Shana+Sterkin

=//Personal Piece: //= media type="custom" key="6532025"

“Washington’s Lousy Weather”

Washington DC is an overachiever - though what do you expect from an area that’s not a “real” state, yet a place which houses one of the most powerful men on the planet?

Washington boasts in autumn, with its eye-catching collection of yellow, red, and orange foliage decorating the political landscape as if painted by the brushstrokes of Bob Ross, trying so hard to emulate the popular hills of Vermont and New Hampshire - you know, //real //  states.

As the colorful leaves fall from their home, Washington DC races to shine over its big brother, Washington state, a real state, with cold air and lush, dense forests - with statuesque trees serving as mansions for their inhabiting creatures. But wait, DC has the cold air, the magnificent forestry PLUS silvery clouds that can blanket the sky and dump three feet of icy precipitation in one day...and another foot the next, just for good measure. Now let’s see who gets national attention.

When the icy layers melt from the sidewalks and the crisp chill diminishes from the air, Washington DC does not give up on its quest for greatness. Cherry blossoms sprout, dusting the monuments and parks with delicate, pink petals, enticing visitors from the real states to see what this little district can do.

And just when you think Washington DC has given up on outdoing the nifty fifty, the sun shines brighter, the air moistens in a sticky frenzy, and the night sky over our nation’s capital illuminates with electrifying streaks of energy - zapping through the darkness and reminding us of the dangerous beauty engulfing the steamy air. Thunder booms, lightning strikes, and the grand finale of Washington’s weather exemplifies the power and pride of the District of Columbia.

=//Professional Piece:// = “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”

Nothing I have engaged in professionally thus far has matched the passion I have experienced being surrounded by teachers who have a thirst for learning matched by their hunger for sharing and reflecting upon new teaching practices that will suit the needs our students. Spending our summer weeks organizing workshops to share our best teaching applications in writing, I have gained a wealth of ideas to use in my elementary classroom. The digital piece entitled, “Digitally Remastered for the Classroom,” showcases the way in which I can apply the techniques I have learned throughout the National Writing Project to my own classroom of third graders. Using [|www.glogster.com]  as well as iMovie, I have created “glogs” for classroom use including the following: 1) a Ruby Bridges learning center integrating fine art, journal writing, and video analysis; 2) an “All About” glog, exemplifying the way in which students will be introduced to glogging by creating a page about a topic in their expertise using non-fiction text features; 3) a commercial created to entice viewers to visit the Roman Coliseum, demonstrating how language and imagery are used to convey a message. 

Please view my glog by clicking below:
http://shanasterks.glogster.com/nwp2010/