POST #1: Introductions and Sharing Your Past Experience

I have been teaching for a total of 11 years. The past 7 years I am been covering a variety of teaching duties. I teach middle school exploratories, elementary and middle school TAG, and work as a technology coach. One of my middle school exploratories class does a research project. I have utilized Iowa AEA Online for a very little amount for that. Also, our school’s media specialists have shared flyers on what the AEA online all includes, but I never took the time to really investigate these opportunities. This definitely sparked an interest in me to pursue what more the AEA online had to offer. It was nice that a self paced course had this available for me to really see what else I might be able to do with the Iowa AEA as well as share with other teachers. Being a technology coach this may also be helpful to share with other teachers to utilize in their classrooms.

I currently work at a school district in Southern Iowa.   I have been teaching 6th grade for the last 8 years and in the past I have taught middle school science and social studies.  I remember being introduced to Iowa AEA Online in some professional development courses in 2004.   After that I did use United Streaming videos.  For some reason, I stopped utilizing AEA online and have forgotten about the resources available to us.  When I saw I could take self-paced courses to earn credits, I knew that AEA learning online would benefit my teaching and benefit my students.  This course was a nice refresher of what is available for us to use in our classrooms.  

Back when I did my substitute teacher authorization, my goal was to be a substitute in our local schools.  But then the opportunity came to be and adjunct instructor at our local college.  I teach Business Writing.  I've been running a b2b lead generation company for over 17 years so I took that knowledge into the classroom to teach kids how to be professional in the workplace.
This is the first time I've done an online AEA self-paced course.  I needed to renew my substitute authorization and the topic of technology in the classroom caught my attention.  At the college, I try to do my lessons to encompass how each of the kids learn (auditory/visual/kinesthetic) so I try to incorporate videos in there.  I was amazed in going through this online class to see the resources available in the K-12 schools.  Now I'm wondering if the college level has these type of resources as well.  I was struck with how the resources have been pre-approved and therefore would make it so much easier for the teacher to know that it's a trustworthy source.  I'm thankful that I've been able to go through this course to learn some new sources that are out there.

I taught high school social studies for 10 years until the birth of our first daughter in 1998. During that time, there were not many online resource options through AEA. Things have changed since my return this year! Currently, I am teaching middle school Health and Wellness. I became interested in this class because I want to keep my classroom current and interesting. I'm excited to implement as many appropriate resources as possible!

Good day, currently I am the programming and outreach librarian for an Iowa library, but am leaving that position shortly.  I am taking this course so I can renew my Iowa substitute licence.  I have a degree in Industrial Technology Education from UNI, taught for a year, then explored other careers for sometime.  We moved to Missouri a few year ago where I substituted for a while and enjoyed it greatly.  I am really looking forward to getting back into substitute teaching, and who knows maybe I will seek to get my full licence.

Past AEA experience.  Unfortunately, when I taught the Iowa AEA Online resource did not exist.  However, I am very pleased that it does now.  With the expansion of the internet and information technology, a resource like Iowa AEA Online is invaluable.

My interest in this course.  In reviewing the various courses, I felt that this would be the most applicable for my role as a substitute teacher.  As a substitute, you have to be prepared for a wide variety of subjects and resources and this seemed to be the best way to be introduced to the widest variety.  I must say that I was not disappointed, the variety of resources and their depth is quite encouraging.  

I have been teaching in Davenport for 20 years.  I am a Special education teacher in the elementary setting.  I teach Deaf and Hard of Hearing students.  I have used some of the AEA resources on occasion.  I have used clip art the most, but I have on occasion used bookflix to expand on my lessons.  I was interested in taking the class to learn more about the resources that are available and what they contain.

I have been teaching in Davenport for 20 years.  I am a Special education teacher in the elementary setting.  I teach Deaf and Hard of Hearing students.  I have used some of the AEA resources on occasion.  I have used clip art the most, but I have on occasion used bookflix to expand on my lessons.  I was interested in taking the class to learn more about the resources that are available and what they contain.   I learned that there are many resources I was unaware that the AEA had.  

