Kristen Welton

From an early age I knew I wanted to be a teacher.  I set up a classroom inside of my room with a whiteboard and blackboard.  I would sit my younger sister down and teach her about whatever I had learned that day in school.  When we played the board game Life I always wanted the teacher career.   I thought

that was the best career option in the game.  However, like many other

childhood memories I forgot.  I forgot that I wanted to be a teacher.  Upon

graduating high school, I waltzed away from my childhood home thinking

about numbers and accounting.  It was in business school studying

accounting that I would be reminded again that I was born to be a teacher

instead of an Accountant.  I had taken a computer in business course where I

had done fairly well.  I had applied and accepted a Teaching Assistant

position for that computer in business course.  I then took on the role of

teaching college students Excel.  I started to remember the passion I had for

helping and teaching others.  It was teaching that class that I realized I would

be a teacher.  It was also in that class that I would later realize I had

discovered my passion for technology.

 

When you fast forward a few years, I am graduating with my degree in

teaching and starting my career as a first year fourth grade teacher at

Schoolcraft Community Schools.  The school I was starting at was just

beginning a technology initiative.  They had added white boards, 5 iPads,

document camera, and Apple TV to the classroom.  They also had aspirations

to make the school a one-to-one school with iPads within a few years.  I had

just walked into the school with many teachers feeling overwhelmed by the

new technology.  I quickly understood my experience in teaching technology

would be beneficial in this school and that had sparked an idea about the role

I could play in my new school.  I found that my role in my district and school

would be to help these teachers enter into the digital age by becoming a technology expert.  I stumbled onto the Master’s in Educational Technology program (MAET) at Michigan State while searching for a program that would support my goal of helping my new school.  It was here that I would learn tools about technology and become an expert.  I could then return back to Schoolcraft as a leader in Educational Technology and help those at the school enter into the digital age.  My new leader role in technology from my degree will be tested this year as a teacher leader in a new program called Illuminate.  I will be helping to implement the program by attending professional developments and teaching other teachers about how to use the program in their classrooms.

 

Even after just one year after graduation I immediately realized the importance of staying connected with the technology community.  The first class I took was a hybrid course during the summer 2014 semester.  The hybrid course was a combination of three classes: Teaching Understanding with Technology, Adapting Innovative Technology to Education, and Apply Educational Technology to Practice.  During the first week I had created a Twitter and a blog to stay connected with the technology network by sharing my ideas as well as looking through other’s ideas about teaching.  We opened up Makey Makey kits and created lesson plans around these kits that we could use in our classrooms.  I had never heard of Makey Makey kits before I took the class, and once I was finished I was walking away with ideas on how to introduce this new technology into a fourth grade classroom.  We took a tour of the library where we saw a 3D printer.  I can remember looking at the printer thinking, “How cool.”  However, it was not until I started teaching again that I realized how it is used in education.  I went to a Mobile Learning conference where a teacher was demonstrating how they use the 3D printer to make hands on materials in their own classes.  For example, they use fraction dice that students use in games.    The hybrid class had sparked my interest in learning more about new technology by going to a mobile learning conference and discovering how I can use the technology in my educational practice.  It also made me connect to the technology community online in order to find conferences that would support new technology such as the 3D printer.

 

Many of the schools I had been a student at had used an online database to access assignments and other information for classes.  I had been fully prepared to learn what Schoolcraft used as their web database when I was hired.  What I quickly found out was that they were not to that point yet.  Even today they use Schoology only in the Middle School and High School buildings.  I know that soon Schoology would be coming to the Elementary School.  My original initiative to enroll in the MAET program was to help teachers with

the new technology.  With the class Teaching

Students Online I would discover that the

expert roll I wanted to achieve would not be

about the current technology in the school,

but for learning about the technology that

could be used in the future.  The technology

in the Elementary school in the future would

be to use Schoology.  I decided to use

Schoology as the medium to create my

blended course in Teaching Students Online

class.  I built three lessons on poetry that would be part of a poetry unit on the Schoology website.  I discovered how to use the website in a way that would allow me to go back to the school and teach other teachers how to use the website for Elementary School students.  Even though the school has still not yet implemented Schoology into the Elementary School I know with this course I will be prepared to create lessons online and help others use the website in the same successful way.

