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:: styleswitcher
:: portfolio - products
library activities | web activities and sites - education | websites - business | staff development | student production | action research | logos | other products
:: These products were created for and used in general education classrooms unless otherwise noted. These links open in new windows. Close those windows to return to this page.
:: library activities
:: Elementary Field Experience / artifact report
In the fall of 2007, I was fortunate enough to work with Ms. Marcia Adams, and experienced teacher librarian managing the library media centers at two elementary schools in Jeffco. I learned a lot about being a librarian frm her in those two weeks, and she had a few good things to say about me as well.
:: Adolescent Literature Blog
This Blog was created as a record of books I read and reviewed during my Adolescent Literature class during the summer of 2007. I hope to continue this blog as I work in a school library.
:: Strategic Plan and Policy Manual
During my library internships at Vivian and Pennington Elementary Schools, I created this three year plan and policy manual for the Vivian library media center. Vivian had no such plan or policy manual at the time.
:: Collection Map / artifact report
This collection map was created to show the strengths and needs of the WRMS library collection. A needs assessment was conducted first to determine which curriculum areas this collection map would focus on.
:: Holes Booktalk (2:38, 4.8 MB, requires Quicktime)
I created this digital booktalk in iMovie using images from the film. This is from the perspective of one of the other campers at the camp who didn't quite get so much written about him.
:: Love is a Four Letter Word (website)
This is a thematic unit that I made with Gay Shellhorn and Amber Miskimion focused on love. Activities, assessment, and other ideas are included for your viewing pleasure.
:: web activities and sites - education
:: Wheat Ridge Middle School
I created this site after joining WRMS as the technology teacher in 2005. The site design, logo, and most of the non-portrait images were my creation using Dreamweaver and Fireworks. I also update and maintain the site.
:: WRMS Technology Lab
This is the constantly changing site I built and maintain for my technology classes. This is where I put most of the resources I create for the students to be accessed when they need them. Included are online activities, online tutorials I've created, and links to other resources.
:: Interactive Vowels / project report
This is a website I built for primary and ELA students focusing on the spelling patterns common for long and short vowel sounds. This site has audio support when the "play" buttons are pushed (using Apple QuickTime, more commonly found on the school computers I've worked with than Macromedia Flash). It also features a self-check quiz for the students at the end of the site. I learned a lot about making my products interactive and putting the impetus for learning on the student while creating this product.
:: Bilingual Authors WebQuest / project report
My first real go at making a website (heavens, I have grown...). This bilingual author site is a WebQuest designed to develop higher level thinking in students by giving them an opportunity to research bilingual authors and then compare them. The students create presentations for their classmates to invite one of the authors to their school. The question is, which author? As the students decide, they assume different roles in their teams and work collaboratively to make decisions. This product taught me about giving students the opportunity to learn what they are ready to learn at the time and in the role they have assumed. My students were able to work through this project at their own levels and in their own ways, learning at their own zones of proximal development.
:: websites - business
:: Meandering Threads
This site is for a small quilting business offering a wide variety of services. I created the banner and the site to give the sense of a more modern feel to quilting.
:: Aromatica - Fine Teas and Soaps
This was my first site incorporating an online catalog for selling merchandise. The catalog uses PHP and MySQL to handle customer navigation and purchases through PayPal. The owner of the site has developed an interest in updating and maintaining the site since its creation. I created the logo and the basic navigation, and the catalog was developed by oscommerce.
:: Cornerstone Insurance Associates
An insurance site for a Colorado company. I created everything for this site from the layout to the company logo using Dreamweaver.
:: staff development
:: DERA Growth Spreadsheet Instructional Movie (5:43, 14.1 MB, requires Quicktime) / project report
A QuickTime movie showing how to complete the DERA Growth Excel spreadsheet. Putting student data in a digital format allows for easier storage and viewing. I created this video using Snapz Pro X to show those who may not know their way around Excel just how easy this form is to complete. This was an excellent opportunity for me to offer technology assistance and leadership for the rest of the staff at my schools, and I learned how easy it can be to create a multimedia tool to walk confused people through a process.
