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Digital Citizenship KNelson Home Learn more Inspiration About the Author |
About the Author
My two favorite teachers were in 5th grade. One was my 5th grade teacher, and the second one was her substitute teacher for a short while. I remember feeling like they really cared about me, and I was someone special in their lives, even outside of the classroom. The sense of belonging and feeling cared about led me to my teaching career. I wanted to have the same impact on students as those two teachers had on me.
I currently teach 3rd grade at a Title 1 school, in Napa, California. I am finishing my 7th year with Napa Valley Unified School District. At the beginning of my second year, I was approached by my past principal to lead a program called Building Effective Schools Together (BEST). It is a branch of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS). I accepted the position and have been leading it successfully ever since. My bachelor’s degree is in Psychology so social-emotional learning, BEST and PBIS are truly a part of who I am as a person. It all goes back to my 5th grade year.
In addition to being a teacher, I am a mom. I have two wonderful children. Dylan is 19 years old and Brooklynn is 12 years old. They are the apples of my eye. Teaching has been a great profession for raising children. I am thankful to have a schedule that is conducive to their schedule. I am able to attend all of their after school activities, summer activities and school functions. It is the best of both worlds.
I currently teach 3rd grade at a Title 1 school, in Napa, California. I am finishing my 7th year with Napa Valley Unified School District. At the beginning of my second year, I was approached by my past principal to lead a program called Building Effective Schools Together (BEST). It is a branch of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS). I accepted the position and have been leading it successfully ever since. My bachelor’s degree is in Psychology so social-emotional learning, BEST and PBIS are truly a part of who I am as a person. It all goes back to my 5th grade year.
In addition to being a teacher, I am a mom. I have two wonderful children. Dylan is 19 years old and Brooklynn is 12 years old. They are the apples of my eye. Teaching has been a great profession for raising children. I am thankful to have a schedule that is conducive to their schedule. I am able to attend all of their after school activities, summer activities and school functions. It is the best of both worlds.
TPACK and my journey
My journey started in September of 2020. This is when I decided to take a big jump and join the master's degree program for Innovative Learning through Touro University. The reason I say it was a big jump for me is because Innovative Learning was an area that I felt most uncomfortable with as a teacher. Due to this awareness, I have pushed myself outside of my comfort zone, and I can proudly say that I am weeks away from earning my degree!
The acronym TPACK stands for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. As you can see from the image above, there are three main areas that come together to form the TPACK. The Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) area is what we describe as the "What am I teaching?" After teaching 3rd grade for the past 7 years, the content is probably my most comfortable area of TPACK. However, adding the technological component was outside my comfort zone. I mean, sure, I had students on the computers typing reports or googling information for a project. However, I now have students using GimKit, Kahoot, Quizizz, FlipGrid, Google Classroom, Zoom, Clever, No Red Ink, Jamboards, EdPuzzle and more. My awareness and growth in the technological realm is benefiting my students and their content understanding.
The Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) area is the "How will I teach it?" This is where the choices a teacher makes to "teach" the content becomes most important for having the information "stick" for students' understanding and learning. Since utilizing more technology with my students, I have noticed the content "sticking" more for most of them. In the beginning of my journey I found it incredible that different gaming sites helped students learn better and easier. Then I thought more about it and realized that the gaming is what was engaging for them and ultimately made it fun and exciting. When education is fun and exciting for any student, but for my 3rd graders, it really made a difference in their learning. I was much more successful in my test scores this year than any other year in the past.
Finally the Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) area...talk about changes for me! As I mentioned above, adding more engaging technology to teach the content standards has made a world of difference for me as a teacher and for my students as learners. I am a silver-lining thinker. I believe when our world turned upside down due to COVID 19, one of the several silver-linings is the expansion and knowledge of online learning, online learning platforms and engaging online gaming sites. There are several teachers that would have never ventured out and learned what they have this past year about virtual learning and gaming, had it not been forced upon them due to COVID. I am thankful for this extra push because I feel we are all better teachers by challenging ourselves to think outside the box and change the way we teach (pedagogy) to be for effective and efficient teachers for our young learners!
To learn more about TPACK, please visit their website at www.tpack.org/.
The acronym TPACK stands for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. As you can see from the image above, there are three main areas that come together to form the TPACK. The Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) area is what we describe as the "What am I teaching?" After teaching 3rd grade for the past 7 years, the content is probably my most comfortable area of TPACK. However, adding the technological component was outside my comfort zone. I mean, sure, I had students on the computers typing reports or googling information for a project. However, I now have students using GimKit, Kahoot, Quizizz, FlipGrid, Google Classroom, Zoom, Clever, No Red Ink, Jamboards, EdPuzzle and more. My awareness and growth in the technological realm is benefiting my students and their content understanding.
The Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) area is the "How will I teach it?" This is where the choices a teacher makes to "teach" the content becomes most important for having the information "stick" for students' understanding and learning. Since utilizing more technology with my students, I have noticed the content "sticking" more for most of them. In the beginning of my journey I found it incredible that different gaming sites helped students learn better and easier. Then I thought more about it and realized that the gaming is what was engaging for them and ultimately made it fun and exciting. When education is fun and exciting for any student, but for my 3rd graders, it really made a difference in their learning. I was much more successful in my test scores this year than any other year in the past.
Finally the Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) area...talk about changes for me! As I mentioned above, adding more engaging technology to teach the content standards has made a world of difference for me as a teacher and for my students as learners. I am a silver-lining thinker. I believe when our world turned upside down due to COVID 19, one of the several silver-linings is the expansion and knowledge of online learning, online learning platforms and engaging online gaming sites. There are several teachers that would have never ventured out and learned what they have this past year about virtual learning and gaming, had it not been forced upon them due to COVID. I am thankful for this extra push because I feel we are all better teachers by challenging ourselves to think outside the box and change the way we teach (pedagogy) to be for effective and efficient teachers for our young learners!
To learn more about TPACK, please visit their website at www.tpack.org/.
Reflections on my Journey
Thinking back to the beginning of my Master's degree journey, one needs to think back to August of 2020. We were in the middle of a pandemic, and we were all teaching online. I thought it would be the perfect time to challenge myself with learning more about innovative learning and technology. Talk about a mind-blowing experience! My sketch to the left is colorful because this has been a colorful and exhilarating experience for me. I have challenged myself with homework, new technologies, and extra late-night reading assignments. I have pushed myself beyond my comfort zone, and I have learned so much about myself in the process.
I decided to do my research on the impact of blending SEL and BEST practices with Digital Citizenship because I was worried about our students and how much they will now be online due to COVID. In addition, I was introduced to a FABULOUS website called, "CommonSense.org". I could not believe how much research, lesson planning, blogging and organization has gone into this website. If you haven't had an opportunity to check it out, you really should. You will be amazed. So, I used a lot of their work to implement digital citizenship lessons into my classroom and research. My students responded very well to the lesson plans, which included videos, and discussions. They took a pre-assessment in the very beginning of my research, mini-assessments following each lesson and a post-assessment at the close of the research. They showed a lot of growth, and I am very proud of all of them.
After I wrap up my assignments for my Master's degree this summer, I am looking forward to creating DC/SEL/BEST lesson plan templates for each grade level at my school site. I have already reviewed my research and research findings with my principal and she is on board to move forward with the lessons for all grade levels, K-5. This makes me very happy!
Once the exhaustion is done and I have more time again, I plan on going back to school to get my Administrative Credential. If one day I do decide to do something different and outside of the classroom, I need this credential to move forward. Therefore, I will continue to push myself and grow some more! After this experience, I believe all teachers need to push themselves outside of their comfort zone a bit and remember what it feels like to be a student again. This reality has enlightened me as to how to be a better teacher. Plus, one really should never stop learning!
I decided to do my research on the impact of blending SEL and BEST practices with Digital Citizenship because I was worried about our students and how much they will now be online due to COVID. In addition, I was introduced to a FABULOUS website called, "CommonSense.org". I could not believe how much research, lesson planning, blogging and organization has gone into this website. If you haven't had an opportunity to check it out, you really should. You will be amazed. So, I used a lot of their work to implement digital citizenship lessons into my classroom and research. My students responded very well to the lesson plans, which included videos, and discussions. They took a pre-assessment in the very beginning of my research, mini-assessments following each lesson and a post-assessment at the close of the research. They showed a lot of growth, and I am very proud of all of them.
After I wrap up my assignments for my Master's degree this summer, I am looking forward to creating DC/SEL/BEST lesson plan templates for each grade level at my school site. I have already reviewed my research and research findings with my principal and she is on board to move forward with the lessons for all grade levels, K-5. This makes me very happy!
Once the exhaustion is done and I have more time again, I plan on going back to school to get my Administrative Credential. If one day I do decide to do something different and outside of the classroom, I need this credential to move forward. Therefore, I will continue to push myself and grow some more! After this experience, I believe all teachers need to push themselves outside of their comfort zone a bit and remember what it feels like to be a student again. This reality has enlightened me as to how to be a better teacher. Plus, one really should never stop learning!