North Carolina Traditions

Pottery tradition

The North Carolina pottery tradition goes back more than two centuries and has become known worldwide. The first potter known to have settled here was a German who arrived in Rowan County in 1755. Moravian potters followed and worked in the Winston-Salem area. Potters concentrated themselves in the relatively isolated Piedmont region of the state rather than the more heavily settled coast, because the coastal area clay was mixed with sand and organic matter not suitable for mass-production pottery. Also, coastal communities could acquire urban utensils more easily from Europe or New England. Inland, there was more need for pottery and less competition. Both the traditions of the past and the experimental, artistic styles of pottery coexist in today’s North Carolina pottery culture, and it continues to thrive.

State Bird

State Bird

Cardinal

What I've learned

Technology if wisely used, can be very helpful for us as teachers, and for students.  We really need to be updated according to the tendencies of technology, so students do not leave us behind, and we can demonstrate them that we have a lot to teach them in many different ways. This is what I've learned from this course: to realize and raise awarness that teaching is not just taking a chalk and write and talk for hours. We can make our classes very interesting and help our students to acquire knowledge in an easier and funnier manner.  And although many times we know this, we don't know many tools that exist for a teaching purpose, this is another thing I leaned.... I discovered many things that I didn't know they existed or how to use them, for example: a blog, hot potato, inspiration, wikispaces, slideshare, moviemaker... practicly everything we did, was new for me, I knew youtube existed but I never uploaded my own video, this is what I loved from the course, seeing new things, using them, get creative them. I have to say, it wasn't so easy for me, but I didn't take this course because it may be easy, I took it because I really wanted to learn new stuff and that's what I got.

 

This is a Power Point Presentation of an Educational Software called Backpack, which is of great help, is very complete for teachers and students as well. Check it out, and you may want to add it to your future courses.

Backpack walkthrough

View more presentations from Nathypb18.

Teaching with videos

Check out this video and get some ideas of what you can achieve by implementing videos by the time you teach. This an amazing tool to use, it is suitable for all ages and all topics.

e-ducativa

This is a document in which we explain the use of e-ducativa web site, where you can buy e-learning courses and learning or teaching in a virtual environment.

Technology has changed everything!

Is amazing to mentally go back in time and remember when cell phones were an unknown device for most of us. They were as heavy as a brick and no one knew how to use them. Today, is weird to see someone that doesn't have a cell phone! some people change it every six months to keep updated with technology.

It has changes everything around us, it has become essential, and an awesome tool for teaching. We have to do our best effort to incorporate it to our classes, but if the school or high school doesn't have it, well it's time to get creative. Try to get your own tape recorder if necessary, your own speakers, try to find a way to show them interesting pictures... when the art of teaching becomes a passion, creativeness just come on its own.