Introduction Blog Post

 I have been pwned ! Wait, what's that mean anyways? To be pwned  means to be defeated in battle usually in a video game. However in cyber security, it refers to your information being breached. My personal email was apparently breached three times (via Evite, MyFitnessPal, and Zynga which runs Words With Friends) and my school email twice (via Edmodo and Verifications io)! Not sure how to feel about this information or what to do with this information as it seems that millions of users of these online platforms were also compromised. I was really interested and enthralled reading the Intel Techniques by Michael Bazzell  and have officially opted out of allowing the credit firms to give my information to other companies to send me 'offers' which took less than five minutes and can be done at Opt Out PreScreen  and I am going to discuss a credit freeze with my fiancé as a way to protect ourselves from identity theft. This has always been something I have feared ever s...

                                                                                 Image source Wowza, as I am writing this post, I have already turned on about a dozen or so important privacy settings so that it is harder for Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Facebook to track down my information. It feels like a small win against these huge technology giants! This was all thanks to an extremely useful and user friendly guide created by the Washington Post that outlines what settings to change . If that's not one of the articles you read this week, please take the extra time to read it and be ready to click more privacy into place. I was most surprised by how invasive Amazon and Microsoft were. I guess I had always realized that Facebook and Google were intrusive , but I usually associate ...

       As I spend some time reflecting on Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) I think about both in person and online networks that help me grow and stretch as an educator. We have a teacher course team (TCT) for both world studies and psychology at my school and we meet regularly during our common planning period. We discuss content but also skills we are trying to develop especially in our 9th graders. In addition to that, I meet once a week with members of other departments to discuss our school wide common book  Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain  by Zaretta Hammond  and we discuss equity issues in our school. But, how do I use online PLNs? I think the most significant PLN I am in is the AP Psychology Teachers Facebook Page. I gain a significant amount of Cognitive Benefits  from this group. I gain resources, tools, and teaching strategies that help me not only in my advanced placement course but also in my senior level psychology ...

  Greetings! My name is Kassandra Tsitsopoulos, and I go by Kassandra and prefer she/her pronouns. As you're reading my first ever blog post, feel free to jam out to some Greek music by one of my favorite artists, Mixalis Hatzigiannis , he's guaranteed to get you in a good mood and give you some serotonin and dopamine hits! #PsychologyIsEverywhere For the past 14.5 years, I have been a high school social science teacher on the northwest side of the city for Chicago Public Schools. I have taught primarily World Studies (all levels) and both regular and A.P. Psychology. I am also the Chicago Teachers Union lead delegate and the teacher representative for my school’s Local School Council. I also coached the JV soccer team from 2007 to 2018. I am the daughter of two Greek immigrants and was raised bilingual in both Greek and English. I completed the ESL/Bilingual endorsement at Dominican in February and have decided to complete the additional four classes for a Masters. I am loo...