All About Me Part 2!

 Here is a short clip from a private helicopter ride that my fiancé and I took over Chicago. I surprised her with it the night that I proposed to her! The video does not do the view justice!

How to Use a Blog in My Future Classroom

Though I have never really worked with blogging before, I have found it to be fairly easy to get the hang of and I think it would be great to use in my future classroom. This tool could be fun and useful in many ways for students. I am going to be teaching science and I can think of a few ways already that I could get students to learn and participate and learn while blogging. Lets say that I covered a certain topic in class, but I wanted the students to dig a little deeper and further their knowledge on the topic by exploring some videos on the topic. As an assignment, I would ask the students to search for a video online relating to the topic covered in class and have them post the link in their blog. Along with the video I would ask them to state one thing that they learned from the video that relates to the class content that we did not get a chance to cover. I think students would find a great interest in doing this and it would be a fun way for them to expand their knowledge. While blogging, the students would have to read each other's blog posts and comment on a few that they found to be interesting. This whole process will give them more experience with interacting with one another and finding new information on their own.

The first couple days of trying to use this new tool was difficult, but now that I am getting the hang of it I am excited to keep using it throughout the semester.

Learner Analysis: Zack Morris, Saved By The Bell

Zack Morris is a high school student who lives in Palisades, California. He attends Bayside High School and he seems to be a well rounded kid, but has also found himself in some trouble a few times at school. Throughout his high school career, Zack has demonstrated a great interest in business, but he shows a lack of interest and often receives poor grades in subjects such as history and literature. He often finds himself being a distraction in class and receives detention by Principal Belding weekly. While going to school he is a particularly involved student. Zack participates in cross country and track, and is one of Bayside's best basketball players. Besides athletics, he is very involved with extracurricular activities after school. Being a part of student council and the leadership team at school helps show the hardworking qualities that Zack possesses. During his senior year he even outclassed his friend Jessie in the election for student president, which is another area he demonstrated natural talent for leadership. If that isn't enough, Zack also helped restart the school radio station, ran the year book committee, and helped sponsor countless school dances. Though he is such a well rounded student and is involved in so many things, Zack's lack of interest in certain subjects and being distracted by his love for Kelly Kapowski caused his grades to suffer. Despite this, he achieved a very high score of 1502 on his SAT and got accepted to Yale his senior year. Zack is a very engaged student and took on so many tasks that there is no doubt in my mind that he is ready to excel in college. With a little guidance and maturing on his part, Zack is going to go on and accomplish many things. Besides his academic life, he is very musically talented as he is the lead singer and guitar player for his own band called Zack Attack. He also loves to just relax and hangout with his best friends.

All of this information was found at Zack's Wikipedia page. Below is a video compilation of Zack.

Getting to Know Me!

My name is Chris Zitka. I am from Muskegon, Michigan and I have lived there all of my life. I have one brother and sister, and I have 4 completely adorable nephews. I just recently got engaged this summer and that was very exciting! I love sports and I was a three sport athlete in high school while playing baseball, running cross county, and wrestling. This year is my sixth year coaching at Orchard View High School, which is also where I went to school. I coached the varsity cross country team for two years, while also coaching the middle school wrestling team. This past year I was offered the varsity wrestling position and I have become very passionate about it! Along with coaching, I also have worked at Menards for the past five years.

Before attending Grand Valley, I received my Associate's Degree from Muskegon Community College. Now I am finishing up my final year as an undergraduate and pursuing my degree in Secondary Education. Originally, I was a math major with a physical education minor, but I had a change of heart and am now an earth science major with a biology minor. I knew from an early age that I wanted to become a teacher, as I knew that I wanted to be able to impact student lives just as my previous teachers have impacted mine. For this semester, I am placed at Oakridge Middle
School in Muskegon, and I am beyond excited to begin my placement on Tuesday!

In my spare time, I love doing things outdoors. Going to the beach, riding my seadoo, and hanging out with friends are some of my favorite things to do during the summer. I also really enjoy working out and staying physically active. That is one of my biggest stress relievers! I am a huge Detroit Lions fan (sometimes I have no idea why), so on Sundays you can catch me sitting on the couch and yelling at my tv.

I am really looking forward to a great semester!

My fiance and I at our friend's wedding this summer!