To begin, begin.
William Wordsworth
Union High School
Grand Rapids Public Schools
Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.
Samuel Johnson
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.
William Butler Yeats
Instructional Coach, Leader, Teacher
Who I am....
Thank you for taking the time to stop and visit my professional portfolio. First, I must extend a thoughtful Thank You to my family as they have supported my journey and without any of them, I would not have learned the lessons of adolescents as well as taking this knowledge into the classroom giving me a wealth of experiences to draw from in reflecting upon my journey.
What I do...
As an Instructional Coach, I work with high school teachers and am continually building my personal networks through my work and could not be where I am today without their support, concern, and guidance. I enjoy supporting teachers with the craft on best practices, strategies, and professional development. I have had an opportunity to go into their classrooms and model lessons, demonstrate strategies, gather data, utilize planning sessions to integrate technology, and continue to encourage the use of technology in the classroom.
Finally, I am also a 6th through 12th grade English Language Arts and Social Studies teacher. So while I am currently working with the teachers on professional development, I am also still teaching the students when I am modeling strategies or at night school where I work four nights a week. As an educator, I am excited about the opportunity to further my abilities to support the use and integration of the curriculum and technology I have learned about through MSU’s MAET program. I want to support my district’s initiatives not to mention my own knowledge base.
What I Learned....
Over the course of the MAET program, I have now realized a number of resources that can allow teachers to integrate collaboration within the classroom for all students. This is a great resource for not only the teachers, but also the value for students to peer edit essays within their classes as the gold standard that teachers strive to create.
On another note, I have been collaboratively working with colleagues to create a Flipped AP classroom. Recently, GRPS acquired iPads for use within these AP classrooms opening avenues further to integrate technology. We live in a world with information speeding around the globe and students have many variations to access this information and it is our job as educators to keep pace and show students how the tools at their fingertips will help them compete in an ever-changing world.
Through the course material and collaborative process, I hope that I can continue to integrate how to make using all these varied products into one seamless experience. To be honest, as an older learner it is sometimes easier to stick to what you are comfortable with rather than try new concepts. Time is our enemy and when technology becomes cumbersome and confusing students shut down just as do adults. My goal is to take away the experience and to meld it into the pedagogy of my colleagues through continuing PLC study.
What I believe...
The intentional thought process that goes into creating an online course, addressing various learning styles, can prove to be onerous while creating a course; however, the benefits outweigh the consumption of time. As a classroom teacher, I have always been cognizant of considering my students’ learning styles when creating groups or writing lessons, but I had never thought about how my own learning style affects the way I structure my classes, whether intentionally or sub-conscientiously.
According to Felder and Soloman in Learning Styles and Strategies, they propose, “college courses rely heavily on lectures to disseminate information and most students’ do not get nearly as much as they would if more visual presentations were used in class.” Upon reflection of my own teaching practice, I realized long ago that to meet the needs of all my students then I needed a visual and verbal representation embedded within each lesson as much as possible to allow me to reach all of my students. Granted it is easier said than done sometimes, but it does not mean that I am not aware of the struggles some students may face; especially, young adults when tackling tough concepts.