandma and I at graduation

 

 

                                                       Headed to our camp in Tucker County

                                                       my brother's Native Brook trout

Creating Digital Authors

Three important ideas/things from the reading today are the integration of technology is not moving fast enough, even when teachers have the access to use it, a two week digital writing camp found the importance and benefits of using technology by assessing how well students were engaged, motivated, and crafty, and there are many different forms of use in technology, but the most important thing I learned from the reading is that when students are giving access to technology, it encourages them to become engaged and enthusiastic digital learners.

Where I am From

 

 

Where was the picture taken?  - In Tucker County on the bank of the Horseshoe river

Who took the picture? - My aunt Kristie

Why were the people in the photo gathered? - My brother and sister was just baptized in the river.

How are they related? - This is my immediate family (mom, dad, brother, and sister)

Why were they together at this moment? - My siblings were just baptized

What were they doing? - Standing and talking on the bank before the picture was taken

If possible stand and look out of a least three of the windows and record what you see.

I see an old wooden fence painted white with vines curling in and out of the openings. There are birdhouses displayed though out our neighbor's yard, and a soon to be garden that will start growing tomatoes, green peppers, and cucumbers in the spring and summer. To my right stand two Dogwood trees. At there base are three circular stepping stones that lead to my other neighbor's porch. Directly in my front yard are two Maple trees that are perfectly symmetrical to the right and left of my house I also see my brown mailbox with a burgundy flag... In the foreground are the hills and back roads that make up the rest of the town.

Although this picture is a little dark, this is my back yard. It's my favorite view because I have had so many memories here. Many nights were spent sitting by the fire pit eating hotdogs and playing the guitar. We also fish and swing out over the creek from our tree swing.. It's also the best sled riding spot around! (minus the trees)

My house consists of three bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, two bathrooms, and a basement that looks like a den with a big TV on one end and a laundry room/dad's work table on the other. Most of my house is decorated with old country style decorations. My mom also has tons of Longerburger baskets that are set up all around the house. We like to burn Yankee candles, so most of the time it smells like pine trees or some kind of country living scent that I never can quite place.. Either one smells good to me! My dad has the basement decked out with beaver hides and mounts of a bobcat he trapped a couple years ago and a buck from when he was a teenager. We also have around ten bows (some long, some compound) that hang from the wall on the other side of the basement.

Try to find out who built your house. How old is it? Does it have any unusual architectural qualities? Who owned your house before you lived there? - Harold and Alta Efaw built my house in the 1970s. It has two fire places, and two arched doorways. Irene Reppard owned the hose before we lived here.

Historical events - On November 20, 1968, An explosion took place in No. 9 mine in Farmington, WV. This explosion took the lives of 78 miners. 19 of those of the dead were never found. The cause of the explosion was never determined, but several laws were passed to protect miners because of this disaster.

Mannington is known for its history in the oil and mining industry. It was once a very prosperous town and most families that lived there were wealthy.. That's one of the things I love about Mannington.. most of the houses are actually labeled a historic building, so every summer the families that currently live there have an open house day where everybody from town can walk around and get a little history brief on who lived there, what they did, and when the house was built. Most of them are filled with spiral staircases and wrap around porches with bay windows and circular rooms that give the house almost a castle like feel. It's almost crazy to think about how such a little place that's considered to be in the middle of nowhere used to be such a booming town.

 Answer the following questions on your blog:

• Who lived in your house with you as a child? - My mom, dad, brother, sister, and two dogs
• How many brothers or sisters lived there? - Two, a brother and a sister
• Can you describe your father or mother as you remember looking at them when you were small? - I've never seen my dad in a tie. He always wears sweatshirts and an old pair of jeans. His hair used to be dark brown, but now he has one streak of grey starting at the peak of his hairline. He usually has a goatee and camouflage ball hat on. He hunts all the time, so he usually smells like the woods. My mom is taller than me with short blonde hair. We look A LOT alike.. In fact, most people can tell she's my mom even before I introduce her to them. She has big cheeks when she smiles and her teeth a really white. (I'm jealous!) She's also really talkative and has a big family.      
• Who visited your house when you were young? - mostly my extended family and my parent's friends.
• Any relatives remembered? Grandparents or Aunts and Uncles? - I have a really big family. I talk and visit with my mom's side of the family more often than my dad's side because they all live in Mannington, but I still stay in contact with my dad's side too. I mostly see them on the holidays.
• Who were your favorite cousins? - I have too many to pick favorites! But I am closer with my cousins Kailee, Kurt, and Taylor, who are all close to my age.
• Who were your neighbors? - Lorain, Linda, and the Bonell family  
• Did you have any favorite teachers? - Yes! Mss. Yoho, Mr. Metz (my uncle), and Mrs. Petrey
• Who was the best cook in the family? - It was a tie between my mom and dad. They usually cook together.. My aunt Pat is an awesome cook too. 
• Who was the smartest, richest, kindest, or most religious? - All of my mom's family is Baptist and I consider everyone in my family kind.   
• Did anyone in the family have some unusual characteristics? -  My sister can sing. She sings gospel songs for churches and the National Anthem for sporting events around the state. (mostly colleges and high schools)  

