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    My mission and philosophy statement is to place students first by entrusting them to be responsible and knowledgeable leaders, readers, and goal setters.  I endeavor to accomplish this in a safe and caring atmosphere characterized by the following Life Skills of integrity, respect, positive attitude, personal responsibility and personal best.  Integrity is being honest, fair and trustworthy.  Having the courage to do what is right.  Respect is being considerate of yourself and others.  Positive Attitude is choosing to think and act positively.  Personal Responsibility is accepting responsibility for the choices that we make.

    In my classroom I believe in “Life Skills”.  As a part of this philosophy, I believe in Discipline with Dignity.”  I believe that “Discipline with Dignity” can be attained by delivering logical consequences when students choose not to accept their responsibilities.  Logical consequences are directly related to the misbehavior.  Examples of logical consequences are losing a privilege when it is abused, apologizing to someone for being inconsiderate, ect...  In my classroom I will demonstrate and teach the Life Skills/Classroom Responsibilities to students and make sure they clearly understand what is expected of them.  If a student does not accept their responsibilities, the student is choosing to misbehave and thus making a decision to accept the consequence(s) for the way they have acted and choice(s) they have made.  Students will succeed or fail to the expectations that parents and teachers set for them.  Students learn best when faced with authentic challenges, choices, and responsibility in their own education.  Students should know what is acceptable behavior and the consequences which will arise when the rules are broken.  Although a school is no alternative for a strong, stable home, it is a place to foster accountability, responsibility, respect and caring.

    It is imperative to keep communication open between parents and teachers.  It is also important to keep parents as informed as possible concerning their children, especially when they do something positive.  I will send a minimum of two positive letters home and make one positive phone call every week to parents of students that are following the Life Skills.  I know that as a teacher it is all too easy to make a phone call home when a student is not following the rules or procedure and not often enough pointed out when they do follow them.  For that reason I focus on the positive in my classroom and take every possible opportunity to point these things out to my students and their parents. Parents are always welcome and encouraged to come visit my classroom.

    My desire is to ensure that my students’ classroom experience is one where maximum learning can take place in a pleasant, positive atmosphere.  Also, to help students gain the knowledge, skills and positive attitude toward themselves and others that will empower them to solve problems, think creatively, continue learning and develop a maximum potential for leading productive, fulfilling lives in a complicated and changing society.

OBJECTIVE:
To seek a challenging position as an elementary education teacher where I will be given the opportunity to teach students to love education and help them blossom into responsible, educated, young adults.  This will be a position of responsibility where my experience, education, knowledge and abilities can be effectively utilized.

EDUCATION:

Northern Arizona University    Attendance:  August 2001 - Present
                                               Certificate:    Elementary Education
Rio Salado                              Attendance:  January 2001 - May 2001
                                                Credits:        US Constitution & Arizona Constitution
University of Phoenix              Attendance:   January 1998 – October 1999
                                                 Degree:         Bachelor of Science/Business Management
One Day Seminars                    Title/Date:     New Art of Hiring Smart, Profiles Int. (2/96)
.06 Continuing Education Units        Title/Date:    Windows, Fred Prior (8/95)
per class attended                          Title/Date:    Word, Fred Prior (5/95)
                                                 Title/Date:    Alcohol & Drug Testing Regulations, Western Pathology
                   Consultants (3/95)
                                                 Title/Date:    WordPerfect, Fred Prior (11/94)
Central Arizona College           Attendance:   August 1990 – December 1992
                                                 Degree:         Associate of Arts/Business
University of Arizona              Attendance:    June 1990 - August 1990
New Start Summer Program     Credits:         College Algebra
San Manuel High School          Attendance:   August 1985 – May 1990
                                                 Diploma:      General Studies

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP:
Current member of the National Science Teachers Association

COMPUTER PROGRAM EXPERIENCE:
PC Knowledge                     Visual Pro Network                  Windows
Microsoft Office                   Microsoft Works                      Microsoft Publisher
WordPerfect                        MicroGrade                              Internet
Accelerated Reader               Starr Math                               Starr Reader
PrintMaster Platinum            Typing Tutor                           Goldmine  ESP

PERSONAL ASSETS AND QUALIFICATIONS:
Bi-Lingual (Spanish)              Great Personality                       Fast Learner
Not Scared of Hard Work      Get Along Well with Others       Team Player
Work Well With Children       Great Organizational Skills         Exceptional Communication Skills
Extremely Responsible           Work Well Under Pressure        Dedicated Employee
Extraordinary People Skills     Have Patience                          Adore Children

