Featured Teacher: Katie Regan
|
|
Katie Regan English Teacher Jordan-Elbridge High School Jordan Elbridge Central School District Katie is a High School English Educator in the Jordan-Elbridge Central School district and is currently pursuing her Certificate of Advanced Studies in Educational State University of New York at Oswego. Further, she has been speaking at conferences, giving presentations, and providing quality professional development since 2010. Katie is passionate about engaging students using educational technology and providing quality professional development to teachers in the areas of technology and instruction. Follow Katie on Twitter: @katieregan88 View Katie's personal account of becoming a Connected Educator. What are some of the innovative ways you are integrating technology into your curriculum? Katie's enriched English class is inquiry-based, project-based, and almost entirely "flipped". Rarely is she the teacher at the center or front of the classroom. Katie recently started collaborating with another teacher in Connecticut through Google Hangout. Their students have collaborated and given each other feedback throughout the writing process with Edmodo and Google Drive. They also participated in a Socratic Circle via Google Hangouts. Three students from each class presented thematic analysis while the other students watched the live feed and participated in a moderated TodaysMeet chatroom. (An archive of the Socratic Circle can be found here). Katie leverages the power of cell phones and other mobile devices to engage students in the classroom. Her students regularly collaborate, lead discussions, provide each other with support and feedback, and learn the things they need to learn on their own to accomplish any given task. During her next unit, students will be cross-class collaborating on mini research and writing projects while working with the novel, Animal Farm. Looking ahead, students will be using the iPad and going paperless for a Macbeth unit through iTunesU. Please visit her blog for some other innovative things going on in her classroom. Katie is also a teacher leader in the building, helping others integrate technology such as Edmodo, Remind101, iPad, and Google Docs. Check out Katie's MentorMob Playlist to view a sample of her students' literary analysis of George Orwell's Animal Farm.
^
How have students benefitted from your technology integration initiatives?
Students have been provided with more authentic learning experiences for college and career readiness. They have learned to problem solve, work in groups, advocate for their ideas and make compromises, take responsibility for their own learning, present and lead discussion and learning activities, and become self-directed learners. Students have also learned to integrate video, podcasting, digital story-telling, and other technology into how they present their learning. |
