Occupation Professor of Computer Science, Cerro Coso Community College
Previous board experience currently Site Council member & secretary, Inyokern Elementary School
Areas of expertise/contributions you feel you can make:
As a college professor, one of the biggest problems I see from students coming out of the traditional public school system is the inability to engage in self-motivated and self-directed learning. Their ability to problem solve and think creatively are skills that are often sadly lacking. Education is no longer about memorizing facts for a test. Students need to be better prepared for 21st century careers that demand they know how to find, interpret, analyze, synthesize, create, and utilize information and teachers need to be better supported to help students prepare for careers that may not even exist yet.
I believe my background experiences and education will help me share this vision with the Charter School community. I spent several years as a K12 substitute teacher. I have homeschooled my older children. I have been a community college technology professor teaching both students and faculty for over 11 years. I have participated in educational outreach activities to the K-12 students in our area. I have an MA in educational technology from Pepperdine University. Most importantly, however, I am a parent who cares about the education my children receive and I have a desire to help make that the best possible experience for them and classmates.
Why you are interested in serving on the RCS board:
As the mother of five and stepmother of three, ranging in ages from 2-20, I have a long-running interest in the educational system my children are involved in. I also have a strong belief in community service and feel this is a place I can make a positive contribution. I have been impressed with what I have seen at Charter this year and would like to help guide the direction of the school in the years to come. I am excited about the possibility of working with the students, teachers and staff to help them define and realize their vision for what this school can become!
I got an email tonight asking for approval of a computer literacy course outline revision. I’m slated to teach a section of this class in the fall. In past discussions, I’ve expressed a strong opinion that this class should focus on basic concepts and not specific software, something that has been just as strongly opposed. The revision included a reference to said specific software, so I felt it necessary to respond. I didn’t want to just toss out an unfounded opinion however. I sent out a tweet for help…
Almost instantly, I got what I was looking for, from Seattle, Ridgecrest, and Southern California. Read from the bottom up: Continue Reading »
TO: State Board of Education
RE: Ridgecrest Charter School
We are writing this letter in support of the continued accreditation of Ridgecrest Charter School. As the parents of eight children and as an educator, we have been very happy with the education our children are receiving at RCS. The teachers have consistently worked hard to provide a solid educational environment where standards are taught and supported and academic outcomes are rigorously pursued while staying mindful of the best interest of each individual child. The administration maintains open communication with parents and students, and it appears that the faculty is well supported in their efforts to teach our children. Continue Reading »
(20 mins/session * 77 5th graders/session * 3 sessions in a row) + (legos + robots) + candy = [you do the math!]
It happened again. Over 200 5th graders invaded the college. With a little help, I tossed legos all over a classroom, showed a few robots, talked about sensors, and told them to go to college. My favorite quote of the day happened when I was trying out an object lesson on sensors. I bumped into a desk, trying to get them to figure out what I have that should have stopped me from doing that (sense of touch, of course). The idea was to extend that idea to the fact that robots use sensors to gather data about their environment and make decisions based on that. They seemed to be having a hard time coming up with the answer, but finally, when I said something like “what sense was I NOT using” one kid said “COMMON SENSE!” LOL. awesome
Kids need to know early on that college is something they can do. I love helping them see that it is a possibility and that it can be fun.
“The ability to think straight, some knowledge of the past, some vision of the future, some skill to do useful service, some urge to fit that service into the well-being of the community- these are the most vital things education must try to produce.”
I’ve been playing around with a lot of 2.0 toys lately, trying to wrap my brain around new and interesting ways I could use these in my classes to connect students to each other and to a larger network outside of the classroom. Every time something new comes along I try it out because I think the only way to really understand something is to become a user, not just a viewer. I finally decided to make a listing of the sites I’ve been playing on, mostly to put them all in one place so I can start thinking about how I want to use them. Some of the links are to less than active accounts, but at least they are all listed… well, at least I am starting to list them all. There are a few I can’t remember, but I am sure they will come to me eventually. Of course, I had to use one of the new tools to create the list. It’s at http://debbyk.jottit.com
