Tales of a Newbie

As I develop this blog for my IDT 516 class, some the recent additions to my blog have been Bookmarks and RSS feeds. The bookmarks and RSS feeds I have added are associated with my final project. The final project involves a high school unit plan regarding Ivy League schools and the ways they benefited from slavery. The unit leads to a discussion regarding the hot topic of reparations so I have bookmarked many sites that can help students as we work through the unit.

Additionally, as a new secondary education English teacher, I am very open and hungry for ideas to design instruction that will really engage learners and help them reach their educational goals. Therefore, I have also added podcasts I can consult to keep me abreast with ideas, resources and trends within education. Edutopia trends in education seems to be a helpful podcast I would like to stay connected to as well as the feed SAGE Education.

I found myself really scanning and skimming through the readings for Modules 2 and 3. I view the text as a great resource, but it's amazing at how many things were outdated given how much we move from one web tool to another within a matter of a school year. I gained the most from reading the group work of the other students and during my own times of reflection and research.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am highly interested in the culture-based model of instructional design and I am looking forward to implementing this with other teachers that I will work with. My next step is to study the details of this model. Below is a graphic of the culture-based model:

The Beginning

I plan to use this space to share insights and practices as I explore an instructional design strategy called the culture based model of instruction. As I enter into the secondary education field as a high school English language arts teacher, I would like to incorporate this design strategy and see how it works for the students I will work it. 


I am hoping that through connective writing, the process of sharing my insights and experiences with the world around me, I can hear from others, learn from others, and leave a positive impact in the world around me. I believe connective writing can not only enrich MY teaching and learning journey, but it can enrich yours too as we write, think, explore and respond together!


Ms. Be Empowered!