Jaclyn Scott - Web Portfolio
Jaclyn Scott
It may be unwise to admit it in a forum such as this, but when I began this program two years ago I really thought I had a handle on what I was doing. I was in a place in which I was comfortable with the subject matter and the students I was teaching. I felt like I knew what to expect as each new school year came. Life was finally predictable. Four years of teaching kindergarten will lull you into that type of false sense of security.
I entered the MAED program with some confidence that I was adequately prepared to meet the challenges that lay before me. While I’m happy with the success I’ve seen and the knowledge I've gained, I can honestly look back and say that I was fairly unaware of how much I still had to learn about students, teaching, and how they work together. I had established a solid base of knowledge but I had a fairly extensive way to go (as I soon found out).
One of the early courses I took was CEP 816 – Teaching with Technology Across the Curriculum. This course helped me twofold. I was able to focus on technology implementation and I created a professional development plan to help focus on improving areas of weakness. On one hand, I have always felt that technology is a strength of mine and I love to find new ways to implement it in the classroom. It is one of the many aspects of teaching that I really love and I was interested to really develop that side of me as a teacher. On the other hand, I was struggling a bit with finding the balance between effective and efficient assessments and actually teaching.
The technology side of the course was really quite interesting to me. I was able to write about my instructional dream – the thing I would like to do in education if there were no financial or time limitations. I focused on Project Based Learning (PBL) as the one thing I would love to do if there were infinite time and resources in education. This project helped me realize how much I value all of the 21st century skills that PBL allows students to develop. It helped me to put more of a focus on things like collaboration and communication within my own classroom. This assignment has honestly changed the way that I do things in my classroom. I may not have the time and resources to fully implement PBL but I am able to help develop some of the skills it involves. I’ve done this using pretty much all of the technology available to me at my school. My classes have Skyped to share reading strategies with other classes, used iPads to record and share thinking, and computers to draft letters to other classes across the country. Having the opportunity to look closely at PBL really helped me to realize what I value in education.
The other aspect of CEP 816 was professional development. By requiring us to create a plan to spotlighting our weaknesses we were forced to take a critical look at ourselves. One of the things I’ve always struggled with as a teacher is balancing assessments with the curriculum. In kindergarten there are no independent assessments. Students must be worked with one on one in some very lengthy evaluations. I was looking to make my assessments more informative since they take so much of my time. Through researching and evaluating my own assessment practices I was able to be reflective about why I do assessments. This project helped me to more fully implement the idea that assessments are meant to be informative and should drive instruction. They are not simply used to calculate grades. Since this course I have really focused on making sure that I keep assessments in check. It’s so easy to get caught up in the daunting lists of required assessments that I think I needed this class to give me some perspective. It’s important to see that assessments are useless if you’re left with no time to actually teach. I’ve learned to make the most of the data I collect so that I can do fewer assessments. I’ve eliminated redundancies and unnecessary data collection and it has made a significant difference in my classroom and in my students’ learning.
After less than a year of grad school I was already seeing slight changes in my practices. I quickly learned that each class had at least something to offer that would change the way I look at my profession. Of course, this was true of some more than others. One of the courses that really affected me was TE 831 – Teaching School Subject Matter with Technology. This course was right up my alley from the beginning. The entire course was build around utilizing the technology that is available on the internet for anyone to use for free. We compiled lists of free technology resources on the class wiki that I still go back and visit for ideas. This was the class that proved to me completely that I am able to utilize educational technology in a way that enhances my students’ learning and allows them to be creative while doing it.
