Peru EDU 552 Class Introduction

Welcome to my class blog.  I'm Melanie Hudgens and I am starting my 6th year of teaching.  I am originally from San Diego, California and attended the University of Southern California.  My first bachelor's degree is in Exercise Science - I wanted to be a pediatric physical therapist.  Instead, I ended up working in mortgage banking for several years, but then met a great guy, who happened to be in the military.  We moved to some really great places such as Hawaii, Virginia, Kansas, and finally Nebraska.  I have two girls, one in high school and one in college.  I was a stay at home mom for 12 years but decided to pursue a Middle Grades Education degree from Peru State because I wanted to teach math.  I really enjoy using technology in my classroom, and am excited to be taking my third and final technology class for a certificate in addition to my Master's degree that should be finished this coming spring.  I am currently a 7th grade math teacher working for Bellevue Public Schools.  While this blog is for professional uses, I have created my own website for my students, and last year, I created blogs for the English classes that I taught.

With respect to technology, my district offers free professional development courses in several areas. I would really like to work as a district trainer some day, and have learned so much about how to engage students in the classroom using technology.  I am not afraid to try anything, and the trainers are willing to co-teach as well as plan lessons.  I have used hand held clickers, Mobi, and iPods, and am really trying hard to "flip" as many elements as I can in the classroom.  I was so inspired by the work that the district trainers do that I created my own professional development course about Edmodo.  I am a huge fan of Macintosh but also have P.C. products.  In my first teaching position, I had to crash course the entire iLife products in order to teach Broadcasting.  My P.C. currently has Vista for Windows on it, but we would like to upgrade it soon.

As I mentioned earlier, I have almost completed my Master's degree.  While it's great to receive more pay, I can honestly say that I have learned more about teaching and myself by taking these classes.  Eventually, I would like to either be a district technology trainer or perhaps teach online college courses.  I think I would also enjoy working with non-traditional high school students that also want to take online classes.

You can follow me on Twitter: SoCalDreamr2 - there are many great educators out there that I follow that offer wonderful ideas; I also have some good math and education boards on Pinterest and have started using Good Reads to keep track of books that I would like to read or have read.  Last year I also created a Scoop.it! page for my English students and for technology ideas.  Please feel free to follow me.

EDUC 553 Curriculum Unit Link

Here is another way to access my curriculum unit.https://sites.google.com/site/hudgenscurriculumproject/

The Power of Words

Thanks to my colleague Brent Catlett for sharing this recently.

EDUC 553 Using the Internet Class

Hello!  Thanks for visiting my blog. I originally made this blog for a professional development course that my district offers.  By the end of January, I will also have taken another professional development course to help me  teach my English class using a class blog.  I look forward to learning from each and everyone of you. On my "Favorite Links" list, there are a few of my other classmates with some great blogs. Feel free to visit any of those for background ideas and fantastic websites.  My blog continues to develop as I see and read new things on the Internet and I'm sure yours will too.  Scroll down below to read more about me and to see information about the classes I teach.  Have a great day!

Final Thoughts

I have really enjoyed the Blogging 101 class.  Since I will be transitioning to English Writing next year, I can see many useful ways to incorporate a class blog or to encourage my students to create their own in my classes.   I think students and parents will enjoy visiting the blog for classroom information as well.

Posting pictures and videos is also super easy - I need to take my camera to school more often.  There are so many fun gadgets, and I have seen some fabulous blogs that my peers have created.  Learning from a variety of people has allowed me to become more creative by learning how to download templates from other online resources, and ways they will use in their blogs in the classroom.  Allowing student writers to incorporate other types of creativity into their writing may help them to enjoy it more - who knows?

My blog is definitely a work in progress and I have already created a separate one for my English class.

Outside the Classroom Walls - School Tour

At the end of the year, the Traveler team went to the Western Durham Heritage Museum and then took a walk over the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge.  At the museum, we viewed the Pulitzer Prize photo exhibit, toured trains, and most of the students enjoyed the concession stand which served coca-cola in "old-fashioned" glass bottles, popcorn, and candy cigarettes.

Students interacting with the bronze statues.

Inside an "old-fashioned" train.

The tour guide provides some an interesting facts about 19th century life in Omaha.

One of our students enjoying an exhibit.

Students have fun in the tepee.

The best part of the day was buying Coca-Cola in a bottle and popcorn.

We can be in Nebraska and Iowa at the same time!

Students walk the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge.

A view of downtown Omaha from the bridge.

The Travelers of Lewis and Clark enjoying a beautiful day and field trip.

Blogger note: 1) I am not good at taking photos while I am teaching, so I don't have any of our school.  2) Thanks to John Kawula for sharing field trip pictures. 

Student Activities

This last year seemed like one of my best years as far as getting to know my students.  My home life can be pretty demanding with my husband travelling, the usual kid activities, and the fact that I need some one to care for my 14 year old daughter with Down syndrome after school.  I have been able to tutor students on occasion, but some of my more athletic students have wanted me to attend their Lewis and Clark sports competitions.  I am proud to say that this last year, I finally made it to a track meet.  What an awesome event and I got to see my students from last year and this year compete.  When we returned to school, I went and spoke to each of these students to let them know I was proud of their abilities.  Thanks to Ann Feldmann for getting me to the track meet which by the way came in the middle of shopping for graduation parties.  Fun times!   One of the parents posted this video and in turn, I posted it to my Edmodo account in case students didn't know it was out there.  It sparked good conversation and promoted our Lewis and Clark cohesiveness.