Hello and thank you for visiting my blog. Here you will find all of the courses I have taken towards my endorsement in instructional technology. Each of the courses are listed above and on each page you will find artifacts, reflections, and/or additional assignments that belong to the course. I currently hold a master's in Educational Leadership and hope to enhance my understanding of the 21st century learner with this coursework.
A bit about me: I teach 6th grade ELA at Washington Junior High and Academy for Joliet Public Schools District 86. Most importantly, I am the mother of two fantastic little boys, Frank and Norman.
I have taught since 2001 and began teaching at Washington Junior High and Academy in 2005. I started teaching in the Academy in 2007 and have been here ever since. Our program is a magnet school within a larger neighborhood school. Our students are working at or above grade level and are from all over the city of Joliet. I love my students' enthusiasm for inquiry and problem-solving!
If I could give myself a grade (non-standards based) I'd say I'm about a B- in terms of comfort level with technology. If I don't understand something right away, I get frustrated. I feel like everything needs to be instantaneous especially in trying to figure out different platforms. Due to the frequency that we are given these new tools, I feel like the acquisition should be seamless.
My favorite tech tools are within the G-Suite apps. I really see the value in them while moving towards a 1:1 environment. In addition, Mastery Connect is quite a handy tool but I struggle with finding deeper DOK levels in the assessments but I guess I just need to explore that more. My students love Kahoot, but I try to limit that to 10th hour enrichment activity because I will hear that theme music in my head for days! This fall, our district is going 1:1 (Chromebooks) for 6th grade students and we are have training over the summer of 2018 to prepare. I am optimistic about the roll out especially when I hear that there will be management tools to assist teachers that will help keep students on task.
I'm not a huge fan of social media and I don't do Facebook, however. I have in the past. I don't see the educational value in it for kids as I see it doing much more damage than good. But perhaps my opinion will change throughout the coursework.
When I'm not parenting, teaching, or taking a course (finishing the endorsement this fall, YEA!!), I am a gym rat. I love working out and just got certified to teach my favorite dance fitness format at my gym. Exercise is the best way to de-stress!
Looking forward to communicating with you all as the semester progresses!