Biography

Catherine has been a teacher across all grade levels. She holds a B. A and M.A, in History, a Social Science Credential, as well, as an MA in Learning Technology. She has earned certification for IMRA (Instructional Media Resource Associate Level 1) and is currently co-teaching this course with the San Diego County Office of Education. She is also working towards Leading Edge Certification in Blended and Online Learning (coming soon).

She thought she would grow up to be a history teacher but other great opportunities presented themselves. Besides teaching history/social studies and language arts classes at the middle and high school level, she taught in an elementary classroom for fourteen years. She has been Media Literacy Specialist and currently teaches elementary courses and is the Director of Innovation and Educational Technology at a private Pre K-8th grade school in Los Angeles. She has always been an early adopter and worked at the forefront to bring technology into the classroom. She piloted a laptop program at the elementary level in 2000 and enjoys working with teachers to integrate technology across the curriculum. She is a Google Certified Innovator and actively presents at conferences. She has worked as an Instructional Designer and Outreach Manager for a leading gaming company and helped to design a FabLab and Makerspace for her schools. She has been a member of the CUELA board for two terms and consults with Code.org. She also consults and provides professional development on a variety of technology integration topics.

Learning Goal

Reflection: Personal Learning Goal

My personal goal for taking this class is two-fold. I would like to know first of all how to teach an online class. I wonder about the make of up of teaching such a class and I have many questions: What makes an online class engaging? How to ask good questions? How to ask questions that lead people into conversation? How to build community, especially if people never meet face to face? What is it like as a teacher to only teach remotely? These are the skills and strategies I hope to learn.

My second reason for taking the class is thinking about my future. I expect in a few years to move out of the city and into a more rural area. There are not as many schools, and only a couple of private schools and will be a 45-60 minute drive to larger school districts. I am concerned that I will need to continue to work until retirement age and with my 30+ years experience will find it hard to find a job. I think this certification may help me be more likely to be hired and may allow me the chance to work from home.

I think about the future and wonder if I am teaching online, from home, will I miss the classroom? Right now, I enjoy being a specialist teacher, I do complete grades and they are standards based. How will it be to grade students in an online course and (not ?) have a chance to get to know them? One of my strengths as a regular classroom teacher was giving special attention to my students, finding out how they learned and helping them grow and get support to be better learners. I don't really do this anymore, how will that be online? Will I be able to build relationships with my students? I know relationship building is very important and I am wondering how I can do this online. I guess time will tell.