Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Tuesday Teacher Profile: Ms. Susan Cox
Name: Ms. Susan Cox
Courses Taught: Chinese II, III, and Survey of World Languages
Years Teaching: 15
Location: Alexandra, VA
Hidden Talent: Ballroom dance (Won first place at the 2011 USA Dancesport Championships)
Thoughts About Teaching and Learning Online: Individual students learn differently. The great thing about online classes is how flexible I can be in offering various assessments, resubmissions, and effective methods of feedback. Ironically, I can make the teaching more personalized for the individual student online than in the classroom.
Advice for students taking an online class:
1) Keep a binder and planner/calendar. You must stay organized and on pace.
2) Try not to refer to your face-2-face teachers as "real" teachers compared to your online teachers. I am very real.
What is one concrete example that shows that online world language classes "work"?
Last year, one my online students was accepted to the US government's NSLI (National Security Language Institute) summer language program in China. As part of that program, she was tested on her Chinese language skills. She tested so high that she was placed in the highest class after only two years of Chinese. In other words, she came into the NSLI program with Chinese language skills ahead of all her peers, who were all face-2-face students.
More Information:
Ms. Cox's online Chinese language courses were featured on National Public Radio's Morning Edition. You can listen to the story here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89070946
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Summer Session Info
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
VVa Brochure for 2011-2012 is now available
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Recognition for Great Teaching
Good Luck, Tom!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Tuesday Teacher Profile: Ms. Jesse Hernandez
Name: Ms. Jesse Hernandez
Courses Taught: AP English Literature and Composition, World Mythology
Years Teaching: 11
Location: Midlothian, VA
Hidden Talents: single-handed cartwheels and parallel parking
Thoughts About Teaching and Learning Online: Our world is becoming increasingly more connected through online learning. As more and more high school students are required to take online classes, those of us with experience need to constantly make it better through interactivity.
Advice For students Taking An Online Course: Engage your teacher and your classmates regularly to create your own learning community.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Registration
Tuesday Teacher Profile: Ms. Courtney Clemons
Name: Ms. Courtney Clemons
Courses Taught: AP Language and Composition, World Mythology, French II
Years Teaching: 12
Location: Lewisburg, WV
Hidden Talent: I am an avid birder. I participate in bird counts for the National Audubon Society and am helping with a 5-year Breeding Bird Atlas in West Virginia.
Thoughts About Teaching and Learning Online: I love teaching online because it gives me a chance to give students more individualized feedback. I also like that I can communicate with and help students on more of a one-on-one basis than I could in a face-to-face classroom.
Advice For students Taking An Online Course: Students need to be motivated and have a strong work ethic. If they are willing to put forth the effort, I think many students can benefit so much from this experience.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Virtual Virginia Teacher Named Finalist for National Teaching Award Second Year In a Row
Read the press release here: http://home.sreb.org/publication/news1.aspx?Code=1282
This is the second year in a row that one of Virtual Virginia's teacher has been named a finalist for this recognition. Virtual Virginia AP Economics teacher Steven Sproles was one of the three finalist for the 2010 award.
One of this year's five finalists will be named the 2011 National Online Teacher of the Year on March 10 in Atlanta, at the Excellence Dinner during the SREB’s Education Technology Cooperative’s Teaching and Learning Symposium.
The 2011 National Online Teacher of the Year will receive a crystal Flame of Excellence and a day with Karen Cator, the director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education, plus a trip to the Virtual School Symposium sponsored by iNACOL, November 9-11 in Indianapolis. The winner also will be recognized during the iNACOL Annual Meeting and will be featured on the SREB and iNACOL websites. The other four finalists will receive special recognition at the awards banquet in March and other honors.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Tuesday Teacher Profile: Ms. Colleen Spinelli
Name: Ms. Colleen Spinelli
Courses Taught: AP Environmental Science
Years Teaching: 10
Location: Bristow, VA
Hidden Talent: I learned to row at age 6.
Thoughts About Teaching and Learning Online: Teaching is a great way to reach out to other people and share an experience. Whether it is academic or athletic, I love to see someone learn and connect. Online learning allows me to interact with wonderful students in any zipcode.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Tuesday Teacher Profile: Ms. Christina Kauffman
Name: Ms. Christina Kauffman
Courses Taught: Latin I and Latin III
Years Teaching: 9
Hidden Talent: I enjoy photography and travel.
Thoughts About Teaching and Learning Online: Teaching students who would not have had an opportunity to take Latin in a traditional classroom setting has been very rewarding for me. I have enjoyed working with a wide range of students from all over the states and have been privileged to have some students from other countries, too. Each student brings a unique background and set of experiences to the course and makes the online environment a very rich and dynamic place for learning.
Advice for Students Taking Online Courses: Like many things in life, communication is essential. To succeed in an online course, students should frequently communicate with the instructor. VVa courses contain multiple means of communication and students should take advantage of all the opportunities their courses afford.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Tuesday Teacher Profile: Ms. Cat Latcovich
Courses Taught: AP United States History and AP European History
Location: Richmond, VA
Years Teaching: 10
Hidden Talent: Shopping - I can find a bargain anywhere.
Thoughts about online teaching and learning: Teachers and students can be intimated by online learning as it is quite different from the face to face classroom. However, online teachers can provide students with just as much, if not more, individualized instruction. I have also found that I can get to know students very well in online classes through our instant messaging, emails, and phone calls.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Tuesday Teacher Profile: Ms. Rachel Herbst
Courses Taught: AP Art History
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Years Teaching: 6
Hidden Talent: I can name the starting lineup for the Chicago Bears.
Thoughts about online teaching and learning: It is a unique way to interact with students. We meet them on their playing field...the computer.