CURRENT EMPLOYMENT'S:
Name of Company:  Mammoth San Manuel Unified School District (August 2000 – Current)
Position Held:  Computer Teacher (Avenue B Elementary School)
Job Description:  I teach a computer's class and keyboarding class for all of the 4th, 5th, & 6th grade students in the school.  I not only teach them the necessary keyboarding skills but also the required skills necessary to successfully complete the necessary assignments to succeed in my class.  They are taught how to type basic form letters, how to do research using the Internet and the provided CD-ROM's, and a variety of different programs such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Publisher, and Microsoft Power Point.  I am responsible for setting up all of the user names and passwords on the network for our school.  I maintain the information on the network and do the daily backups.  I do all of the testing of the students in my computer lab to help determine what their reading and math levels are.

Position Held:  Member of the District's Technology Committee:
Job Description:  As a computer teacher in the school district I am automatically a member of the districts technology committee.  The technology committee meets to determine the technological needs of the district.

Position Held:  Community Schools Employee (September 2000-Current)
Job Description:  I am currently an after school homework help teacher.  I help 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students with any homework they may have.

PAST  EMPLOYMENT'S:
Position Held:  Community Schools Summer School Teacher (June 2001-August 2001)
Job Description:  I taught reading, math, and writing to 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students that were put into the summer enrichment program.  The program was created to help students that may have been struggling in these areas during the school year and to help keep things fresh in their minds and to help prepare them for the upcoming school year.

Position Held:  School Summer Librarian  (June 2001 - August 2001)
Job Description:  I opened and closed the library during the summer to make it possible for students to continue to check library books out during their summer vacation.  I also administered the Accelerated Reader exams to students as the completed reading their book.

Position Held:  Community Schools Jr. High Computer Teacher  (September 2000-May 2001)
Job Description:  I ran the computer lab at the junior high level for the after school program so that the students could use computers as a supplemental research tool to learn about the different countries the program was teaching them about.

Author: Yvonne Maestas
Subjects: PowerPoint Presentation on Country
Learning Level:  6th Grade

Snapshot:
    Brief description of the learning goals of the unit:  Students will research a country of their choice and present their finding in a 10 slide PowerPoint presentation to their classmates that includes an introduction and conclusion with 8 main subject areas.
    Why the students will be doing this unit:  So that they can learn how to do research using the Encarta Encyclopedia on CD Rom, the Internet, and so that they can learn how to use the program Microsoft PowerPoint.
    What the students will be studying:  Information on the country of their choice, research techniques using the Encarta Encyclopedia on CD Rom, the Internet, and the use of Microsoft PowerPoint.
    What the holistic overview of the unit is:  PowerPoint presentations on countries of their choice
    Invitation:
    Stated in the form of a question.  "Don't you want to be able to present your reports to your classmates in a way that will capture their interested and get them excited about what they are learning?"
    How you can help students ......    You can help student by telling them that Power Point is a great program to use and that they will really enjoy learning about their countries.  Emphasize to them that once they have learned how to use Power Point that they will probably use it throughout their educational careers and possibly even in their work careers to present reports to educators, students, co-workers, and future employers.  You can help students by teaching them step-by-step how to use the Encarta Encyclopedia on CD Rom and providing them with samples of a completed presentation so that they know exactly what the expectations for a completed assignment will look like.
    How you can encourage your students .....We can encourage students by being available to answer all of their questions throughout every aspect of the assignment.  We can encourage students by telling them that the assignment is actually much easier than it looks.  Finally we can encourage students by telling them that we know that they can do the assignment successfully..
    Situations:
    Where the activities will take place:  In the computer lab/or classroom if computer lab is not available.
    How long the students have to work on the activities:  1 hour per week for approximately 12 weeks total.
    Interactions:
    Who talks and works with whom:  Students are to work together with a partner and help each other when their partner needs it.
    How students and teacher work together:  Students will work with teacher by asking questions whenever they do not understand something or whenever they need clarification.  Teachers will work with students by making themselves available for questions, explanations, demonstrations, and for just general support and observations of student progress.
    Who initiates interactions: Both students and teachers can initiate interaction whenever necessary.

