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Julie Lovie Lovie Home Learn More Standards Inspiration About the Author |
About the Author
Hi I am Julie Lovie the proud mother of three beautiful daughters. My husband and I have know each other since preschool and have been happily married for 30 years. I have lived in Napa my whole life and I am the proud to have attended k-12 here at NVUSD and a graduate of Vintage High School.
Becoming a Teacher
I struggled in elementary school, reading was not my favorite, in third grade I was held back and I really think that helped me catch up in many ways. It was a tough decision for my parents and the teacher Mrs. Barron whose grandson I now teach at Valley Oak High School; Everything is connected!
In middle school I had the greatest math teacher Mr. Kubler who looked just like Yoda, he passed on his wise understanding of Algebra to me and I have loved the subject to this day! I began to gain confidence in middle school but it was high school and in my science classes I discovered my love of learning. Ted Migdal and Mike Scrivner, my science teachers when I was a student at Vintage High School, really got me hooked on science so much so that I went to Sonoma State and majored in Biology specializing in Zoology. I went back to Vintage and did my student teaching there with Ted Migdal.
My first interview for teaching was at Napa Valley Adult School. It was to teach in the high school program, adults who were working to earn their diploma. I remember my interview like it was yesterday. Rhonda Slota and Chris Mc Cluer patiently watched as I used bubbled for a math lesson. Rhonda was the principal at the Adult School and Chris was a teacher and counselor there at the time. Lucky for me these two seasoned educators took a chance on me and started my teaching career. This opened the door to me being invited to be Chris Mc Cluer’s partner teacher for the Second Chance Program at Temescal. This is one of those moments when you look back on your life you know there was divine intervention. Chris and I became quite a team we team taught together in the Second Chance Program for 18 years, I was blessed to have him as my mentor.
Becoming a Teacher
I struggled in elementary school, reading was not my favorite, in third grade I was held back and I really think that helped me catch up in many ways. It was a tough decision for my parents and the teacher Mrs. Barron whose grandson I now teach at Valley Oak High School; Everything is connected!
In middle school I had the greatest math teacher Mr. Kubler who looked just like Yoda, he passed on his wise understanding of Algebra to me and I have loved the subject to this day! I began to gain confidence in middle school but it was high school and in my science classes I discovered my love of learning. Ted Migdal and Mike Scrivner, my science teachers when I was a student at Vintage High School, really got me hooked on science so much so that I went to Sonoma State and majored in Biology specializing in Zoology. I went back to Vintage and did my student teaching there with Ted Migdal.
My first interview for teaching was at Napa Valley Adult School. It was to teach in the high school program, adults who were working to earn their diploma. I remember my interview like it was yesterday. Rhonda Slota and Chris Mc Cluer patiently watched as I used bubbled for a math lesson. Rhonda was the principal at the Adult School and Chris was a teacher and counselor there at the time. Lucky for me these two seasoned educators took a chance on me and started my teaching career. This opened the door to me being invited to be Chris Mc Cluer’s partner teacher for the Second Chance Program at Temescal. This is one of those moments when you look back on your life you know there was divine intervention. Chris and I became quite a team we team taught together in the Second Chance Program for 18 years, I was blessed to have him as my mentor.
Reflections on My Journey
Recognitions
I have been teaching at Temescal now renamed Valley Oak High School for over 25 years. It is here that I have had the privilege of being innovative, encouraged to try new things, driven by the needs of my students to find new and innovative ways for them to learn. I have been recognized for my work here at Valley Oak in 2010 I was awarded Rotary Teacher of the Year, in 2015 I was selected as Napa County Teacher of the Year, and this year I was selected as C-Stem Teacher of the Year. It is a true gift to be recognized for doing something you love.
Napa Learns
I have also had the privilege of working with Napa Learns when I applied for a Makers Grant for Valley Oak High School. This grant provided training for myself and 1 other teacher to receive our Makers Certificate from Sonoma State which opened up this next chapter in my teaching career. Through the support of Napa Learns and my Principal Maria Cisneros I created a Makerspace at Valley Oak. That following year I joined the Digital Innovators team at Napa Learners and I hosted teacher workshops in the Valley Oak Makerspace. This was the first time I had ever taught my peers, it was a huge growing experience and I thank Napa Learners, Peg and Mario, for believing in me and pushing my personal growth. As my relationship with Napa Learner grew I was introduced to the Innovator Ed Masters through Touro. It took me a few visits to the informational meeting before I finally committed.
