home

=**Welcome to Mr. Marburger's Portfolio Wiki**= =**The purpose of this wiki is to document my first year experience at Mount Pleasant Jr/Sr High School**=

Well, if you are reading this you too have survived your first year at MPASD and are reflecting on all that has happened to you. No doubt it has been a very new and exciting experience filled with twist and turns you never anticipated. No matter if it is your first year, 16th year, or your 30th year each and every one teaches you something new. This year was my fourth first year at a new school and because of that my perspective on the whole thing is very different then most of you. Don’t get me wrong no matter how many times you experience a first year there are some things that do not change. The worries of fitting in with the staff, making a positive first impression with the students, meeting curricular needs, and yes even being observed by a whole new group of people are all still there. What is different is the feeling of confidence you bring with you. For me this year has been unlike any other for many reasons. It has been filled with many challenges both personal and professional. The positive side is that through it all I have been able to grow both personally and professionally in ways I could have never imagined and because of that I have become a more complete teacher. This year represents the first in which I taught jr high students and all that comes with it. I have learned through the year how to better scaffold lessons for all learners to succeed. I have also found ways to make the conceptual more concrete. On top of it all I have learned to have a level of patience that I never realized I had. To help me share my year I have created a website which contains many of the activities and lessons I have done over the year. It also contains snippets of the type of things my students and I have shared throughout the year. I feel that this digital version of a portfolio fits me so much better than a static binder full of papers. It is so much more alive just like my classroom. I also choose this format as a way to do a presentation without power point. There are two reasons for this. The first is based on our current understanding of cognitive science. There is ample evidence that the students who we currently serve are fundamentally different from students of even a decade ago. They have been brought up in a digital world full of information brought to them in a very random non linear way. For them a power point makes as much sense as a random compilation of u-tube videos to us. Refer to my October readings for more on this. So I wanted my presentation to be more representative of what 21st century learning is all about according to the experts? The second reason is more personal. 16 years ago I had just completed my original first year of teaching and can you guess what I had to do? You got it; I had to make a paper portfolio and power point (which was really high tech at the time). I looked at it for the first time in 16 years a few months ago. It was there and then that I decided that I wanted to do something that showed how I had grown as an educator so without further a due let the real-time me take you through a journey of my year. I hope you enjoy J