Embedded Files
Evidence: Lunch and Learns
Our ITE coach has developed a program for teachers called "Lunch and Learns" . She sends out an email on Sunday nights with a description of a tech tool that she thinks would be helpful. In exchange for their attendance at her 30 minute workshop, she offers them a voucher for a free lunch in our cafeteria. This has been a great resource for many teachers. They have learned to use Actively Learn, Voicethread, Google Drive, Piktochart, and many more online tools.
What is great about this program is the ease of participation. There are three sessions offered during Tuesdays and Wednesdays - times that align with all of our lunches, or instead she offers to drop in for a one-on-one session with the teacher at their convenience. Teachers are busy people and find it hard to carve away time from the piles of paper they need to grade, students they need to meet with, and lessons that they to plan. This program aims to reduce the burden on teachers by offering them easy access to learning that could likely transform their teaching.
Evidence: Reflection for EDCI 325
In a reflection for EDCI 325, I was asked how I embodied the characteristics of an Innovator.
I believe my personality lends itself to that of innovation. I love
- Finding and solving problems
- Taking stock of all of my resources
- Examining problems from all angles
- Creating prototypes and reworking things until they are perfect
- And figuring out how to do something better the next time
Here’s an example where three situations coincided and the result was something amazing.
Problem 1: I was getting bored of the curriculum I was teaching in my freshman math class. We were working on transformations in geometry and I wanted to pull my hair out.
Problem 2: At the same time, I was in charge of leading some professional development related to STEM applications along with the tech and science teachers and had just learned how to use SketchUp to 3D print things and wanted to use the program in class.
Problem 3: The math office was terribly set up with these cubicle desks in such a way that the 12 of us in the room couldn’t quickly collaborate with each other (we couldn’t see if each other were in the room) our carpet smelled like dead mouse and had mystery stains, and there was very little natural sunlight that came into the office because of the configuration. Can you tell where this is going?
Old Office Layout
Seeing all of these problems as opportunities to do something amazing, I got to work. Over the next week or so I developed a lesson that all of the freshman participated in where they were tasked with redesigning the math office using SketchUp and their goal was to solve all of the issues that I outlined above via a new configuration while learning about dilations, rotations, scale, measuring (and more) which was at the heart of what we were trying to teach them in the unit on Geometry. They had a blast designing offices with waterslides, secret rooms, kitchens, you name it. They had a blast.
Fast forward a year later our school was going through asbestos abatement, specifically our department center was getting renovated. We were able to submit our plans for the new office and movers rearranged our office. This assignment still lives on in some of our classes.
Looking at this example of innovation shows that I tend to lead by example. I routinely look for problems that I generally can solve using technology and forge ahead to redefine how we do what we do. My colleagues know that they can come to me for new ideas, inspiration, and as a sounding board for their crazy ideas.
New Office Layout
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