Final Project Links

 Christine McKenna

Curr 501

Final Project Links 

Summer 2024

Final Project Narrative

Final Project - LOOM

Final Project Presentation Slides

Final Narrative - Teach Like a Ninja and Don't Ever Look Back!

Christine McKenna

Curr 501

Final Narrative

Summer 2024

Teach like a Ninja” and Don’t Ever Look Back!

      My story began by accident. That’s right! I was in an accident. The BEST accident according to my

parents. I was followed by two other accidents that I fondly call my brothers. The doctor told my dad that

I was a boy; the firstborn son he always wanted. NOPE! April Fools! That’s right, my birthday is on

April Fool’s Day. That birthday meant that I was going to have to live with a lot of pranks and

practical jokes. The upside of so many pranks is that I love to laugh (usually at myself) and I have thick

skin (not much bothers me). These are two of the qualities that I need to be a teacher. At the time,

of course, I didn’t know how much I would need those qualities in all aspects of my life. 

      Growing up I played with Barbie dolls, sports, and school with my stuffed animals. I was always

the teacher of course! My dad was a workaholic not because he wanted to be one. So my mom took us

everywhere. My dad was always there to read a bedtime story. My mom was always there to make sure

we experienced everything including sports. She introduced me to sports and the game of softball. 

     I didn’t always love school. I often felt terrible about it because I wasn't the smartest or the best at

school. By the time I got to high school, math was the enemy but sports was My Why.It was why I went to school and maybe a little bit of fear of my parents. I went to school for sports, not

math after all. When I finished high school, the only option I had was college if I wanted to continue to

play softball. So, off I went to play the game I loved in college. Little did I know that a little bit of learning

was about to take place and even a little bit of math. 

     Softball taught me the value of hard work, perseverance, motivation, determination, and how to be a

team player but more importantly it was to find something I loved to do and do it. So, I decided to coach Little League softball. That was easier said than done. Little did I know that this was the start of my teaching career.

My first love, softball, reintroduced me to my second love, teaching (without the stuffed

animals of course!). I decided to become a teacher. I lived by the motto my softball coach once said to

me;  “If you do something you love, you will never work a day in your life.” And so I did!

      After graduation, I went on to teach kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and then fifth grade.

Ugh, 5th grade! I had to teach math - real math. It was horrible. Thankfully just like Michael Welsch

said, “When you fall you just keep getting up and trying again”. That year was hard! I fell a lot, but I

eventually learned how to run. 

     Just a few years into teaching I had my first child; ironically I had a boy. That moment changed

everything for me. The teacher in me now saw education and teaching through a different lens, the eyes

of a parent. My why had shifted. I wanted to be that teacher that I wanted my children to have in school.

I wanted to create a community of learners: a classroom family. Just like Rita Pearsonsaid, “ Every child deserves a champion; an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the

power of connection and insists that they become the best they can be”. I wanted to teach like Rita Pearson. 

      My class today is a place I love - my second home. I want students to feel that way too.

I teach at Woonsocket High School / Woonsocket Area Career & Technical School. I teach Child Studies

(CTE program) in grades 9 - 12. I also run a full-time preschool as part of my classroom.

My high school students learn how to be champions there. 

      My classroom climate was great! I felt like my world was good and everything was in the right place.

Then COVID hit and nothing I did or said motivated my students or even myself sometimes. I had to

reinvent the environment. I learned a lot about technology and how to hold Zoom meetings in my pj’s. The best part was that I met a lot of parents on Zoom in their pj’s too. It was a

bonding experience. 

      The hard part about returning to school was making those connections, creating relationships in

person, and creating a safe place so my students would want to come to school. My softball mentality

kicked into high gear! I was their coach and their cheerleader (minus the uniform). And they hit home runs!

      My Why…..Relationships matter! I wanted to create an environment where students feel safe and

cared for and have a reason to come to school. It didn't matter to me what the reason was even if it was

for the food I passed out, a shoulder to cry on, or a safe place that wasn't the shelter they got to move to

last night. They came to my class and school and that was all that mattered. The connection was there

and you know what? Those connections and relationships turned into student engagement and learning.

      

   My change project started at my why. I believe in creating and building connections to create a safe,

fun learning space for all students. I need to start in my class - a remodel. I felt as if I had a successful

climate in the room but there is always room for improvement.  I was up for the change and the challenge.

Next, I wanted to extend this out to the parents/ families. So many of our parents don't consider school

safe or fun as they may have had the best example at school. I found that sharing my own experiences

and creating open lines of communication is the first step. It’s good to know that you are not alone. 

     How will I accomplish this? Baby steps! I would like to start with an open house for parents and

students to meet me and sign up for tech tools like blogging and Remind. I plan to blog with my students

in class this year. I would like to eventually add a parent blog weekly. I will send out email messages

every week. Weekly check-ins are a wonderful way to keep the lines of communication open. I would

like to start the daily check-in class when the time seems ready to do it. I realize this is a long list of

items. Again- Baby Steps! I wouldn't mind investigating the Parent Squared app for parent communication

and the translations. It might be worth the money!