 

I am usually a person that will help others first and completely forget to do something for myself as well.  During this MAET program, I started to realize that I went into the Master’s program in my typical fashion of thinking of how I could help everyone else.  However, it was during the Learning Technology through Design class that I began to think about how I was also helping myself.  In this class we followed the Stanford Design process to create a lesson that would reach many different learners.  The first step we took was interviewing our students to get their input.  I had never thought of listening to my students on what they thought my lessons needed.  However, I soon found interesting information about what my students thought of my class and I was able to make important changes to my lesson.  What I found was I needed lessons that were more engaging.  This class inspired me to create more project based learning opportunities for my students.  These opportunities allow for my students to feel engaged and discover learning.  This teaching practice will help my students become more lifelong learners because they are choosing how to proceed in projects.  It is also letting students learn to fail because not all projects will be successful.  In school, many times students learn to always be correct however it is important to learn to problem solve from setbacks.  Going through the Stanford design model helped create a process of creating an in class project based learning opportunity for my fourth graders.  I knew that the project based learning from this class would help me in my future teaching.  I have specifically thought about project based learning and the effect it could have on my class next year.  For example, I was going to create a Marketplace for students to sell something that they make.  They will create advertisements and pricing for what they are selling.  Other fourth graders will come around with fake money and buy items.  This will teach students about the market.  They will start to understand how advertising and pricing affects what they sell.  I think this will be a powerful lesson I can take with me next year as a result of this program.

  

It is amazing how much can change in just one year.  The one year was all it

took to complete the MAET program.  The Capstone course allowed me to

reflect on that year and see how much I have grown as a professional in

Education.  Creating this portfolio has allowed me to see that I have become

a member of the Technology network.  I can share my ideas online as well as

find out the ideas of how others are leading education.  At the beginning of

the program I would have been what they labeled a “lurker” online.  I was

someone that would go on to a site and look around without participating. 

However, this program has taught me that it is now very important to be

active online.  If we use networks in the correct way they can be very

powerful and strong in helping us move forward.  Through these networks

and from many of the topics in the courses I have become more of a lifelong

learner.  I will actively seek out new conferences to go to in order to continue

my education.  I attended the MACUL conference in Detroit on technology

because of the passion I have discovered from learning about the new

technology from my hybrid class.  In my portfolio I have been able to share

what I have learned as well as create a positive online presence.  I am

sharing my resume as well as showcasing some of my work. 

 

The MAET program as a whole has affected my teaching in a few different ways.  I have learned to integrate technology as a supplement to my instruction.  When I started the program, I thought I would be given a collection of the latest cool tools to use in my classroom.  However, I have learned that technology is a great supplemental resource to my teaching instead of a substitute.  As I have integrated technology, I have been able to share with the other teachers in Schoolcraft how to successfully use technology in the classroom.  I have also expanded my knowledge of creating websites.  I can now use Schoology to teach a class.  I can also create classroom websites to communicate with parents.  Since starting the program I have started my own classroom website where I post resources, pictures, and updates to parents.  In the program classes I created websites, blogs, and used Twitter.  By engaging in online activity, I am able to learn in a sustainable way.  I started the program with the mindset that I would be able to learn from experience teaching students every day.  However, to learn and improve as a teacher also involves continually looking for new classroom ideas.  The online presence I have established from this program has allowed me to improve as a teacher because of the access I now have to educators around the world.  I now am in the mindset of learning from others online and continuing to improve my teaching from gathering and sharing new ideas through my network.

 

I can look back at the MAET program and be proud of the work I have accomplished. I have learned to network with the technology community and share my ideas, gained new lesson ideas that are engaging, learned how to integrate technology as a supplement to instruction, and become the educational leader in my school community.  I have led my students to become better digital citizens because of the impact this program has had on my teaching. It is important that they have this knowledge of the digital world in order to be successful participants in their community.