1st grade

New tech standards and requirements

Oregon Educational Technology Standards (OETS)

Click here to view OETS

The 3 students standards that were most significant to me were 1. communication and collaboration 2. critical thinking, problem solving and innovation 3. creativity and innovation.  Below are some ways that I could apply these in the classroom.  

Communication and collaboration

Blogs and social media are rapidly available to all nowadays.  A tool that is used in everyday life can be a great asset in the classroom.  Communication and collaboration between teachers can help with sharing lesson plans and resources.  I like the idea of having a class blog to share what is going on in the classroom.  This can allow students to keep up to date if they are home sick or let parents know what their children is learning.  Using a google doc for group assignments can allow students to collaborate and communicate with others on a common goal.

Critical thinking, problem solving and innovation

The internet is a vast tool to gather information and products.  There is a lot of useful tools that one can use most notably all the tools Google provides.  There are many software programs that are available on the internet yet some come at a high cost.  After looking into ways to incorporate this standard I found a few websites that would be great to gather ideas.  brain teasers and problem solving.  

Creativity and innovation

Technology in itself is very creative, but there are many ways we can apply this in the classroom.  For example I could do a lesson on volcano's and use the internet to teach the students about them.  I could have the students view videos about volcano's and also have them learn about how to actually make one.  The students will be able to visualize, hear, and find out different things about volcano's.  It will interesting to see and hear students reactions from viewing things like this instead of just reading about them in a textbook.

I think a few of biggest hurdles we face in today's classrooms with implementing these standards are resources and funding.  In the news we here about districts cutting back on budgets and eliminating certain programs.  I believe that technology in the classroom is a high priority and we need to find ways to keep it in the classroom.  Some ways we can overcome some of these challenges is to stress the importance of having technology available to our students.  Also finding ways to fund by use of grants, donations, or budget allocation.

Analyzing Student Data in a Spreadsheet

Many of the assignments in this course introduced me to something new and exciting.  I was somewhat familiar with spreadsheets, but learned a lot of new and useful information that I can implement in my classroom.  I was surprised to find out that it is not very difficult to take existing data and analyze and chart the information.  This tool will be very useful in the classroom.
Here is a link: Analyzing Student Data




Analyzing the data that is presented:
It is obvious to note that there is significant progress from pre to post test for almost all students.  In regards to the one student (Joel) who did worse, it is important to point out that he scored very high pre-test.  It is possible that his absences could have played a role in him scoring less the second time around.  Class time and having the material presented to the class made a impact on the test scores.  I think it is important to stress to students that attendance is important, but we can also look to social media to reach our students to catch them up on class activities.  Recent assignments like screenr, yodio, and class blogs will be useful for students that miss class time due to illness.

screenr - dropbox

This is my presentation showing you how to download and use dropbox.com.  This free service allows you to share and sync data  with other devices.  Your information is also saved on the dropbox.com website.  This service will allow you backup data without worry of losing all your information on your PC/Mac/mobile device.  This tutorial is presented using screenr.

Personal Productivity Tools

 Tinyurl is a invaluable free service that allows users to change a long url into a much smaller, easy to remember url.  The service is easy to use and can be helpful in the classroom.  Some url's tend to be long and hard to remember.  This will allow you to shorten the url so students can more easily access and remember a particular website.  You can go to the website:  tinyurl  and follow the simple directions to create your own. 

             Dropbox allows you to share documents and sync data with other devices like your work computer, cell phone, or I-Pad.  Your information is also saved on the dropbox website.  This is another free service that saves the headache of your computer crashing and losing important information.  This is a great example of a web 2.0 tool that allows you save information safely.  This tool will allow teachers and students a like to save and share documents.  Free to download:  Dropbox

Is yet another free program that allows users to take control of another computer via the internet.  You can connect to any PC or server and share documents or conduct online meetings.  Instead of trying to explain something over the phone or through chat you can visual assist another person from a different computer.  Connecting to another computer simply requires the session ID and password.  You can visit at:  Teamviewer

What is cloud computing and web 2.0?

Cloud computing is valuable service allowing users to store unlimited data and information on different servers through using the internet. It allows users to to access software without installation and access personal files at any computer with internet access. The term cloud computing refers to the information that is stored on different servers at different locations. It is a valuable tool that helps save money and time by relying less on maintenance and infrastruture. The service allows customers to pay as go and you can use as little or as much as you need. You only pay for you or your business requires. I can see this as a wonderful tool in the classroom and at home. It will allow us save information without the stress of losing importnat information.



Web 2.0 is service used through the world wide web that allows users share and collaborate online. Examples include social media sites, networking sites, blogs, wiki's, and other web based services. Google suite which includes a variety of different programs and services is the industry leader in offering free 2.0 products. Check out a list of Google products here: Google products and services.  These types of services is mainstreaming the way people interact and do business online, not to mention save alot of time, money and headaches!