:: student production
:: Research Project Presentation (0:58, 3.6 MB, requires Quicktime) / project report
All of my third grade students, regardless of language or reading level, chose topics they wished to learn more about. They came up with questions that they wanted to answer and then went about answering those questions through online and traditional research. They wrote about what they found and downloaded pictures from the internet. This is an example of one of the movies created by a student who reads her written piece as the pictures she found online are presented. The movies were created with iMovie, and the voices were recorded with Sound Studio. I knew that students who did not have grade level reading or writing skills would still be capable of completing the work because of their oral language abilities and imaginations, but I did not know how amazing some of the movies would be until I saw them.
:: action research
:: The Efficacy of Technology in K-5 ELA Instruction / competency report / PowerPoint
Research and practice show that technology can be a powerful tool in language acquisition. The interactive nature of certain technologies is especially conducive to learning, acquiring, and practicing a language. The research that my team did as an early stage of this project guided us in developing the lessons and activities we did with the students. By making the lessons and activities interactive, both with the technology and with each other, the lessons and activities meant so much more to the students. This leads to higher levels of student engagement and learning, both language and content.
:: logos
:: Aromatica - Fine Teas & Soaps
Aromatica combines aromatherapy, teas, soaps, and more for their clientele near Vancouver, British Columbia. I created this logo from scratch using Fireworks while developing their website.
:: Cornerstone Insurance Associates
Cornerstone is an insurance agency in Colorado specializing in church building insurance, but also dealing with other types of insurance. They had no logo previous to this one. I created it using Fireworks.
:: Sixth Avenue Elementary
Sixth Avenue Elementary in Aurora needed a logo for the 2004-2005 school year. I created this logo from scratch using Fireworks, keeping the school mascot and school colors in mind.
:: other products
:: "One Million Dollars" Movie (2:54, 4.2 MB, requires Quicktime)
The students participating in the How Many Can I Get? project above chose to present their information in movie form. This is an example of what they created. They wrote and starred, I filmed and edited. Their researched information is included at the end of the movie. This was also done with iMovie.
:: Picture Books (PowerPoint)
A PowerPoint presentation explaining that a digital camera connected to a standard desktop computer can be the simple technology behind student produced picture books. Students can be featured in the books, can help write the books, and can have the books tailor-made for them to promote English language development, spelling, or sight word development.
:: How Many Can I Get? (PowerPoint)
A PowerPoint presentation explaining an after school program for third graders. This project uses online research, math skills, technology skills, and literacy skills to compare prices of products. Students research product prices, compare them to each other (how many will one million dollars buy?), and create a PowerPoint presentation showing their findings.
:: Graphing with Excel (unit plan)
A three week unit plan for using Excel in an elementary classroom. In this unit, students learn data collection skills and graphing skills using the Chart Wizard in Excel.
:: How Can I Help My Child at Home? (website concept)
A site designed to give information to parents and guardians concerning how they can help their child's learning at home. Included are tips for reading, writing, mathematics, and content areas. This was my first CSS site. The objective of this site is that parents will have a place to look for additional information concerning how they can help their child at home.
:: Pasos (website)
A site for a non-profit organization teaching English to adults in the Denver Metro Area. This site includes links and sublinks to navigate from page to page.
:: Pasos Promo Movie (2:38, 5 MB, requires Quicktime)
A QuickTime movie I filmed and edited for Pasos, an adult ESL program. They now use this movie in their press kit. I filmed this with my Mini DV camera and edited it using iMovie.
:: Portfolio (v2.1) (website)
This was my previous portfolio page. It was created using Fireworks slices and CSS text. It looks great most of the time, but was not very HTML-compliant and exploded on my little brother's AOL browser (then again, is that a bad thing?).