Standards:

1T-E1  Communicate about technology using developmentally appropriate and
    accurate terminology

PO1  Use basic vocabulary related to technology (e.g., FireWire, USB, parallel, serial,
    scanning, digitizing, OCR).
PO2  Use basic vocabulary related to systems (e.g., network, infrastructure, Internet,
    Intranet, LAN, WAN, Ethernet, firewall, server, TCP-IP)

1TE2  Demonstrate increasingly sophisticated operation of technology
    components

PO1 Retrieve and save information remotely (e.g., network servers, Internet, Intranet,
    peripheral devices)

PO3  Demonstrate functional operation of technology devices (e.g., presentation devices,
    digital cameras, scanners, document cameras, scientific probes)

2T-E2 Exhibit legal ethical behaviors when using technology and information
    and discuss consequences of misuse

PO1  Follow the rules for deciding when permission is needed for using the work of others

3T-E1  Use formatting capabilities of technology tools for communicating and illustrating

PO1  Use word processing editing tools to revise a document (e.g., cut and paste,
    tabs and margins, font size, font style, delete and undo, selecting, spell
    check, click and drag)

PO2  Design a word processing document with graphical elements (e.g., clip art, digital
    photographs, symbols, using text wrap, cropping, sizing, drawing tools)

3T-E2  Use a variety of technology tools for data collection and analysis

PO1  Use technology devices(s) to collect and record data (Internet)

3T-E3  Publish and present information using technology tools

PO1  Design and create a multimedia presentation or Web page using multiple
    digital sources (e.g., form camera, video, scanner, CD-ROM, Internet)

PO2 Publish or present the above production

4T-E2 Use technology tools for individual and collaborative writing,  communication and publishing activities to create curricular related products for audiences inside and outside the classroom

PO1 Plan, design and present an academic product using technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation software, digital cameras, scanners, projection devices).

4T-E3  Collaboratively use telecommunications and online resources

PO3  Present an academic product to share data and /or solutions (e.g., Web site, multimedia presentation, video)

Assessments:
    The criteria that will be used to evaluate student outcomes?  Students will be assessed on a daily basis by observations.  They will also be formally assessed as they turn in written out slides for teacher to grade.  Final assessment and observation will be as students are presenting their completed projects to their classmates during their PowerPoint presentations.
    How students, teachers, parents, and administrators know that learning standards are reached and exceeded:  Students, teachers, parents, and administrators will know that learning standards are reached and exceeded by looking at the completed projects and comparing what it takes to complete such a project to the required learning standards to be taught.

Tools:
    Required Technology: The required technology necessary to complete this project will include but is not limited to

• Computer access
• Internet access
• Encarta Encyclopedia on CD Rom
• Printer
• Microsoft PowerPoint Software
• Microsoft Clip Art Software (or any other clip art software that is available)

• Folders with each group name on it for students to keep all of the material they have researched in.
• Highlighters for students to highlight the 3 most important sentences for each one of the slides they are going to write.
• 10 blank PowerPoint slide printed for each group to be able to hand write their slides to be turned in for teacher to check bullets for accuracy and plagiarism.
• Thesaurus to help students when putting sentences into their own words.
• Dictionary for students to look up the meaning of words they don't know.
• Pencils and erasers for each student.

A DETAILED description of what the students will be doing:
1.  The students will be divided into groups of two.
2. The students will choose a country of their choice to do their report on.
3. The students will choose 8 topics of the choices provided to do their research on.
4. The students will go to the computer and research the 8 topics they have chosen using
    the Encarta Encyclopedia on CD Rom and on the Internet.
5. Students will print out the pages off of the Encarta/Internet on the 8 sections that
    they chose to base their research on.
6. Students will read each one of the printouts and highlight the three most important
    sentences that they found on each one of the sections that they printed.
7  Students will put the three sentences they have highlighted into their own words and
    handwrite the new sentence on a printed out slide (that will be provided to them) in
    bullet form.  There must be 3 bullets per slide.
8. When the slide is written out with the title of the section they printed in the title box
    and with the three bullets of the sentences they put into their own words the student
    will turn the slide into the teacher so that the teacher can grade it to make sure that
    each sentence is accurate, makes sense, and put into the students own words.
9. Before the student hands the slide in he/she will staple it to the printout they got off of
    the Encarta CD Rom or the Internet so that the teacher will have the original
    information to compare the handwritten bullets to.
10.When all three bullets have been approved by the teacher the slide is done and ready
    to be typed in Microsoft PowerPoint.
11.The first thing students are to do is create a new presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint.
12.When all ten slides are built students can then add their pictues to each slide.
13.The introduction slide must have a picture of the students chosen countries map or flag.
14.When all pictures have been inserted students will then create their custom
    backgrounds for each slide.
15.When backgrounds have been created students will then apply their slide transitions.
16.When slide transitions have been created students will then apply custom animation
    and sound effects to each slide.
17.When custom animation and sound effects have been created on each slide students
    will then customize their bullets.
18.When bullets have been customized students will set timing to each slide.
19.If time permits students call also add custom video's, music, or scanned pictures to
    completed presentations.
20.Students will print their their completed presentation to use as notes that shows 3-6
    slides per page.
21.Students may bring a blank VCR tape or diskette to record their PowerPoint
    presentation on the day they present it to their classmates.
22.Students will present their PowerPoint presentation to their classmates.  (Parents are
    welcome to attend class on the day their child presents).

