These are all various assignments and projects I completed or collaborated on throughout the course of completing my Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) Degree. They are divided into 3 categories. One of the goals I set for myself in this program was to understand and define strong and purposeful uses of technology inside the classroom. The Purposeful Use of Technology section provides demonstrations of this ability. Training teachers and helping them feel comfortable and excited to use technology with their students is something I look forward to be able to do as an instructional technology coach and my Teacher Training and Wellbeing provides examples of these ideas. Making Learning Unique and engaging is something that confronts us regularly as educators. In my final category I hope to demonstrate how teachers can vary learning within the walls of their classrooms and learning spaces.
Purposeful Use of Technology
MAET Lenses Lesson Every year in my school district our Spanish 1 courses do a very traditional "country project" encouraging students to explore one of the many Spanish speaking countries around the globe. This is a lesson plan I redesigned using the TPACK frame work from Mishra and Koehler and create a more engaging, interactive lesson for students. To read more of my thinking for redeveloping this lesson, check out my blog post here.
Maker Lesson Plan This lesson with Ozobots was part of a larger collaboration involving 4 other educators in the summer of 2019. We created a website showcasing different and engaging ways to involve technology and define technology in the classroom. This lesson demonstrates my ability to explore and play with the maker movement and Ozobots. I designed a lesson for Spanish 2 involving giving and understanding directions using the Ozobots. Click the photo to see an example of the lesson and a link to our larger body of work. My thoughts regarding the Ozobots are here.
Networked Learning Project During the Summer of 2019 I set out to learn a new skill, but my constraints were that I could only seek knowledge related to my project from the internet. The idea was to learn a new skills utilizing methods students might access instead of a 'traditional' teaching strategy like direct instruction. This demonstrated my ability to put myself in the shoes of the learner and develop a new skill using only tutorials and videos. My eyes were opened to a new reality of how students learn and digest information. I learned how to take down some (ugly) purple wall paper at my house solely from watching youtube videos and reading DIY blogs. My blog reflections are linked here.
Quickfires Quickfiresare challenge activities with a set time limit. Many times I found them to be frustrating, but ultimately they pushed me to demonstrate my ability to use my time wisely, experiment with new technology tools and be creative. Since completing this activities, this style of learning is one I have tried to mimic in my own classroom with students - especially when introducing a new concept or idea.
Teacher Training and Wellbeing
Wicked Problem Project Teachers starting their careers and then leaving before hitting the five year mark is a problem plaguing education that does not appear to be getting any better. This is a "wicked problem" - an issue with many variables that isn't necessarily easily solvable. I feel as if this project exemplifies my ability to collaborate with other colleagues and work together to tackle a tough problem that doesn't have an easy, straightforward answer. With my group, we looked to learn about the effects of teacher burnout on our profession and if it is preventable. Learn more about our findings here.
Student Engagement Professional Development During Summer 2020, I worked with a fellow educator to design a mock professional development focusing on assisting teachers in creating valuable, technology rich lessons for students. We specifically targeted ways to allow for meaningful student interaction and engagement in the age of distance learning. Click the image to the left to learn more and see our presentation.
Personal Learning Network As part of my journey through my master's program I have met many various people and found multiple engaging resources to expand my personal learning network (PLN). This was an example of my PLN at the beginning of Summer 2019. This demonstrated the need I have to grow my PLN (and I feel that this program helped me do exactly that!) I experimented with various mind mapping tools one morning to design a visual of my PLN. I used Popplet and really liked it.
Google Jamboard Professional Development
Along with a coworker, I designed a professional development based on Google Jamboard, Google Docs and Google Slides to present to each building in out district for Fall 2020. We are are K-12 Google school and the use of Google Tools and how they integrate together is still a new concept to many people. The idea behind this professional development was to allow our colleagues to see the tools in action, but then get work time where they would be able to experiment on their own and ask for help if necessary. Click the image to the left to see our presentation.
Making Learning Unique
Learning Space Design
Using design tool SketchUp, I redesigned a learning space. Instead of focusing on my classroom, I chose to look at our building's media center and library space. I feel it could be better utilized to meet the needs of staff and students and serve as great space for thinking and collaborating. I think mock up of our media demonstrates my ability to be a forward thinker regarding how learners can be shaped by their environment. My blog post with more in-depth thoughts and reflections is here.
Global Vision I crafted a vision statement and outlook demonstrating what I perceive will be the critical points to keep learning unique and engaging for students in the years ahead. Schools need to effectively use technology within the educational experiences in the classroom as well as design opportunities to learn via inquiry. Teachers need to be trained to best be able to assist and educate students in an ever changing world. If you would like to read more, you can download it by clicking on button below!