Showcase of Graduate Work
On this page of my portfolio, you will find a showcase of work I have completed during my time at Michigan State University. I have separated the page into sections. In the first section you will find samples that display innovative ways technology can be used in education. Afterward, the slideshow and Nearpod lesson are collaborative projects created with other colleagues. Lastly, some of the research I have done is highlighted. All of the headings are hyperlinks that will take you to a more in-depth description.
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If you see something you like or have a question about, contact me!
Innovation
Collaboration
Summer 2016
Education Technology Conference
GREAT 16 in Galway, Ireland
Research
Did you know that you could use Minecraft in the classroom?! Above is a screencast that walks you through an assessment I made for a fourth grade math class. This experience was crucial to my understanding of how you can blend creativity, student interest, and assessment. I also saw that assessment can actually be fun! Feel free to learn more about the assessment and Minecraft Edu by clicking here.
Do you know about the Maker Movement in education? After being exposed to this exciting community of educators and innovators, I created a guide for teachers to become involved. If you click the heading, you'll find my infographic made on Piktochart. Making this infographic was important to me because it allowed me to advertise a movement that showed me another side of creativity in the classroom.
I have to admit, I was geeking out a little bit when I received my Little Bits Kit in the mail. I had never used an electronic building block to create anything before, but I was up for the challenge! The video displayed shows the math game spinner I created and by clicking on the heading, it will send you to a fourth grade lesson plan I made which incorporates the spinner.
Curious to hear about the process? Click here to read more!
In an effort to reach all my students, I learned new strategies to try out in the classroom. This particular case study focuses on a student with challenging behaviors in the classroom and how I applied some of those new strategies in the classroom. Clicking on the heading above will bring you to a summary of my findings presented in an infographic, but you can read the entire care study here.
Writing can be a struggle for many students, let alone students with disabilities. Students with ADHD typically experience difficulty in the writing classroom, and speech recognition in Google Docs is one strategy I found to be helpful. The speech recognition software allows the students to just talk freely while it types what they say for them. This is helpful because it takes out the hand writing or typing aspect that may break students away from the creative flow. Click the image above to read more about it.
One of the wicked problems we face today in education is scaling innovation in our schools. In every school there are a few teachers that will step outside of their comfort zone to try something new, but the majority of teachers are still doing the same old boring lessons that they've done since the 90s. There are many factors that contribute to why this is happening, which you can see in my infographic to the left. After researching, my colleague and I created several solutions to be put into place to help this wicked problem.
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If you'd like to read more about our solution ideas:
I have been lucky enough to have co-taught for the last five years with the same co-teacher. Having this background made me want to dive deeper into the effectiveness of co-teaching and which method would be best. Completing this research not only confirmed my thoughts I had on co-teaching previously but also helped me become a better researcher. I learned how to think critically about my sources and see how limitations affect outcomes and validity of a study
I was fortunate enough to travel all the way to Galway, Ireland to take my studies abroad. There, I connected with dozens of other educators from around the globe. I worked with educators from South Korea, Canada, and even Romania. One of the major accomplishments I had in Ireland was creating the Global Resources in Education and Technology Conference (GREAT 16). We only had 12 days to plan, organize, practice, and execute the entire conference. I was part of the Social Media Team and our goal was to spread the word about the conference and ensure that we had attendees. We utilized Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to build excitement and share crucial information about the conference. We were able to connect with educators around the globe using our official hashtag: #GREAT16. To your left is a slideshow of images from Ireland and from the conference.
During the GREAT 16 conference, my colleague and I presented to attendees on blended learning. We focused on what blended learning is, the models you can use in your class, and classroom/device management in a blended learning environment. This was the first time I had conducted a professional development and I learned a lot about how to present to adults as well as about myself when I am under pressure. On your right is a Nearpod session that will recap what our presentation was on. To enter, type in your name and press send.