I am currently a Title 1: Reading Specialist in Clinton Community School District.  This is my second year in this position.  I previously worked at Prince of Peace Catholic Schools teaching kindergarten.  I maintained that position for seven years before deciding to switch over to the public schools.  My current position is very fast paced, being that I am now an intervention teacher.  I see a students K-5 with an emphasis in kindergarten.  

My past experience working with Iowa AEA Online resources is limited.  I used this resource more when I was a classroom teacher.  BookFLIX was the main resource I used to help reinforce curriculum.  My students enjoyed using this resource, as did I.

This course interested me because I wanted to become more knowledgeable on what credible resources are out there. I have browsed through many of the other resources on AEA Online but never fully understood or knew how to use them.  This course helped me understand what each of these resources have to offer.  

1. I am an audiologist with Great Prairie Area Education Agency.  I test the hearing from birth through high school.  All infants in Iowa are tested at birth by the hospitals. If the infants do not pass testing then the GPAEA audiologists retest the hearing and make recommendations.  This program has been going on for around 17 years.  We have children who have received hearing aids or cochlear implants at very young ages.  This allows them to develop speech, language, social and academic skills during the critical period of speech and language development.  We also test the hearing of children in the schools, make recommendations, monitor and make repairs on hearing systems for the students.  I have worked at GPAEA for 20 plus years and previously worked in Kansas and at Green Valley AEA as a speech pathologist.  
2. I have not worked much with the Iowa AEA online resources.  I have heard both LEA and AEA staff talk about the Iowa AEA online resources. I thought I should learn more about this information since it is used by many educators, parents and students.  
3. I really did not know much about this course as stated above.  I was amazed how many resources are out there and how so many people have worked together to make the information available for the benefit all.  The legal aspects of use I found interesting of when, why, where and how information can be used.  It is good to know there is such a large amount of important information for all classes of people to have access to.  This type of information helps keep the "playing field" even for all.  

  I am currently a substitute teacher in the Allamakee Community School District in northeast Iowa.  Most of my experience at school is in an elementary school where my daughters went to school. It is in a rural area and is faced with declining enrollment as farms are getting larger and fewer families populate the rural areas. I do not have a degree in education, my B.S. is in Animal Science, so that limits me to the number of days that I can teach.  I know all the children at our small elementary as I am usually there at least once a week.  The classes are combined: K & 1, 2 & 3, and 4 & 5.  This makes the class sizes between 21 and 27.  I occasionally sub at the larger elementary centers, as well as the Middle School and High School, which are all located in the larger town of Waukon.
  After selling our dairy herd three years ago, I took the Sub Authorization course in a face to face classroom in Dubuque.  With the exception of taking Blood Born Pathogen online and just completing Super Sub 101,  this is my first time to use AEA for educational purposes.  I see the students at school logged on to programs through AEA, though I haven't seen them use many of the resources that were highlighted in this course. This method of education has been a step out of my comfort zone, and I believe that is a good thing for me, even though I have to keep silencing the inner voice that keeps telling me it's too much for me.
  This fear and discomfort is what drove me to take this course.  When we had our dairy, our production and procedural records were computerized and I entered data into a program through the Dairy Lab Services.  I also use a computer program for our financial records, and I appreciate being able to use email.  However, I only recently started looking at facebook, mostly so I can keep up with my daughters.  I don't post.  We do not have smart phones or mobile devices.  I find I am clumsy with ipads and tablets at school.  The students try to straighten me out.  Reluctantly, I am trying to enter the 21st. Century.  I found many of the resources exciting, and I hope I do get to work with them in the classroom.
 

I am Nichole Coulter.  I currently work in an intermediate building in a cotaught 8th grade Pre Algebra class and a special education behavior awareness class.  This is our first year in coteaching for many years because we we delivering special education services in a self contained setting.  While being in the SCI setting and other programming, I have used Iowa AEA Online resources for many things.  I ordered posters for PWIM, novels to read with my class,  and videos to go along with what we are discussing in classes.  Now that I am coteaching with general education, I was interested in taking this course to find what is out there to use and support my students.  Since we have been self contained, we have had direct instruction for so long that I wanted to see what else available.

