Samantha+Rist

toc =Biography=
 * Background Information:**
 * I am a senior in KU's SOE Secondary English Education program; thus, I plan to teach high school English (preferably 10th-12th grades)
 * I can be reached at samrist@ku.edu
 * I am not sure where I want to teach at this venture in my life. It depends on many variables, including position availability in certain suburban areas, where my boyfriend goes to grad school, and- very important- weather/climate (so sick of snow- so sick . . .)


 * Level of Experience**
 * I am comfortable and familiar with computers/technology; I update information on a website for real estate (I work part-time for Reece and Nichols with my mom) and usually manage to do fairly well on assignments. Word/Excel, etc, are all easy to navigate. However, I do not know html.

= =
 * Why Technology is Important in the Classroom Today**
 * Classroom resources are ever-expanding. Technology is already a main source for information, games, and communication for our generation, so I imagine the dependence/use of it will only grow by the time I teach and as I teach.


 * The Horror**
 * I definitely did not print off my SOE app, so the faculty received my recommendations, scores, and grades, yet . . .no form. Apparently there was a glitch in the system (it was during winter break), so it was lost in cyberspace. I took more English classes the following semester than I ever have in my life- I was sick of papers, books, trees . . .everything.


 * What I'd Like to Learn**
 * Html actually does interest me, as well as the wikispace, so I'm excited to be in a class that I'll actually use! These skills could be helpful in the classroom or in a work environment.

=Assignments=

Web Exemplars
Good Choice: [|http://www.columbusnavigation.com] This website is decent for many reasons. 1) It is easily navigable; not too much text, scrolling, or white space on the homepage; 2) Columbus’ name is in the URL, which may make the web address easier to remember; 3) There are many links you may follow, that are labeled with separate information so that the student may search for specific information, instead of his whole history/biography.

Poor Choice: [|http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/c/columbus.shtml] This website misses the mark in many ways. 1) It is too colorful, which is distracting and obnoxious; 2) All of the information is in one page that you must scroll down for all eternity in order to see everything it has to offer; 3) There is too much white space and too much chaos (pictures, diagrams, and other links), which could hinder the students’ concentration.

I simply Googled “Christopher Columbus” and clicked around. I found a few choices for each criteria, then narrowed it down by which two were the best/worst.

Wikispace
http://kulanguagearts.wikispaces.com/