7. "...the teacher is a lifelong learner who seeks opportunities to reflect on his or her practice and grow professionally..." (Nolan & Hoover, p. 91, 2010)
Scope & Sequences
Over the last 7 or so years that I have been in the field of education, I've always sought to improve my abilities as an educator. Last year, when my supervisor asked me (as part of my final formal evaluation that year) that I consider some ways to improve, she asked that I, as part of a school wide initiative, finalize a comprehensive scope & sequence for all of my classes, as well as work on utilizing technology more with my teaching. So I set about to do just that.
I had already completed a comprehensive scope and sequence for my World Geography class that same year, so that experience better prepared me for the following year, when I would not be teaching world geography any longer (though I did give my curriculum, lesson plans, etc. to the new teacher who happily used them), but needed to prepare these outlines and plans for four different classes. I ended up finishing each of just in time for school. More about that experience can be found in my Planning for Instruction section. See each of them below:
Over the last 7 or so years that I have been in the field of education, I've always sought to improve my abilities as an educator. Last year, when my supervisor asked me (as part of my final formal evaluation that year) that I consider some ways to improve, she asked that I, as part of a school wide initiative, finalize a comprehensive scope & sequence for all of my classes, as well as work on utilizing technology more with my teaching. So I set about to do just that.
I had already completed a comprehensive scope and sequence for my World Geography class that same year, so that experience better prepared me for the following year, when I would not be teaching world geography any longer (though I did give my curriculum, lesson plans, etc. to the new teacher who happily used them), but needed to prepare these outlines and plans for four different classes. I ended up finishing each of just in time for school. More about that experience can be found in my Planning for Instruction section. See each of them below:
Canvas Lead
Meanwhile, as the summer came to a close, I met with my administrators and offered to take on the role of Canvas Lead at our school, because this Learning Management System (LMS) and others like it are proving to be a key part of future education. I have been working, training, and collaborating these past 8 or so months working on helping myself, our "Canvas Crew" (a few brave souls willing to try it out) and convince them to join on. Here's the plan we ultimately created to make our dream a reality: Canvas Crew Plan. Additionally, here is a video of the presentation I made to present our plan and our Canvas Crew to the rest of the school faculty!
Well, most of us were ready to have a few blended classes by the Spring 2020 semester, so we launched. Things were going well, though occasional hiccups occurred, but I helped my other teachers to get through them, and get their modules created, material posted, etc. Ironically, when the corona closure hit a few months into 2020, we were primed for the big time, and all of that experience and effort and good karma came to fruition.
The remainder of our teachers began working with myself and my Canvas Crew, and we were able, in just a few short weeks, to get a majority of the teachers up and running so that they could continue to practice social distancing, but also keep up the pace and integrity of their classroom learning in a long-distance mode. I'd say we did quite well, all things considered, and I'm very glad that I was a part of it, because if we hadn't started when we did, we'd have struggled a lot more with the Corona closures of Spring 2020.
UEN Conference
I was invited to present my experience with our Canvas Implementation at the Summer 2020 UEN Reimagine Learning Conference on July 29th, 2020. I appreciated the chance to share our experience, and it was a great opportunity to discuss what worked, and what other teachers and schools experienced as well. See below:
Meanwhile, as the summer came to a close, I met with my administrators and offered to take on the role of Canvas Lead at our school, because this Learning Management System (LMS) and others like it are proving to be a key part of future education. I have been working, training, and collaborating these past 8 or so months working on helping myself, our "Canvas Crew" (a few brave souls willing to try it out) and convince them to join on. Here's the plan we ultimately created to make our dream a reality: Canvas Crew Plan. Additionally, here is a video of the presentation I made to present our plan and our Canvas Crew to the rest of the school faculty!
