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kgerhardt@nvusd.org

I am a mom, teacher coach, assistant principal, and a continuous learner trying to improve my practice and share my knowledge and skills with others.  I have just finished co-leading the implementation of a federal magnet school grant for a MAST (Math, Art, Science, Technology) school.  We were on the forefront in our district with implementing Project Based Learning, the 4C’s, technology, and inquiry based teaching, among other initiatives.  I have had multiple opportunities to visit schools across the country and in our own district to see best teaching practices incorporating 21st century teaching and learning. Through my experience with the magnet school transformation and the amazing school visits, I realized that all students in all schools should have access to the high quality teaching strategies and experiences that I have been a part of.  My goal is to use technology to share these practices so that we can begin to equip all students with the skills they need to navigate their future successfully, whatever that may be.  

Reflections on the Project

As I reflect on the course of my personal learning and development through the Innovative Learning Masters at Touro University, I must conclude that I am a different kind of teacher today than when I started the program.   I am focused on the teaching and learning process in a whole new way.  I no longer focus on the teacher’s manual and daily lessons with the teacher on the stage, but on the expected student outcomes and creating  classroom lessons, projects, and activities that get students to that outcome in an engaging way.  I want to create an environment that makes kids want to learn, to let students share their knowledge and skills, and make learning an interactive, relevant experience.  I am dedicated to sharing this knowledge with teachers so that they can increase the engagement level in their classrooms through Project Based Learning, Inquiry, technology integration, student active engagement,cooperative learning strategies, and 21st century skills integration.

Lasting Learnings from the Program

The current shift to the Common Core State Standards and my new knowledge of TPACK  (Technical, Pedagogy and Content Knowledge) have  been the  impetuses for the work I am doing with creating engaging math classrooms through teacher development.  As I thought about my project and how to drive this shift in teaching and learning, I had to go back to think about how I learned best.  I learn best by seeing things in action, by watching the experts, and by watching again as needed.   Any time I need to learn to fix something, make something, figure out an application, etc., I simply watch a You Tube video.  It provides instant, anytime learning through technology!   I'm not dependent on a physical "teacher" to learn.  After thinking about that for a moment, I realized that teachers and students have access to amazing video resources on You Tube, Teacher Tube, The Teaching CHannel, and other sources for instant, anytime learning. I wanted to capitalize on this idea to create an easy to use, content  rich website based on videos, for teachers to use improve their practice and create engaging math classrooms.

       In order to shift the pedagogy to a more student centered, technology rich environment, teachers need to have access to the new content and expectations. They need to begin to understand why it is necessary to change the way that we have been teaching.  What better way to access both the content and the pedagogy than through technology?  I wanted to connect the dots for teachers so that they are able to develop professionally, learn the new Common Core math standards, and have access whenever they have the need or the time.

     The Internet provides us with an overwhelming number of resources to sift through.  Often times, it can be very frustrating and time consuming to find just the right resource.  Through this project, I hope that I have made it easy for teachers to find many of the resources that they need in one place to begin to understand the new expectations for teaching and learning, and begin to make the shift to 21st century teaching.