7. Interview an older family member (mother, father, grandfather/mother, aunt, uncle) the following questions?
I interviewed my mom -

• Can you describe the house in which you lived when you were a child? - The house that my mom lived in was right beside the park in Mannington. It was small and white with brown shutters. The house consisted of two bedrooms, a living room, one bathroom, and a kitchen. There were five kids in the house, so they all shared a bedroom. Although sometimes the small house could seem crowded, the memories and stories that they shared were unforgettable. Because the house was right beside the pool and the park, mom mostly remembers playing with her sister, Jami and watching football games.
• Do you remember the room in which you slept as a child? - yes. my mom shared a room with three sisters and a brother. She shared a bed with my aunt Jami.
• Can you describe the houses in your neighborhood? - most of the houses were either about the size of my mom's house, or a little bigger. most of them all had porches where you could find everybody sitting in the evenings.  
• Where was your favorite place to visit when you were a child? - My mom liked to visit Fairmont to go school shopping when she was little.
• Where did you go to school? What was in the classrooms? - She went to Mannington Middle school, and then North Marion High. The classrooms usually consisted of a blackboard, sometimes an overhead projector, and individual desks that all faced the front of the room.
• Where did you go to worship? - At the First Baptist Church in Mannington
• Where did you go to shop for food or clothes? - There used to be department stores through out Mannington, my mom and her siblings would get two shirts, a pair of jeans, and a belt a piece.
• Where did you go for fun and recreation? - My mom lived beside the Mannington Pool and park, so she usually played at the pool and the park, but my grandpa always played whiffle ball in her back yard.  
• Where did you go when you wanted to hide? - in the bathroom
• Did your family ever move? - No
• Describe the house you lived in when you were first married. - She lived in an apartment in pleasant valley with my dad.
• What kind of utensils did you have in the kitchen? - they were all silver with flowers and vines in bordered around the ends.  

Where I'm From Journal

items - a bow and arrow, a bathing suit, a homemade pepperoni roll, the buffalo creek, a softball glove, pine trees, tree stands, lawn mowers, camp, camp fires, fishing poles, 22s  

product names - Kubota tractors, Wranglers, Remington, Wilson  

Burgundy shutters and tan siding, steep hills, tall trees, my squirrel dog's cage

Daisies, buttercups, dandelions

Polish, Indian, English


       

Teachers are Designers

Teachers are the designers of the student's learning environment. Teachers are responsible for coming up with new ideas that engage and challenge kids to understand concepts through multiple strategies. Without a teacher's incorporation of multiple teaching strategies, students would not make the advancements that they need to become successful in the future.  
It is important for teachers to use Universal Design for Learning to maximize learning for all students. By covering diverse teaching strategies, students are able to engage in areas of learning that will help them understand broder subjects. This is also a concept concentrated on leaving no children left behind. When teachers have to learn how to teach a group of students who are very diverse, he or she might have to accommodate particular needs that students might have. With the UDL, teachers are more ready for those kinds of challenges.

Give an example of how a past memoriable (good or bad) learning experienced was designed or NOT designed using each of the 3 principles of UDL:
Principle 1:To support recognition learning, I can remember using flashcards that were color coded to help me memorize specific material.
Principle 2:To support strategic learning, I can remember working on a projected where we had to make a plan of how we were going to make a marble take exactly 2 minutes to land on the ground when we dropped it, collaborate our ideas together, and execute those ideas to see if our plan worked. That kind of strategy was very helpful when learning how kinetic and potential energy works.
Principle 3:To support affective learning, I can remember memorizing the states by incorporating the names into a song. That type of pattern helped me remember... I still sing that song when I have to think of them.