Well, most of us were ready to have a few blended classes by the Spring 2020 semester, so we launched. Things were going well, though occasional hiccups occurred, but I helped my other teachers to get through them, and get their modules created, material posted, etc. Ironically, when the corona closure hit a few months into 2020, we were primed for the big time, and all of that experience and effort and good karma came to fruition.
The remainder of our teachers began working with myself and my Canvas Crew, and we were able, in just a few short weeks, to get a majority of the teachers up and running so that they could continue to practice social distancing, but also keep up the pace and integrity of their classroom learning in a long-distance mode. I'd say we did quite well, all things considered, and I'm very glad that I was a part of it, because if we hadn't started when we did, we'd have struggled a lot more with the Corona closures of Spring 2020.
UEN Conference
I was invited to present my experience with our Canvas Implementation at the Summer 2020 UEN Reimagine Learning Conference on July 29th, 2020. I appreciated the chance to share our experience, and it was a great opportunity to discuss what worked, and what other teachers and schools experienced as well. See below:
ESL & Spanish Education
In Fall, 2020, I took over the ESL department at our school, and have been leading out a revamp of our program. I am very excited for this opportunity to expand and extend my own abilities, and to better help the students at our school, especially our English Language Learners. I also took over a Spanish class (as a teacher unexpectedly left) since I have been working on my Spanish endorsement anyway. I have enjoyed both of these opportunities and the challenges and rewards that they offer.
In Fall, 2020, I took over the ESL department at our school, and have been leading out a revamp of our program. I am very excited for this opportunity to expand and extend my own abilities, and to better help the students at our school, especially our English Language Learners. I also took over a Spanish class (as a teacher unexpectedly left) since I have been working on my Spanish endorsement anyway. I have enjoyed both of these opportunities and the challenges and rewards that they offer.
Graduate Coursework
I attended two different graduate schools, on my journey to become an administrator. I got accepted to Chadron State College, out of Nebraska, and then later I transferred to Southern Utah University, where I graduated in April, 2020. As part of my continuing education, I also took several different Praxis exams (results here), thus illustrating my professional working knowledge as both a teacher and as a budding administrator. To learn more about my coursework at each graduate school, click either button below:
I attended two different graduate schools, on my journey to become an administrator. I got accepted to Chadron State College, out of Nebraska, and then later I transferred to Southern Utah University, where I graduated in April, 2020. As part of my continuing education, I also took several different Praxis exams (results here), thus illustrating my professional working knowledge as both a teacher and as a budding administrator. To learn more about my coursework at each graduate school, click either button below:
Undergraduate Coursework
While it has been nearly a decade since I attended Brigham Young University, the lessons I learned there have stuck with me as well. Here are my transcripts, and below are a few letters of recommendation from that period of my life, as I graduated:
While it has been nearly a decade since I attended Brigham Young University, the lessons I learned there have stuck with me as well. Here are my transcripts, and below are a few letters of recommendation from that period of my life, as I graduated:
Other
My brother and I really enjoy writing. We are working on a sci-fi novel right now, but sometimes for fun we like to just "story jam" and challenge each other to write short stories in a limited amount of time. A few of those can be seen below:
My brother and I really enjoy writing. We are working on a sci-fi novel right now, but sometimes for fun we like to just "story jam" and challenge each other to write short stories in a limited amount of time. A few of those can be seen below:
Sources
Experts Agree that Lifelong Learning is the Key to Career Success - SF Weekly. (2017). Retrieved 15 March 2020, from https://www.sfweekly.com/sponsored/experts-agree-that-lifelong-learning-is-the-key-to-career-success/
Nolan, J., & Hoover, L. (2010). Teacher supervision and evaluation - Theory into practice (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Experts Agree that Lifelong Learning is the Key to Career Success - SF Weekly. (2017). Retrieved 15 March 2020, from https://www.sfweekly.com/sponsored/experts-agree-that-lifelong-learning-is-the-key-to-career-success/
Nolan, J., & Hoover, L. (2010). Teacher supervision and evaluation - Theory into practice (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.