Hello all.  My name is Lee Lundvall, I have been working  at Burlington Notre Dame High School in Burlington Iowa since 1999 as the Dean of Students for the 6th  through 12th  grade level and I also teach Advanced Placement Economics, United States and World History, Psychology and Sociology.  
This is my second of two self paced courses that I have taken this year.  The other class that I have completed is Google Apps 101. I have taken multiple online courses in the past such as Ipods and Ipads for the Classroom, Introduction to the Online Learner and I life in the Classroom, Plus I have used multiple resources in the past from that the A.E.A.  has provided to help me entice student learning.  The reason that I wanted to take this course, Using Iowa AEA Online Resources is to gain better knowledge and ideas from the resources that I have located through your website, while taking this course.

1). I am a high school Physical Science, Chemistry, and Physics teacher at central Iowa district just outside of Des Moines. As the only teacher of these subjects in a small district, my role involves developing the curriculum for these courses and aligning them to the appropriate standards.

2). I've taken several courses on AEA Learning Online previously but had never previously used any of the AEA online resources. Years ago, I remember having brief PD training about the existence of some of the AEA online resources, but it was just an overview and I didn't spend much time exploring the resources.

3). Coming into the course, I was specifically interested in learning about the article databases (Gale, etc.) . In the past I've provided articles to students to analyze based on the claims made in those articles, but I'd like to include a greater selection for students. In general, I wanted to see what resources were available that I wasn't aware of, so that I could come up with better ways to help my students learn.

In a moderate post (150-300 words) 1) give us a brief introduction of where you currently work and what your role is in your current occupation.  2) Share with us what past experience you have had with the Iowa AEA Online resources prior to taking the self-paced course.  3) Explain what interested you about the topic to take the course.

I am currently teaching Kindergarten at Lawson Elementary in Johnston. Prior to this I taught 5 years at 4th grade. Before we moved to Johnston, I taught in Cedar Rapids, teaching grades 1,2, and 4 over the years. Kindergarten is a new experience, but I am really enjoying it! I have taken several online courses with the AEA, my favorites were courses on flipped/blended learning which I actually implemented last year with my 4th grade math classes. I loved the learning involved with the blended/flipped course and the variety of resources used for instruction. I was interested to take this course, because I never feel like I use the AEA's resources enough. At my school in Cedar Rapids, my principal's husband was the director of Grantwood AEA and we had a weekly meetings for a month and each had a different focus, highlighting the many resources the AEA had. It was nice in that it really reminded you of what things were available and gave us time to implement them in our instruction. I feel like in taking this course it highlighted more resources for me to use with my students.

I am a 5th grade classroom teacher at Hayes Elementary in Davenport. I have been teaching for 29 years, 20 of them in 5th grade. We are self contained, except I do teach two sections of science. I have used some AEA resources over the years, like borrowing books for the classroom and sharing professional magazines. I have tried to use the Britanica on line with my students and Book Flix. I never felt very confident in teaching the students how to use these resources so when I saw this course, I thought it would be perfect for me to improve my technology skills. The students in my class also write a research paper every year and I am looking forward to using the resources I have learned about in this class because I think it will improve the students research skills and help us to find articles and information on their topic at their reading level.

I have been a teacher in this area for 18 years. I have always considered it important to be an ongoing learner and to keep updated with new ideas and resources in the teaching field. I went on to get my Master's and National Board Certification during my career. Teaching is my passion, and I just love being able to help kids reach potential and provide a positive place for them to learn. I have really loved to incorporate technology in my classroom, and have implemented google classroom, along with many other sites in my instruction. We are teaching in a 21st Century world, and it is a must to keep up with technology in order to help students adapt to it and see the support it can be for them. Too often, they are only seeing the social and gaming side, we need to work to keep the door open with educational highlights, too.  I have taken mandatory classes and ELL modules from our AEA online, but this is the first time I have engaged in an online class. I chose this class because I was introduced to a few parts of AEA online from other teachers and our media specialist, but never really got to know the rest of the online resources.

