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About the Author
I remember the heavy feel of the wooden chalk holder as I dragged it along the dusty green board, drawing straight(ish) lines, as I pretended to teach my best friend during Open House. It was September, 1987 and I was in second grade. That exact moment defined who I would become.
In that old two-room schoolhouse for 20 kindergarten through fifth grade students (at one point I was the only fifth grader), magic happened. The teachers in the “big kid room” had to manage 2nd-5th grades all at once. We did art projects, hiked the hills across the empty, rural road, dug holes in the mud, and splashed our feet in the lake. We took tests, we read, we sang, we acted in plays, and learning was fun.
One day, in 1987, our tiny school got a Macintosh computer. You know, the green screen with a floppy disk drive? And Oregon Trail was our game. Although fourth graders were designated to learn about California history, we all learned about it in that small school. It was here that my love of art and technology was nurtured.
Now that we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I rely even more heavily on art and technology in my teaching practice. I suddenly found myself with endless time during the summer to start the master’s program. My goal was to graduate with a master’s degree to learn to be more innovative and foster students’ 21st century transliteracy skills.
I have been teaching for 16 years and this year, I am a part-time coach helping my colleagues learn to integrate art, engineering, and technology into their lessons. My research was designed to run parallel with my position. With the pandemic in full force this school year, I found that the plan of physically being in a classroom with the teachers and their students during the integration sample lessons, was not to happen.
But hey, being flexible and making things work with constraints, is what it takes to become a great teacher, and coach.
In that old two-room schoolhouse for 20 kindergarten through fifth grade students (at one point I was the only fifth grader), magic happened. The teachers in the “big kid room” had to manage 2nd-5th grades all at once. We did art projects, hiked the hills across the empty, rural road, dug holes in the mud, and splashed our feet in the lake. We took tests, we read, we sang, we acted in plays, and learning was fun.
One day, in 1987, our tiny school got a Macintosh computer. You know, the green screen with a floppy disk drive? And Oregon Trail was our game. Although fourth graders were designated to learn about California history, we all learned about it in that small school. It was here that my love of art and technology was nurtured.
Now that we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I rely even more heavily on art and technology in my teaching practice. I suddenly found myself with endless time during the summer to start the master’s program. My goal was to graduate with a master’s degree to learn to be more innovative and foster students’ 21st century transliteracy skills.
I have been teaching for 16 years and this year, I am a part-time coach helping my colleagues learn to integrate art, engineering, and technology into their lessons. My research was designed to run parallel with my position. With the pandemic in full force this school year, I found that the plan of physically being in a classroom with the teachers and their students during the integration sample lessons, was not to happen.
But hey, being flexible and making things work with constraints, is what it takes to become a great teacher, and coach.
Reflections on your Journey
This has been a fun, interesting, and sometimes hard, journey through the master's program. Although attending classes while in a pandemic is not ideal, it did allow me the ability to hone in on my technology practices and learn new and innovative ways to teach and collaborate. I discovered new apps, websites, and resources to use in my classroom and beyond. You can follow my journey on my blog at sarahssteamers.com as well as my work throughout the program.
Lasting Learning from the Innovative Learning program
Well, I have learned how to research. Although it was broken down into small chunks, it wasn't easy, but it was worth the experience. I have a new found respect for doctors, scientists, and fellow educators who have also gone through the process. The data wasn't always what was expected, and there is learning in that as well. Unexpected life happened during my research, and I had to work through that as well. Researching during a pandemic and being 100% virtual made for a challenge, but again, it was worth the experience.