I have been teaching at Temescal now renamed Valley Oak High School for over 25 years. It is here that I have had the privilege of being innovative, encouraged to try new things, driven by the needs of my students to find new and innovative ways for them to learn. I have been recognized for my work here at Valley Oak in 2010 I was awarded Rotary Teacher of the Year, in 2015 I was selected as Napa County Teacher of the Year, and this year I was selected as C-Stem Teacher of the Year. It is a true gift to be recognized for doing something you love.
Napa Learns
I have also had the privilege of working with Napa Learns when I applied for a Makers Grant for Valley Oak High School. This grant provided training for myself and 1 other teacher to receive our Makers Certificate from Sonoma State which opened up this next chapter in my teaching career. Through the support of Napa Learns and my Principal Maria Cisneros I created a Makerspace at Valley Oak. That following year I joined the Digital Innovators team at Napa Learners and I hosted teacher workshops in the Valley Oak Makerspace. This was the first time I had ever taught my peers, it was a huge growing experience and I thank Napa Learners, Peg and Mario, for believing in me and pushing my personal growth. As my relationship with Napa Learner grew I was introduced to the Innovator Ed Masters through Touro. It took me a few visits to the informational meeting before I finally committed.
Lasting Learning from the Innovative Learning program
Masters in Innovative Education
I read to solve problems or to learn, I seek knowledge and solutions when I see a problem that needs to be fixed and that is what pushed me to finally do my Masters. I was noticing my students not connecting with their learning, really struggling to focus and see the purpose in learning and I realized I needed an upgrade. I wanted to find new innovative ways to reach my students and here I am and I am so glad I made this decision, I am so grateful to Napa Learns, Cohort 16, and my learning buddy Rafa.
I believe we learn by doing so I have always sought out experiences for my students allowing them to learn in this way. As our world continues to change so quickly in regards to technology I realized I was not keeping up nor was education as a whole. So when I had the chance to be trained in the C-Stem Computing and Robotics Curriculum I was very eager to learn. My driving question is “What is it about coding that supports struggling math students?”, I am excited about this research there is a serious need to improve students success in math.
TPACK
The TPACK Model is one example of how my learning is evolving. My driving question is focusing on Math 1 students who have failed multiple semesters. Using the Math 1 standards as the driver of content my students are experiencing success learning that content while coding. They are benefiting from my pedagogical approach of developing growth mindsets while they learn the content of Math 1 in a new and engaging way. My observations and data support that this approach of teaching Math 1 to students who have previously failed is reaching the sweet spot on the TPACK middle and my students are experience success in math for the first time in high school. I will continue this research and work long past this Capstone due to the serious need for change in teaching math. It is clear our current approaches are not effective enough in our district, state, and country math scores are dismal. I believe we can do better and intend to keep trying to improve student success in math .
I read to solve problems or to learn, I seek knowledge and solutions when I see a problem that needs to be fixed and that is what pushed me to finally do my Masters. I was noticing my students not connecting with their learning, really struggling to focus and see the purpose in learning and I realized I needed an upgrade. I wanted to find new innovative ways to reach my students and here I am and I am so glad I made this decision, I am so grateful to Napa Learns, Cohort 16, and my learning buddy Rafa.
I believe we learn by doing so I have always sought out experiences for my students allowing them to learn in this way. As our world continues to change so quickly in regards to technology I realized I was not keeping up nor was education as a whole. So when I had the chance to be trained in the C-Stem Computing and Robotics Curriculum I was very eager to learn. My driving question is “What is it about coding that supports struggling math students?”, I am excited about this research there is a serious need to improve students success in math.
TPACK
The TPACK Model is one example of how my learning is evolving. My driving question is focusing on Math 1 students who have failed multiple semesters. Using the Math 1 standards as the driver of content my students are experiencing success learning that content while coding. They are benefiting from my pedagogical approach of developing growth mindsets while they learn the content of Math 1 in a new and engaging way. My observations and data support that this approach of teaching Math 1 to students who have previously failed is reaching the sweet spot on the TPACK middle and my students are experience success in math for the first time in high school. I will continue this research and work long past this Capstone due to the serious need for change in teaching math. It is clear our current approaches are not effective enough in our district, state, and country math scores are dismal. I believe we can do better and intend to keep trying to improve student success in math .
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