For the past two and a half years, I have owned an in home childcare that I run out of my house. I am self-employed but use my past teaching knowledge to incorporate appropriate learning skills for my daycare kids. I have two boys myself and three other toddlers in my group.
I taught preschool for seven years prior to doing in home child care in the Des Moines area, mainly in the Urbandale School District. Honestly, I did not utilize the AEA Online resources nearly as much I should have, especially with such easy access. I was familiar with BookFlix as my preschoolers really enjoyed watching their favorite books on a video type format. I was somewhat familiar with some of the other recourses, but with minimal knowledge on how to implement them into my classroom, especially for early childhood.
Once my children are old enough to attend school, I plan to return to the classroom to teach. I was very interested in learning more about the AEA Online resources that are available. The AEA is an important part of teaching and has an incredible amount of resources to implement in the classroom. Understanding various resources and how they work, as well as targeted resources for the grade levels I teach (early childhood/lower elementary). Many AEA resources are available, which I knew, I was very interested in learning more about HOW and WHEN to use them! Good course filled with lots of great information. I am always interested in learning new things, especially when it benefits my students (and even my children)!

My master's degree is in Library Science. Since school librarians in the smaller schools are hard to find, I am being "recycled" after many years out of the profession.  Imagine the learning curve and culture shock from heading up a large high school media center in suburban Chicago to adapting to small elementary libraries in rural southeast Iowa. I currently cover library instruction and oversight for three school districts.

Last year was my first year back in Iowa and I served the Wapello School District two days a week. However, budget cuts meant that I would be only one day per week and cover both high school and elementary in that district. So I added two other districts who needed a librarian to meet state requirements, each opting for one-half day per week. I became acquainted with the AEA resources but didn't take the time needed to delve into the treasures offered until I learned that I needed to take some classes to renew my teaching certificate. This seemed like the most likely benefit and opportunity to learn.  This course will give me a much better awareness of resources I can use in instruction as well as being able to encourage teacher usage from a greater knowledge of what is available and how to make good use of it.

I have been working for a Sioux City Schools since 2005. I have experience teaching grades 1, 2, and 3. I have a Master’s Educator lisence with a Reading Endorsement. I graduated first from a Morningside College with my Batchelor’s degree in Elementary Education and Spanish. Then in 2007, I earned my Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction. Currently, I’m teaching 2nd grade at a Morningside Elementary a School. My school is a STEM school, which specializes in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.
I was interested in learning more about reliable, educational resources that are available to me free of service since I’m an educator in Iowa. I hope to continue to use a variety of technological resources in my classroom. I want to be an innovative educator who is more knowledgeable and up-to-date with my teaching practices. I plan on familiarizing myself even more about these resources by digging in and taking baby steps. The databases and interfaces are user-friendly and engaging for teachers and students of all ages. I have experience with using Book Flix and Learn 360. I also take advantage of the media specialist, who rounds up age-appropriate literature resources.

I am currently a teacher librarian in the North Scott School District.  This is my 31st year as an educator in Iowa, 13 years as an elementary classroom teacher and now 18 years as a teacher librarian.  With that being said, the Iowa AEA Online databases are not new to me, however, I have learned a tremendous amount from taking this online course.  

Mississippi Bend AEA has always done a great job highlighting the Iowa AEA Online databases offered to Iowa educators during their teacher librarian specific professional development opportunity - Media Academy.  If I'm not mistaken, I've been an attendee every year since its been offered.  I typically take notes and bring information back to my teachers especially on the changes to the online database offerings. Finding opportunities to share that information with teachers tends to be the biggest issue for me.

Needing to renew my master's certificate this spring, I began looking at the Iowa PD Online learning offerings and this course jumped out to me for two reasons. First, I was already familiar with the Online databases our AEAs provide, making my learning curve less stringent.  I also was curious to learn more so that I could use my new knowledge in a course offering the North Scott teacher librarians are offering to NS staff members for a floating PD requirement we must all meet this school year.