Featured Artifacts for EDT 510, aligned with ISTE Educator Standards:
2.1 Learner: Ignite Talk. In this Ignite Talk, I present the resource CK-12. I first learned about CK-12 through one of my administrators, and I then went on to learn more about CK-12 by completing the Certified Educator course. I enjoy learning about resources that can can help me better do my job and help my students learn better. Being able to share this resource with others, as well as learn about other educators’ resources, was one of my favorite parts of the course.
2.5 Leader: Design Thinking Project Infographic. This infographic illustrates a solution to a problem I have dealt with for all of the years I have been a public cyber teacher: work completion. I created this infographic with two strategies in mind: family support and student accountability. This problem will not be solved until someone is willing to create and implement a system, and since I have the motivation and experience for it, I think I can lead this initiative.
Featured Artifacts for EDT 517, aligned with ISTE Educator Standards:
2.1 Learner: Greebles.mov. Being a teacher who is seriously attached to her PC, I didn’t have much experience with Apple products prior to pursuing West Chester University’s Educational Technology Certificate. To become more familiar with iMovie, a resource that can be used to enhance students’ collaborative, story-telling, and presentation skills, I made a horror movie trailer featuring my cat. Although the final product is just a silly movie trailer, I learned how to use a piece of technology that my students may potentially benefit from. My seventh and eighth graders use iPads, and I can use my newfound understanding of iMovie to facilitate a collaborative project using this resource.
2.5 Designer: Mini-Golf Project. With my improved understanding of Universal Design for Learning, I was able to confidently create a UDL-aligned 6th-8th grade geometry project I had already intended to make. This project fulfills the three principles of universal design for learning, making the project more accessible and engaging. All students benefit from projects aligned to UDL principles, and I am so excited to assign this for the first time this upcoming spring.
2.7 Analysist: UDL Journal Article Review. This paper is a review of two peer-reviewed articles on universal design for learning. Analyzing peer-reviewed articles helps me grow as an educator in two critical ways. Firstly, the literature empowers me to make research-supported decisions to benefit my students. Secondly, the process helps me understand what other educators look for in academic research, which helps me improve my own research.
Take a tour of my Schoology course. This Google Slideshow includes detailed video tours and annotated images of my setup and example weeks.
Keep scrolling for samples of materials in math, science, and social studies.
View samples of math activities created for my fully cyber, fourth grade class. My math materials are created to be rigorous and apply to real-world scenarios. Sometimes I create math projects, which span multiple days and are designed to raise engagement and agency. My students complete most of their work asynchronously, so the activities can be done independently through Google Assignments on Schoology. For math, synchronous Zoom time is used to go over expectations for activities, complete sample problems, and ask/answer questions.
View samples of science activities created for my fully cyber, fourth grade class. My science materials align with the Next Generation Science Standards and are designed to be considerate of what materials students may have at home. They foster research skills and creative exploration. When we either return to the brick and mortar setting or have a more-developed elementary cyber curriculum for science, I look forward to facilitating hands-on experiments that fit the scientific method and develop CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) skills.
View samples of social studies activities created for my fully cyber, fourth grade class. These activities promote agency, thoughtful choice, and community-building. Here, I show a small sample of everything from Black History to economics to Pennsylvania history. Many of the social studies activities my students participated in this year were based in discussion boards on Schoology or adapted from the materials of other amazing teachers, so they are not present in my portfolio. In the future, I look forward to creating content that includes windows and mirrors, fosters responsible decision-making, relates to current events, and teaches history in a way that is inclusive of all perspectives.