I think it’s safe to say that the project from TE 831 that affected me the most was the vodcast project. We were tasked with creating a video that could be utilized by our students to teach or reinforce an idea. While I have always been quite comfortable with and proficient in technology I had never dabbled into filmmaking. Nevertheless, I opened up iMovie and got to work. A surprisingly short time later I had created a video that named and explained the elements required in retelling a story after reading. I was quite shocked when I realized how useful this type of multimedia presentation could be. Within just a couple of viewings, my students would come to recite the narration without the video when I asked them about the elements of a good story retell. No one was more surprised than me that the video came out pretty well and that it was so simple to do! Since then, I have created videos of students explaining their mathematical thinking, talking about the elements of a how-to book, and demonstrating proper hallway procedures. Creating that first vodcast showed me that there is no piece of technology I should be unwilling to try – because it just may turn out to be much easier than you think, not to mention fun.
Another class that really affected the way I approach educational technology was CEP 815 – Technology and Leadership. This was one of the courses I took in my first semester of the program, so it really set the tone for how I approached the remainder of my classes. This course had a large focus on TPACK and the way that technology can affect and be affected by content and teaching style. This was the course that really showed me that technology should not be implemented just for the sake of utilizing 21st century tools. It must be used to improve upon existing pedagogy or learning. This one idea was really impactful for me. I took to with me to technology committee meetings and felt confident enough to object to the purchase of tech equipment that did not yet have a specified academic purpose. This one idea changed the way that committee now approaches technology implementation in the school.
This course also included a project that seemed like an impossible task when it was assigned but eventually proved to be an opportunity to think creatively about how to get tech tools into the classroom. For the Sustainable Technology Project we were assigned to create a plan for technology implementation that did not rely on school funds or grant money. We had to create a plan that would, in itself, fund the technology we desired. I decided to focus on improving the leveled library available to my students in the classroom and at home through the use of RAZ-kids.com. Through the implementation of a Read-A-Thon to promote reading and raise the small amount of money necessary we would be able to pay the yearly fees associated with the program. While this was not implemented to the letter, we did use the ideas in separate ways in our school. We requested the RAZ-kids website subscription from the PTA and used the Read-A-Thon idea to purchase books for our school library. The assignment sparked some ideas that ended up improving the learning experience for all of the students in my school.
One final class that was important to all that I have learned in this program was ED 870 – Capstone Seminar. This course is the one that spurred the creation of this electronic portfolio. While all of the classes that I took offered relevant, inspiring information, it would have been easy for all of that to slowly drift to the far reaches of my memory. With the day-to-day demands put on a public school teacher it can be difficult to remember and implement some of the wonderful things I've learned. That’s where this course steps up to the plate. By looking back at what I’ve done and looking forward to what I will do I am able to keep all of the learning I’ve done over the past two years in the forefront of my mind. There have already been many times where I was reviewing coursework from well over a year ago and I happened upon a technique or a web tool that I had completely forgotten about. Being able to go back over such a vast amount of information and learning has been incredibly useful.
In addition, I have been able to create a portfolio that, with a little upkeep, can follow me throughout the inevitable changes in my career as an educator. The process of creating the portfolio has been a wonderful experience. I have been able to collaborate with people whose creativity has been enlightening for me. I’ve been challenged to create a portfolio that is both rich in information and visually appealing. Through the honest feedback of my peers and professors I truly feel like I’ve made something to be proud of. This resource will be an asset if I ever make the decision to change my career path within education. I would proudly present this portfolio to a future employer as a sample of they work I am capable of and as evidence of all I’ve learned in my masters program.
In the end, the MAED program has been a wonderfully eye-opening experience for me. I have learned more about my areas of weakness and felt validated in my areas of strength. I now have a clear direction that I am moving in and know what I need to do to continue on this educational technology path. I now know that my interests lie in educational technology and that I’m capable of even more growth in this area. I am now looking for ways to more effectively enhance my core curriculum with the use of technology and I can see that my students are benefitting from it. This program has sparked me to continue to research and learn about this area. It has also showed me that I will never know enough about literacy instruction to feel completely comfortable. I truly think that in these two areas I will always have an incurable thirst for more knowledge so that I can feel like I am giving my students the best education possible. So, yes, I can say with pride and confidence, you can learn a whole lot from going back to college.