EIDT 6510-2

Hello Everyone! 

My name is Jenny Hogg.  I live in sunny, (and HOT right now) Phoenix, Arizona.  I am a wife and a mother of an 8 year old son.  Currently I am teaching kindergarten for the district in which my home is located.  I am about six miles from the school where I work, making my commute an easy one.  This is my sixth year teaching, but only my second year teaching kinder.  Previously I taught first grade and loved it as well.  I know my place is in the education field, but feel I need to expand my knowledge into IDT.  That is why I decided to state working toward my master's degree last year.

My son is in second grade this year and keeps me busy with all his activities and energy.  My husband and I enjoy being a big part of our community.  We play volleyball with friends in our neighborhood when the summer heat breaks and the nice seven months begins (Oct.-April).  We enjoy traveling when we have time, boating with friends, going to concerts and sporting events, and pretty much anything that involves the outdoors in nice weather. 

We moved to Phoenix from the St. Louis area over five years ago for a better opportunity for my husband's career and it was the right choice for us.  We have built a beautiful life here.  I really love it hear, but miss the seasons when I see all the fall leaves and the snow at Christmas time.  Luckily I still have plenty of family and friends in my hometown of West Frankfort, Illinois, that I can visit when I need to escape the desert climate. 

I am so excited to have only two classes left to receive my master's!  It seems like I just started the program and have been in it forever all at the same time.  I look forward to working with any newcomers to the class that I have not met yet and I am happy to see any familiar peers also.  I am always open to any questions and I will try to answer anything related to the early childhood field that I can.  Please do not hesitate to ask.  Thanks for reading about me and following me if you so choose.

Jenny :-)

Your Opinion Matters

There are many online courses where collaboration is the key to success. The collaborative process helps students with socialization skills and provides a learning environment in which students build off one another. Although it has been made clear that learning through collaboration in a distance learning course such as this one is imperative to student success, it is not quite as clear if the assessment process should be a collaborative effort.

According to Oosterhof, Conrad, and Ely (2008), peer grading and involving peers in the reflective process allows for the students to take ownership of their work. It is stated in Oosterhof et al. (2008) as well that many people frown upon having their peers evaluate them. As you reflect upon your discussion posts and your time spent working with groups, ponder how you feel about your peers grading your work. There may be times in your past that your instructor has given you an evaluation form to complete for your peers. Did you feel comfortable completing this task? Did you feel your peers would complete your evaluation form in a fair manner? Why or why not?

By Friday: Post your answer to the discussion questions, building on your own personal experiences. Be sure to find at least one outside source and reference all sources in APA format.

By Sunday: Respond to at least two of your peers' posts. You may elaborate on their response, ask them a question in regards to their response, or explain how your response was similar to theirs. Be sure to reference all sources in APA format.


Discussion Rubric:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EMrxCP3xUFgB4tp0uIXEMDtMkBm1xPWw-RatbmluckE/edit#heading=h.gjdgxs

Score	4	3	2	1
Response	Learner gives strong response and adds detail.  Learner expands on questioning.	Learner responds and provides some elaboration and detail.	Learner responds, but does not elaborate or provide any detail.	Learner does not respond
APA Formatting	Learner uses APA format all the time.	Learner uses APA format most of the times	Learner uses APA format some of the time.	Learner does not use APA format.
Reference Material	Learner provides references and adds an additional reference outside give sources.	Learner uses all given references.	Learner uses some given references.	Learner uses no reference.

Resources
Oosterhof, A., Conrad, R.-M., & Ely, D. P. (2008). Assessing learners online. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.