Reflections by KAhmadzai_ETEC5213

Process My 8-year-old daughter, Attiya, has been asking me to teach her how to make a podcast for about a month now.   She tells me that she has many stories about ancient Egypt (her current passion) that she'd like to record and share with others.   So when one of our assignments for ETEC 5213 involved creating a podcast, I knew that I wanted to include her. We decided to review a couple of apps by Duck, Duck, Moose (part of the Khan Academy family).  Here is our podcast.  We hope you enjoy it! If you'd like more information check out the following links: Pet Bingo Wizard School Duck, Duck, Moose Khan Academy

Accessibility Modifications While teaching in the online world over the past few years, I have come across discussions of accessibility, but I have never really taken the time to dig into the details and consider how some fairly simple modifications can have great impacts on learning for many with disabilities.  There are three simple modifications that I plan to start using regularly in my online classes, so I'd like to share those today. Use Built-In Headings and Styles I am notorious for working on a document and then going back to adjust the text as headings, but there are two reasons that I need to avoid this.   First of all, when I do this, I have to keep track of the size and color of all the headings for consistency throughout the document, and that can be lots of work.  Secondly, in order for my document to be easily read by screen readers (for those with limited sight or reading disabilities), the built in headings and styles need to be implemented. This is suc

Introduction My name is Katie Ahmadzai.   I am originally from Batesville, AR, a small town of around 10,000 people.   Both sides of family have a rich history in the field of education (and at the University of Arkansas), but I honestly never thought that I would become a teacher when I was in high school.  I loved math and science, but I felt that I could never relate to high school students well, so I decided to study engineering in college. During the second year of my engineering program, my professors pulled me aside after class one day and asked why I wanted to be an engineer.  I replied that I loved math and science, and I was good at it, so I had decided that I could impact the world for good by becoming an engineer.   They asked me to consider teaching.   I must admit that I was a bit offended.   It must have shown in my face because they immediately followed up by saying they didn't want me out of the engineering program, but I should start thinking about the process