helloit'skatherine

  Looking Back and Looking Ahead It seems like yesterday I was beginning the final course for my technology certificate and for my Master’s program - EDU 776.  This course has been primarily about technology in education.  I’ve learned a lot, and gained new insight and tools and created products that I know I will use in the future, and had a lot of fun along the way!  Read on for more specific reflections on EDU 776. Course Highlights Something that I always say is that the best form of PD for teachers is other teachers, and I feel strongly that will essentially always be true.  I really enjoyed how this class had a collaborative nature and that part of it was looking at and engaging with other classmates’ work products.  This course also reintroduced me to the world of blogging and Twitter.  Although I knew a lot about these two platforms before, I hadn’t used them much, and not at all for educational purposes.  I know I’ll continue to use Twitt...

  The Internet is Forever Recently, I’ve been thinking about my presence online in a whole new way.  I’ve tried to be someone who is NOT all over Google, and keep my social media pretty private for the most part, depending on the platform.  I wanted to be low key and not have future employers find a bunch of information about me.  However, lately, my eyes have been opened through my professional course work that a strong and positive online presence can be a great thing, and make you stand out and be marketable.  It’s basically impossible to not have some sort of digital tattoo, so might as well make it one you’re proud of! Data Mining Whether you’re someone who likes to keep a low profile, or you enjoy putting it all out there, I think it’s really important for everyone to at least be aware about what exists about them online, and how accessible it is to others.  This process of research through different search engines to create somewhat of an at-a-glance...

Universal Design Meeting the needs of all my students is something that is on my mind every single day. At least one of my classes is usually co-taught with a special education teacher, where several students have IEPs that require an inclusion setting.  This is usually my favorite block because I LOVE collaborating with a special education teacher and value their insight so much, and I always learn a lot through them and through the students we teach together, both with IEPs and without.  It’s also not uncommon for me to have many English Language Learners (ELLs) within the three classes I teach.  Additionally, students have Social Emotional Learning (SEL) needs that vary, and all students have different strengths and needs in general!  Although it can sometimes feel like we are never fully and completely giving every single student exactly what they need, the approach of Universal Design certainly helps to get as close as possible.  Planning from a perspective...

  Hello Again, Little Birdie It feels great to be back on Twitter!  When Twitter was first “a thing,” I was in late high school and early college.  I  had an account I really only used socially, and my friends and I would just tweet each other silly things throughout the day.  As other forms of social media evolved, I no longer used it frequently, deleted it, and hadn’t even touched the signature blue bird App - until recently. Over the past month, I’ve been on Twitter often and am seeing it in a whole new light.  I love the education community that exists on Twitter! I feel like I’ve been missing out. My Twitter handle is @heyitsmsschuler - come say hello!  I’ve enjoyed following a variety of accounts, from book accounts like @Scholastic , to my favorite professional texts authors like @JSerravallo , to keeping up with things in CPS through @CTULocal1 .  I plan on keeping my Twitter following and feed education related only, and have decided ...

Staying Relevant  Nothing keeps me more humble about my age than when my students learn a new Tik Tok dance or when they start talking about what is “bussin” or “slaps.”  Although I am in the group of younger educators at my school, I feel a HUGE generational gap between my 4th graders and myself, and the impacts of technology have a lot to do with that. Image Source: Giphy.com It’s important for teachers to know more than just our classroom content and educational theory, we have to know our students.  Really knowing them goes beyond knowing their personal interests and individual needs; We need to understand what’s relevant to their generation, and w ithin that c ategory, how their generation is impacted by and responds to educational technology.  Therefore, I’ve been exploring all about that! What Does the Research Say? There are a lot of great websites and organizations that have research reports on educational technology and students.  Although I brows...

Students are the Leaders of their Learning When I think about active learning, “active” is the word I focus on.  Active learning is not a new concept to me, but it’s one I recently learned even more about.  Active learning doesn’t necessarily mean students are physically active while learning, (although they certainly could be, and that’s one type of it!) but rather, they have active involvement in their learning.  Active learning is student-centered, interest based, involves a lot of peer to peer interaction, and the teacher is a facilitator of student ideas instead of teacher ideas.  It takes quality and intentional planning from educators, but it produces quality and intentional work from students.  Best of all, it’s the most engaging type of learning, and leads to very high student retention of material. Diving into an Example I chose to explore "A Year in Six Words" as an example of active learning.  I wanted to check out this example because it immed...