Teaching Experience at Jefferson High School 2008-2012
My first year at Jefferson, also my first year of teaching, I taught five different classes. I had training in Project Lead the Way’s (PLTW) Digital Electronics (DE) and Computer Integrated Manufacturing curriculum. I had the support of a master teacher in my department head for Introduction to Engineering Design (IED), another PLTW class. Furthermore, I had Robotics and Computer Aided Drafting classes, which had very basic curriculum outlines. I also inherited a classroom full of old machines that did not work well and rows of computers. I faced a lot of challenges the first year I taught, but I enjoyed inspiring students to understand the power of engineering and technology.
Getting to know my students was a fundamental part of my job. Several students took a class with me every year for three years. Some freshman students who took IED with me took Principles of Engineering as sophomores and DE as juniors. In addition to the PLTW classes, I designed the curriculum for the Manufacturing Enterprises class, which included information literacy, computer aided manufacturing, and career concepts. The class also used the Junior Achievement Company Program in order for students to run a company. In my final year, I also taught a robotics class focused on the First Tech Challenge competition.
Getting to know my students was a fundamental part of my job. Several students took a class with me every year for three years. Some freshman students who took IED with me took Principles of Engineering as sophomores and DE as juniors. In addition to the PLTW classes, I designed the curriculum for the Manufacturing Enterprises class, which included information literacy, computer aided manufacturing, and career concepts. The class also used the Junior Achievement Company Program in order for students to run a company. In my final year, I also taught a robotics class focused on the First Tech Challenge competition.
Throughout the Masters in Instructional Technology experience, I utilized much of what I was learning in my classes at Jefferson. I was inspired to create Google Site Templates for my Digital Electronics, Principles of Engineering and Manufacturing Enterprises classes. Maintaining a blog and personal learning network, which allowed me to communicate with other educational professionals, was also key to my experience.
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Links to My Sites |
Professional Development at Jefferson HS 2008-2012
As part of my innate desire to learn and share new technology, I attended two Cedar Rapids Community School District "Train the Trainers" seminars. These seminars are usually two or three days where a new application or hardware is demonstrated to teachers. These teachers then become on-site exports in our schools in order to help others learn and troubleshoot the new technology. I completed the training for PowerSchool and Smartboards in the Summer of 2009.
After completing the PowerSchool training, during which I took copious notes, the trainers were asked to create a 4-hour professional development introduction to implement during the pre-service days. Along with my colleague Jennifer Lange, I assumed responsibility for the introduction at Jefferson. We created an outline of the topics we wanted to cover and I created a powerpoint with interactive content and videos to use during the training. I also created several quick reference sheets, including how to transfer students and print selected students. As the new year began, it became obvious that I was the go-to person for PowerSchool at Jefferson. I attended a question and answer session with Pearson, the makers of PowerSchool, and reported back to my colleagues. All of the materials I created for PowerSchool I make available in a shared network drive. When people have a question, I can now just send them a link to the document they need.
Taking less of an overt leadership role in the the use of Smartboards at Jefferson, I focused mostly with my department on Smartboard implementation in the pre-engineering classes. Students were very enthusiastic about interacting with the board. We purchased the Smart Slate in the summer of 2011 and had great results during the drawing unit of Introduction to Engineering Design. Students could see in real-time how I was using the ruler to help me draw guidelines during demonstrations. Experimenting with the different tools during lab time was also a joy. During this period, my department head and I wrote and received a grant which allowed us to purchase the Smart Response interactive clickers for our department. I created formative assessments to use with the clickers. Students preferred the clickers to worksheets for reviews before summative evaluations. Students were engaged by the technology, and I learned a great deal about their level of understanding from the data.
After completing the PowerSchool training, during which I took copious notes, the trainers were asked to create a 4-hour professional development introduction to implement during the pre-service days. Along with my colleague Jennifer Lange, I assumed responsibility for the introduction at Jefferson. We created an outline of the topics we wanted to cover and I created a powerpoint with interactive content and videos to use during the training. I also created several quick reference sheets, including how to transfer students and print selected students. As the new year began, it became obvious that I was the go-to person for PowerSchool at Jefferson. I attended a question and answer session with Pearson, the makers of PowerSchool, and reported back to my colleagues. All of the materials I created for PowerSchool I make available in a shared network drive. When people have a question, I can now just send them a link to the document they need.
Taking less of an overt leadership role in the the use of Smartboards at Jefferson, I focused mostly with my department on Smartboard implementation in the pre-engineering classes. Students were very enthusiastic about interacting with the board. We purchased the Smart Slate in the summer of 2011 and had great results during the drawing unit of Introduction to Engineering Design. Students could see in real-time how I was using the ruler to help me draw guidelines during demonstrations. Experimenting with the different tools during lab time was also a joy. During this period, my department head and I wrote and received a grant which allowed us to purchase the Smart Response interactive clickers for our department. I created formative assessments to use with the clickers. Students preferred the clickers to worksheets for reviews before summative evaluations. Students were engaged by the technology, and I learned a great deal about their level of understanding from the data.