Intro to Me

A little about Amanda...

Hello EDIM 516 from Iowa! You can view all about me and my qualifications in the video below. Some important things I failed to mention is that I've been married for a wonderful nine years and have two young boys who are in Preschool and PreK. When I'm not teaching or working on my Masters, I am running around outside, trying to keep up with my two littles. This is my 10th year teaching, most of it spent in some various form of technology teaching. I do have experience teaching all grades levels kindergarten through twelfth grade.

Research and Implementation 

I find a majority of my teaching ideas from my Twitter feed. I follow a plethora of technology teachers near and far from me that have fantastic ideas and resources. There are other Technology Integrationists in my district who have awesome ideas they share. Trying something new and different is not something I am afraid of, even if I fail (which I do at times) there is plenty to be learned. Following blogs is something I did more religiously when I had time before taking on a Masters degree. Personally, I follow and use as a guide freetech4teachers by Richard Byrne as well as the Daring Librarian Gwyneth Jones. Though sometimes I feel heavy with guilt for not trying as interesting ideas as the Daring Librarian, I have to remind myself I am doing all that I can. When I  am in need of support I look towards other Technology Integrationists in my district as well as my Specialists Team. Both sets of peers are my cheering section when I present a new idea and need that added push to go from concept to reality. After implementing new ideas there are inevitably challenges that I must overcome. It's never in the form of administration push-back, it's usually a challenge with time. With only seeing my students for forty-five minutes every fourth day, time is not on my side. A large project or idea can take months to complete, which takes away from other units I am needing to teach. Another challenge is finding an idea that motivates all of my students. Media class is typically interesting and technology-rich, but sometimes I just can't get everyone on board with a particular unit. I typically have a handful of students who push-back or aren't motivated to complete the work. Each year I try something new, using what I learned in years past as well as what I've learned about my students the last three years. This aids in finding ideas that everyone can enjoy.