URLs
        Some Internet sites that can be used by students to support the learning environment include:
http://www.yahooligans.com/
http://www.yahooligans.com/Around_the_World/Countries/
http://d4.dir.scd.yahoo.com/regional/countries/
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/geography.html
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
http://www.countryreports.org/
http://www.economist.com/countries/
http://www.state.gov/www/regions/independent_states.html
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/maps/
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html
http://www.geohive.com/
 
 

http://www.nau.edu/library/
    A link to the NAU library at the Cline Library. Flagstaff, AZ.

http://www.asu.edu/lib/
    A link to the ASU library (main campus)

http://www.arizona.edu/shared/libraries.shtml#libraries
    A link to the U of A library -

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/html/cpu-cri.htm
     A link to articles about telecommunication crimes -

http://www.usgs.gov/
    Excellent science lesson plans

http://www.edhelper.com/
    Crosswords, Math Sheets, Reading Lessons

http://www.abcteach.com/
    Printable worksheets for student teachers

http://www.ed.gov/
    U.S. Department of Education.

http://www.pbs.org/kcet/publicschool/
    You can explore the American Public Education System.

http://www.edgate.com/
    Internet for research.

http://www.mhln.com/
    Preview textbooks and sample lesson plans.

http://www.abcteach.com/
    Offers educational help for teachers, students, and parents regarding student progress.

http://www.innovativeclassroom.com/

http://www.middleschool.net/
    A web site built by teachers for teachers.

http://dnie.com/
    This web site offers weekly lesson plans intended for using newspapers and other
    public information periodicals for educational purposes.

http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/
    It has great lesson Science plans for teachers and parents.

http://dir.lycos.com/Reference/Education/
    Answers any question about education.

http://www.education-world.com/
    Lots of info. for teachers to use

http://www.educationindex.com/
    Annotated guide to the best links on the web for educators.

http://wwww.google.com
    Search engine

http://www.alternativeparenting.com/lesson_plans/K_through_3/science_nature/dinosaurs.htm
    This page is targeted toward K-3rd graders, to introduce them to dinosaurs.

http://www.kinderart.com/multic/yarn.htm

http://www.sitesforteachers.com/

http://askeric.org/Virtual/Lessons/

http://www.abcteach.com/

http://www.lessonplans.com/

http://www.discovery.com/stories/science/sciencetitanic/sciencetitanic.html

http://www.scholastic.com/index.asp

http://www.lessonplanspage.com/

http://www.abcteach.com/Portfolios/portfolioTOC.htm

http://www.siteforteachers.com/search.cgi?c=computers&sp=internet

http://www.epals.com/
    Wonderful web site for setting up monitored e-mail accounts for you students.
 
 

self-portrait Assignment

Newsletter Assignment

Storyboard Assignment

Power Point Presentation

Grade Book
    I created a hard copy of a Grade Book Assignment, which included using Microsoft
    excel to create a Grade Book Layout that meets the following criteria:

    A centered heading with colored text, bold and italic
    Columns for each student's name, all grades, total, grade average,  percentage,
    and corresponding letter grade
    Ten rows of student data

Record Database Assignment
    I created a hard copy of a Database for Ten Students, which included creating a
   database using Microsoft Access for 10 hypothetical students.  I included all of the
   required fields that were required in my database.