Google Forms Project



This week I was introduced to Google Forms in class.  After doing some research and getting started I was amazed at the ease of use of this tool.  Google forms allow you to put together very professional forms and best yet it is free!  You can choose from over 60 themes and 7 question types. Automatically add responses to a spreadsheet that are connected to your survey. Easily view the collected information and automatically generate sophisticated charts and graphs.  This is a tool that will be very useful in a classroom setting!  Please take a look at our presentation about Google forms:  Google forms presentation
You can also view our survey and review the live form:  form/survey.

I believe this will be a wonderful addition to my tenure as a teacher in my future classroom.  It will most importantly be something that will help me save time with paperwork to allow me to spend more quality time with my students.  The various ways this can be utilized for test and quizzes is great.  The organization this will provide will be of great benefit.  As I said in the beginning it is easy to learn how to use this tool, the instructions were easy to follow.

As we did this presentation this week, I was able to contribute to the group in a few ways.  I first was able to add two questions to our survey/form.  Second I found it easy to add my reflections in our presentation.  I feel our group did a great job communicating and contributing to the assignment.

Research Reflections

My reflections on the videos Shift Happens-Social Media Revolution and Vision 2011-Tech impact on Education. 

I am amazed and excited to see where technology is going these days.  The effect it can have in the classroom was certainly an eye opener.  We can stay connected with our students outside of the classroom and when they move on to highschool and longer.  Here are some significant statisitics that will effect my philosphy of education and my role as an educator.

Facebook right now would be the 3rd largest country.  Connection to research, news, media, peers is right at our fingertips.  The role that would play in the classroom are astounding.  I believe that we are able, through technology, to educate our students more productively.  We can find material and research faster and it can be presented in various ways.  There are a variety of ways people learn, they typically fall into one of these categories: hands-on, visual, or auditory learn and technology covers them all.  One thing that worries me about social media is that sometimes relationships can be fake,  my status update does not define me as a person.  I think we need to find a fair balance between the two!  There is no doubt that there are many valuable resources to be found through technology and transforming the way we learn.  I embrace technology and what it has to offer, but it may be nice to send a letter in the mail every once in while :)

Blogging in Education

While researching blogging as an educational tool, it really stuck out to me the numerous advantages to having it in the classroom!  I am new at blogging and honestly didn't fully grasp the wonderful influences it can have in our lives.  Below are just a few examples of how it can be used in today's classroom at any level.

*Keeps students connected and informed if student is away from school for a period of time.

*Great mentoring or tutoring tool.

*Paperless!! better organization of classroom material.

*Students are able to hold onto work.  I can't tell you how many times my son's homework or projects were either recycled, lost, or thrown away.

*Effective forum for collaboration and discussion for peer groups, questions for the teacher, or help at home with homework.

*Motivates students, especially those who are not regular participants, maybe those who are nervous or a bit shy about speaking in front of the class.


I will certainly be more active in how it can help me and my students in the classroom!

About me

I was was born in Salinas, California and moved to Oregon in 1980 with my family.  A year prior my uncle moved from Salinas to become a vegetable farmer in Aurora, OR which is still strange to me because the Salinas Valley is great for farming.  Anyway, we moved to Aurora to help my aunt and uncle with their farm.  It was a big change from sun to rain and snow, but over the years have gotten used it.  I graduated from North Marion High in Aurora with a class of about 75.  I decided to stick around my parents house while I went to Portland Community College to get my A.A Oregon Transfer degree.  I then decided to venture out and move to Ashland where I would eventually get my B.S. in Psychology in 1998.

After college my main goal was to be a counselor, but I had to pay the bills so I became a waiter at the Olive Garden (still love it!).  After several months I found a job at St. Mary's Home for Boys in Beaverton, OR.  I counseled troubled youth in a residential setting for about 3 years.  It was a very rewarding job and would have loved to stay, but the pay was minimal.  I met my wife at the facility (fellow counselor) which was interesting because we had to keep it a secret from the boys and staff.  At the end of our tenure at the job we became engaged (the staff only knew at that point).  I needed to make more money to support our family so I began a job in sales, little did I know I would be stuck in sales for about 12 years.  From retail, call centers, insurance agent, and phone sales I was never truly happy.  I wanted something more and I always enjoyed working with children, through counseling, volunteering at church.  I am excited to be in this program and have a strong passion for teaching our youth.  I also would love to be a coach at some level, either baseball or tennis.

My wife and I have been married for 11 years next month and we have 2 wonderful boys, 6 years and 2 months.  We reside in Beaverton, OR and just spend a lot of time together.  I enjoy the outdoors and spending time with friends and family.  I look forward to this new challenge and am excited for what the future holds for my and my family!