Journalentry2

Figured out how to add a clock to the Navigation menu. Simple item, just copy and past the code...but still took me over 2 hours! Biggest mistake I made at first was trying to copy& paste code directly. Then tried editing code myself by adding and as wikitext without results. Finally tried editing code to change size to no avail. Then spent too much time trying to choose a different clock like this, etc. media type="clocklink" key="5005-green.swf" arg0="GMT-0400&"
 * Tuesday, January 9**

As I "wasted" time trying to figure out how to get the clock to work, it made me realize how often I get sidetracked on something that itsn't totally relevant but I become obsessed with. I'm just not happy if I can't get something "simple" to work. I'm very willing to give up on something complicated however:-) I wonder what strand of the MI continuum this quality would be reflected? Perhaps it's more of a character trait (or flaw) than a strand?

Hopefully I'll have time to work on the course more tonight but looks like work's going to be overwhelming very soon....

After finding examples online of past student work of electronic portfolios, I'm not too sure if I'm using the proper approach for this by creating a Wikispace. The good thing is I`ve learned quite a bit about how to use this site after just a couple days of usage! I'm now leaning towards using Blogger for my daily journal and perhaps create an actual website for everything else. For now I'll continue using Wikispaces so I'll be better able to help fellow teachers interested in using this resource. If necessary I'll transfer everything over to Blogger.

One comment that really struck home in tonight's reading was the statement: "This inventory is meant as a snapshot in time - it can change! " (http://surfaquarium.com/MI/inventory.htm) So true! I know that I've evolved over the years, from being ultray shy and introverted as a youngster to being wild and extroverted during my university years. In many ways I've started to swing back to the introverted again, not due to shyness, but more based on my personal life. The majority of the people I work with, deal with, play with, etc. focus their discussion on family life, what their children are doing, etc. This is difficult for me to participate in...as others brag "My son got 2 goals at hockey last night!" it just doesn't feel right for me to say "Dylan was able to say the word 'Ski" correctly and he's using more 3 word sentences." So, I tend to be much more quiet during social occasions than my wild university party days. I know that many of my responses to the MI inventories I've seen online are different now than what they would have been 10 and then 20 years ago.

The other statements that I truly appreciated from that same site are: Truly enjoyed the "The Story of Jamie " by Waler Mackenzie. It reinforced what I had learned over my teaching career; the more variety used in the classroom, the better the results. The more online courses I take during this program the more I realize that all these fancy terms such as constuctivist learning, multiple intelligences, etc, are merely novel terms to describe a lot of common sense and simple things that teachers do on a regular basis but just don't realize that they're already doing. I appreciated this story so much because I'm a natural story teller in the class and teach best when telling stories and learn best when reading stories. Much more interesting than reading some of the gobbledegook spewed on Mackenzie's other pages.
 * Everyone has all the intelligences!
 * You can strengthen each intelligence!
 * MI is meant to empower, not label learners!
 * Before I started teaching and before I had a child those statements would not have registered with me at all. I'd have passed them by without a second glance. They truly hit home to me today.

Aha! I've learned more about Dylan (my son) today. He's so hyper and physically active that I didn't need to be told that he was a kinesthetic learner, but finally, after reading http://www.mcmel.org/erica.mi/spatial.html site I realized his other strength. It's often so frustrating because he's so weak in virtually all areas I couldn't really identify his "MI strength" until I read this site. The examples given here describe him very well, especially This means that his future teachers need to be told to emphasize their use of activities that help spatial learners....
 * "I can see pictures when my eyes are closed,"
 * "I am very sensitive to differences in color,"
 * "I like to use photographic equipment to record the things I see,"
 * "My dreams are very vivid and realistic,"
 * "I don't generally need maps, I can find my way around,"
 * "I like reading books that have lots of illustrations."