     Prensky would call me a digital immigrant. Noon would say I am a digital traditionalist with hints of

digital constructivist (room for improvement). Michael Welsch would say that learning never ends and

when you fall you just keep getting up. I am still learning all the while laughing at myself. My students

laugh too; sometimes at me but they always say “Miss, I got you!”. 

      Teach like a ninja” (Jen Cook). This saying resonated with me. I think I have always done this

but wasn't aware of it. But now that I am, I intend to be the best version of myself every day. 

        

   Moo In -  Christine McKenna
      Pronouns - She / Her 
             How do you feel? I feel GREAT!
                      Question - My Why? Michael, MacKenzie & Marc

   MOO OUT!

References 
Michael Welsch
Rita Pierson
Prensky
Scott Noon
Jen Cook - “Teach Like a Ninja!”

Bonfire of the Disney Princesses

                                              

                                                   Bonfire of the Disney Princesses

        

Barbara Ehrenreich

     Once upon a time in a faraway land where the only thing that mattered was princess brand and making money, there lived the corporate giant called Disney. Long before Belle, there was Snow White and Cinderella, and a small-minded man named Andy Mooney who just happened to be in the right place at the right time when the lightbulb exploded in his head. Disney always had the princess collections but they were separate until that lightbulb exploded. It was during that lightbulb mishap that the Disney princess dynasty came to light. Poof! Overnight it seemed little girls everywhere were wearing pink and purple tiaras, nightgowns, backpacks, and anything and everything that was princess!

     Disney created a goldmine. Andy Mooney created a cult of pink and purple minions that would make Barbie seem insignificant in comparison to the princess line. But therein lies the problem, the princesses are only little girls who idealize the make-believe princess. Ehrenreich explains that the princess is only able to move up the career ladder if she marries a prince or becomes an evil stepmother. Idolizing a princess means aspiring to be beautiful, and dress scantily, and if you don’t find your prince then you succumb to a coma, clean houses forever, or turn into the evil witch. There is an even worse fate though; Disney may dethrone you from the princess collection. 

      Even with all this knowledge, parents still buy their little angels a massive amount of Disney paraphernalia each year. Disney is not only exploiting the parents for money but brainwashing them into believing that scantily dressed 3-year-old mermaids are the way to dress their little princess. How in the world did parents let Disney and Andy Mooney use their children to look sexy in a princess outfit legally? This is twisted from the mind of the middle-aged Disney exec Andy Rooney who fed our minds, according to Ehrenreich, till we believed that this was normal. 

It is time to wake up and stand up against this corporate giant who is poisoning the minds of 3-year-olds. Ehrenreich entices the reader to grab their neighbors and friends stand up to corporate giants and have a holiday bonfire with all our plastic! It is time to stand up to Disney executives and take back our children and their innocence. 

To Do List

 To-Do List!

   

1. Get organized

2. Finalize change project idea

3. Write my story

4.  Edit

5. Design slides 20/20

6. Practice 

7. Try to voice record but if not oh well!

8. Relax and go see a sunset!

How to Kahoot!

                                            

      Kahoot is an interactive game that allows you to bring fun into learning for any subject and all ages. Kahoot is easy to use for both students and teachers. Anyone can create or use shared learning games for free. There are upgraded features for price, but the free version is all you need to make learning fun. Kahoots can be created in minutes or from various created Kahoots on the site. I advise you to preview those first! Kahoots can be virtual, in person, in the whole class, as a formative assessment tool, and even as a review. Kahoot is very easy to use and extremely popular in high school. It is a game-like experience that provides instant feedback and gratification that my students love! Everyone wants to play and be on top of the podium. Kahoot is a great way for teachers to quickly get some feedback on what the students are learning and retaining in class. It is even an entertaining class filler! I have used it in so many different ways in my classroom. Some examples are fun classroom activities, formative assessment tools, reviews for content (ex. CPR reviews), and tools that students can use to enhance their projects. Sometimes we play for prizes! High school students will work for food. 

Let’s get started:

1. Go to https://kahoot.com/

2. In the top right-hand corner either log in or create an account. 

         

                                

3.  Once you are logged in - be sure to sign in to FREE BASIC unless you would like to purchase the upgrade. I never have and it works just fine!

4. Decide if you want to look for premade Kahoot in Discover on the left-hand side of the menu.. Here you can play them with your students or save them to your Kahoot account to change or play later (sort of like Google Docs) 

                           

5.  Create your own Kahoot in only minutes. Click on Create in the upper right-hand corner and create a Kahoot from scratch. It can be on any subject or topic.  You can decide how to set up the questions from true or false to multiple choice. 

                          

            

6.   Once you have created your Kahoot or “Discovered” one on the site, you can decide if you want to share it, assign it, or host it live in class or virtually. 

