Why Animals? A Prezi Production

As you can see from my Prezi, this post goes into a bit of detail about my history and experience of working with animals and other organisms in a Zoological setting. I love teaching young children about animals, the environment, and lifestyle choices which can help both. However, I also love talking with older students, middle and high school, about the more in-depth aspect of animals, conservation threats, husbandry, etc. In my ideal profession, working at Disney World, I will be able to do both, introducing younger children to animals and conservation lifestyle choices, as well as older children and adults about the challenges these animals are facing. If I were to teach in a classroom setting, I would be more middle school and high school focused, while also being an occasional guest speaker to elementary classrooms. That way, I can create a connection with the younger students, while still being able to educate with more detail to the older students.

In order to make the lovely presentation you have just perused through, I used an online website Prezi.com. Prezi was very straight forward to use and is quite similar to PowerPoint. Some templates are more confusing than others, but deciding which one to utilize is quite simple because there are little bar graphs on the side, bolded to indicate difficulty. This one was of a medium difficulty because of the various topic and subtopic options. The most challenging part I found about Prezi was actually figuring out how to rotate the photos. When I first uploaded them, they popped up horizontal, even though they were vertical photographs. Anyways, I tried going through all the settings in an attempt to figure out how to rotate the photos, to no avail. So, begrudgingly so, I clicked on the "help" button and was given instructions on how to rotate the image (press and hold the command button then move the cursor to the corners). The help tab was very user-friendly, as was the site itself. Figuring out how to embed the photo was another challenging point, but as long as you make sure there is only ONE backslash (/)before the word embed in the code, then you are in the clear. If you are not a fan of PowerPoint or Google Presentation, I would recommend Prezi.

Three Great Teacher Blogs!

http://www.amybrownscience.com/

Amy Brown is a high school biology and chemistry teacher and uses her blog to offer tips and tricks to make teaching these subjects easier. She also provides a multitude of activities, lessons, and various projects to engage students in the classroom and on assignments. I really love how she has an entire column on the right hand side, titled "Labels," which directs the reader towards various articles, activities, project ideas, lessons, etc. to help make finding information very easy. Overall, her layout is very user-friendly and is full of helpful information.

http://crockettclassroom.weebly.com/teaching-reflection-blog/why-am-i-teaching-zoology1

Now, Mr. Crockett is a high school zoology and biology teacher. His blog is FANTASTIC because he posts a lot of his lesson plans or activities, as well as photos of his students at various events. I love that he posts his objectives on the blog; sometimes figuring out what overlaying concepts to cover is the hardest part, so having a template to go off of is incredibly helpful. Something else I love about his blog is how you can feel his passion for what he teaches simply pouring out of the screen. I also find it helpful that he has a tab for his AVID 9, to help students better prepare for college, particularly those who are on an organic science course. The blog is easy to follow and explore, but also very interesting and engaging to read.

http://katesclassroomcafe.blogspot.com/

Kate's blog is packed with helpful tools to pass on to students, such as the importance of visual note taking. Different from Amy Brown and Mr. Crockett's blogs, Kate's is directed towards science students of all grade levels. This site is full of hands on activities for students as well as tips for teachers to better manage their classrooms, and help manage the busy life of an educator. Her blog is very entertaining to read and I learned how to live a healthier lifestyle, something which we all know seems really hard to do. If you need an uplifting and helpful blog, Kate's is a great one for teachers.

Welcome to My Blog!

My first cup of tea was very intimidating; I had always loved the idea of tea, but was always too afraid to try it in case it didn't live up to my expectations. Those same feelings are present now as I write this, my very first blog post.

My name is Claire. I grew up in Powell, Ohio, in a lovely suburban neighborhood. I graduated from Village Academy, a small, Pre-K-12 private school; there were 24 students in my graduating class, and seven of us had been classmates since pre-kindergarten. Currently I am a double major of Zoo and Conservation Science and Biology, with a double minor in Dance and Educational Studies at Otterbein University, with a dual enrollment at Columbus State Community College. I love dancing, animals, and educating young children and hope to be able to combine these passions with a career at "the most magical place on Earth," Walt Disney World. And, in case you were wondering, my favorite animal is a Manatee.

As of right now, it is not my dream to become a teacher in a classroom. Instead, I hope to become an educator in a Zoological setting. I believe that children have an innate, earnest, and eager desire to learn and make a difference. It is my hope to inspire children and to provide them with the necessary tools to be able to take their first steps towards making a difference, and pursuing their dreams. I sometimes feel as if my generation is failing the next generation by not having the motivation to take care of the planet, and everything in it. Therefore, I want to provide children with the knowledge, tools, and drive to be able to take the next steps. My hope is to inspire children to pursue their passions, whatever they may be, so that no child feels they have not made a difference.