Welcome to My Leading Edge Certification Online Portfolio

Image source: Sauter personal collection

About Me:

My name is Jean Sauter, and I have been teaching at Hinckley-Finlayson Secondary School since 1992. I earned my teaching degree from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and I have continued my education at St. Thomas, Hamline, and Carlton College. I currently teach AP Psychology through a video conferencing system to various other school districts in our area. I also teach Futures Prep, World History, General Psychology, and Multicultural Studies. I believe it is important to be a life long learner whether it is formal or informal education.

My family currently lives in Pine City. I enjoy spending time at a family cabin, north of Coleraine, near several extended relatives. I love spending time with my husband, son, and extended family. I enjoy participating in and watching various sporting events and being outdoors. Some of my hobbies include digital scrapbooking, running, biking, fantasy football, reading, fishing, and traveling. My family recently whitewater rafted in Colorado, on the Lower Eagle River, which flows into the Colorado River. You can only raft on this river for approximately 1-2 months since it is all snow melt. It was a great experience.

Image source: Sauter personal collection

Image source: Sauter personal collection

My School

The Hinckley-Finlayson School District is located in rural Pine County, MN. Our school implemented a 1:1 iPad initiative in 2014-15 for grades 5-12 and uses Schoology as its main Learner Management System (LMS). In addition, our school is a member of ECMECC. This cooperative provides a small school like ours the opportunity to host and receive a variety of courses over interactive television (ITV) that might not otherwise be offered. Our school is very focused on trying to move toward creating an educational environment for the 21st century learner; that way we can provide students with the skills necessary to be successful in our ever changing world.

My Personal Learning Goals for the Leading Edge Certification (LEC) course:

I believe this course has been a great benefit to help me develop my skills to create a more collaborative online classroom. My highest priority learning goal for this course was to learn the "best practices" of online and blended teachers. I want to be intentional about the ways to facilitate the creation of an excellent online environment and promote higher level thinking skills. I also feel that it is important to step back into the role of a student to try to view what online learning feels like from the student perspective; and that way, I can be of better service to my students.

I have included a sample activity from my blended learning AP Psychology class including a media clip and matching activity. I am passionate about Psychology and love sharing the subject with students.

"The Big Bang Theory - YouTube." 2015. 14 June. 2015 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy_mIEnnlF4>