          

7. Click on the option that best fits your needs:

          If you host live the screen will look like this 

    

                            

          If you assign the screen will look like this:

                          

         Either option allows the participants to join via a number or QR code which 

         can be played on any digital device. 

8. Students should be able to join by logging in to: https://kahoot.it/

9.  Once everyone has joined the game by signing in with a name (think about how to have them log in with either nicknames or real names) then …

                                          Let The Games Begin!

10.  Once the game / assigned game is complete, a teacher has access to the results and can review for areas of improvement. All Kahoots are saved in your account to be shared or saved for another time. 

To learn more about Kahoot check out these links!

https://kahoot.com/webinars/schools/

https://kahoot.com/files/2021/06/StarterGuide_0621.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnNCBZY3Yg8

 

Change Project Ideas and Thoughts

What ideas do you have about your final project? 

Did any of the projects you reviewed inspire you? 

Initially, there were so many ideas floating around in my head about the change project. The original ideas were very inspiring to solve the absentee crisis in my school to the tardy problems that don't seem to be going away. The more I thought about these problems the larger-than-life personas they took on for me. I want to change those things but I also started to realize that these might be too heavy a lift for me at this time for this project. After viewing some of the previous projects, I realized that it was ok to not take on such a huge lift. It was ok to just take care of things that I exist in my own space. It was validating for me. I am thankful that we were able to view past projects. I decided to start smaller and look at the things that I want to change in my own classroom space.

The three ideas I have centered around better communication. Admittedly, I am still looking to fine-tune it. I am not sure if I can incorporate all this year into this one project or just focus on one so as not to feel overwhelmed during the year. These ideas are all central to my core beliefs as a teacher and a parent. Open lines of communication are essential to cultivating and growing that classroom community of learners.

1. Parent communication - I would like to improve the communication between school and home with my students' families especially my MLL parents who struggle with the language.

2. Classroom communication - I am always looking for ways to connect with my students to create that classroom community .....and ways they can connect with each other. I think this is well established in my class since I have most of my students for 4 years but I always want to make improvements in this area. I am thinking of blogging this year.

3. Teacher-to-teacher/intern (internship communication) - SInce my students intern in a variety of placements it is important to keep the line of communication open. In the past, I have sent out newsletters, calendars, emails, and hand-delivered notices. I visit the classrooms as often as possible but I am looking for a way to streamline the communication process. It might be remind or a blog for this as well. At this time I am still searching.

I am not sure if I will start small with just one of these ideas and then branch out as I feel more confident or if I will just stick with one. However, I feel they are all intertwined with each other. Looking back, these change ideas will impact daily attendance and tardies at least within my own classes and students. Hopefully, this will help to also influence the larger student body as my own students encourage their larger friend groups to be on time and come to school. They will in turn become the champions of this systemic problem. Communication is an essential piece of education and learning so I know I am heading in the right direction for the change project but need to narrow it down a bit.

Princess Barbie 101

What is your relationship to Barbie or any kind of children’s culture (like Disney?) 

How does Christiansen validate or challenge your views? 

Barbies! When I was a child, I loved to play with Barbie. I had the Barbie camper, the townhouse, the car, and as many Barbies as I could get my hands on when I was a child. Barbie was my hero when I was a child until she wasn't. Even though I didn't play with Barbies anymore in middle school, Barbie was still secretly part of my life. She was the idea that I held myself to daily. I wanted to look like her. She was pretty with blonde hair, blue eyes, the best clothes and the perfect body. All the "Kens" loved her. Middle school was not a time that I remember feeling confident in my looks, my clothes, or anything else for that matter. I was athletically built and loved to play sports. To make matters worse my brother was tall and thin with blonde hair. My mom would always tell the story that people thought I was the boy and he was the girl when we were toddlers because he was so cute. Unknowingly I was being influenced by my childhood enemy and best friend, Barbie, about how to look and act to be a beautiful girl.

When I was younger we did not have a TV until I was a little older so I did not watch a lot of Disney movies or cartoons. If we did watch Disney shows or go to the movies, it was mostly my parent's choice of what we were going to see at the movies. When we did go to the movies, I remember thinking most of the women were always pretty. Princess Leia was always beautiful and tough. Cinderella got to marry the prince even though she was poor. Snow White, even though she had black hair, was still not me. Was this the secret education that Christiansen was eluding to?

I was particularly drawn to a quote by one of Christiansen's students. "When we read children's books, we aren't just reading cute little stories, we are discovering the tools with which a young society is manipulated". The idea of "secret education" is suggested to go beyond just media and infiltrate our children's books too. These problems are not just in movies, cartoons, and characters but in books too. This problem is everywhere! Christiansen reminds us that the media colonizes our minds to think and believe what is shown on the screen. If you see something long enough then you live and believe it. The secret education that Christiansen described is a scary one. It doesn't just apply to my generation but to generations to come in the future.