Experience American School Foundation of Guadalajara 2014 to 2016
The best evidence of my work as Technology Integration Specialist for the one to one laptop program at the American School Foundation of Guadalajara is the Technology Reports website from 2014-16. I was responsible for writing and editing the middle and high school pages along with editing the site as a whole. These posts reflect a small part of how I contributed to teaching and learning at ASFG. Although my job title specified that I work with grades 7-12, I collaborated with my peers and administration in the elementary and early childhood sections as well. I maintained all of the subpages including parent and teacher resources, professional development and a site about computer science at ASFG.
While at ASFG, I worked to improve student access to computer science and tools for innovation. Through collaboration with classroom and technology teachers, more students participated in an Hour of Code in December 2015 than ever before. All elementary students learned with coding in Rachel’s technology classes and teachers used iPad apps in math stations. Middle School students had a variety of opportunities to experience an Hour of Code. 6th grade science and 7th grade math classes used Scratch to create animations and games, learning math and programming concepts while having fun. In addition to these in-class experiences, students also had the opportunity to explore coding and electronics independently in the library during lunch.
I worked closely with our upper school librarian Victoria to interest students in inventing, innovating and creating by building a Makerspace. In 2015, the new Little Bits kit was a favorite during the Hour of Code lunch activities, but students also participated in learning with Makey Makey, Arduino and online coding options. Students from 3rd grade to high school seniors were thrilled by their mastery of blinking lights and buzzers. In addition to resources for learning basic electronics and robotics, our Makerspace included a Printrbot Simple 3D printer. Building the machine was a collaboration between students, other teachers, the librarian and myself. We organized a 3D Gurus team of students to be leaders in using the technology and modeling for others how to invent and print.
While coding, inventing and engineering are all some of my favorite ways to engage students in learning, I also worked to develop ongoing Digital Citizenship lessons to help students and faculty participate ethically in the online world. Some of the most effective tools were middle school advisory lessons and discussions of the updated Responsible Use Agreement. We also worked to improve students’ information literacy skills. My collection of instructional videos demonstrated to students and teachers how to create different digital products, while also modeling the evolution of a responsible and constructive digital footprint.
I applied my inherent love of spreadsheets in various ways at school, vastly simplifying high school workshop sign-ups, competition judging, and senior project rubrics. I also used forms and spreadsheets to organize school-wide professional development according to people’s technology needs and interests. My time at ASFG allowed me to use my strengths to engage teachers and students in learning about and with technology. At ASFG, I embraced my inner geek, helping influence the next generation of digital citizens.
I applied my inherent love of spreadsheets in various ways at school, vastly simplifying high school workshop sign-ups, competition judging, and senior project rubrics. I also used forms and spreadsheets to organize school-wide professional development according to people’s technology needs and interests. My time at ASFG allowed me to use my strengths to engage teachers and students in learning about and with technology. At ASFG, I embraced my inner geek, helping influence the next generation of digital citizens.