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About the Author

     I was the English major that never wanted to be a teacher. Through a series of serendipitous events, I found myself as a substitute in a 9th grade English Class. Since the first class, my life has never been the same. Today, I am an educator, an optimist, a believer, a mother. These are parts of a whole that only begins to tell you about who I am. These are all roles I have taken on, but to say that any one of these things is all I am would limit me in any number of ways. What do I want to do? I want to change education. Change begins with just one thought, one person, one will to achieve something different. How do I want to do that? I want to use the skills I have been given, use the information I have learned, and use the talent I was born with to impact the students, families, and schools I work with. 
     
​     I was working at South Peninsula Hebrew Day School, when the headmaster there encouraged the staff to join the Touro Innovative Learning Cohort. Being apart of this program has encouraged me to think about how to marry my values as an observant Jew with the intellectual power of the Silicon Valley. I believe that being an Innovative Educator is being willing to re-invent, to pivot, to challenge the norm. This philosophy is what drives my passion as an educator. ​

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TPACK Reflections on your Journey

 Technology is an integral piece of my classes. Technology should not be used as a replacement for a pre-existing tool (i.e. paper and pen). It should be integrated in a way to benefit both the teacher and the learner. My experiences in the Touro Innovative Learning program have enhanced my abilities to present my contact and for my learners to show me what they have gained from our time together. The knowledge I have gained in this program has helped me evolve from a frontal teacher to a facilitator in student driven lessons.

     The awareness I have gained from learning about TPACK has helped me as a teacher, a mother, a colleague, and a friend. I am a person who believes firmly in the growth mindset. Always be learning, always be growing. Don't be afraid to try something new, and if you fall down, get back up. That is what I strive to impart to my students and children. ​
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Lasting Learning from the Innovative Learning program

There are a few takeaways I have from my time with the Innovative Learning program:​

• An Innovative Educator has to be willing to pivot. To pivot means that if plan A isn't working go for Plan B. You don't have a Plan B? Make one up! Educators have to be willing to learn from their mistakes, challenges, and last period's teachable moment. To miss out on these opportunities would be such a waste!
• Try it! We are always encouraging our students to experiment, try new things, and have a growth mindset. We have to be willing to do this as well. Just because it has been working for five years, doesn't mean it might not be worth it to try something new, shake it up a bit. 
• Be a life long learner. When I began teaching I was surprised to discover that all teachers weren't the enlightened, Greek Academy questioners I had expected them to be. In our society, life is moving so quickly that if you aren't willing to keep learning and keep growing, you will be left behind. Being a life long learner is the best way to model to our students how to be the life long learners we want them to be! 

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The Avrukin Petite Power Princesses

    

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My Capstone Blog

Click the link above to read my blog and following my musings as I moved through the Innovative Learning Program. 

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