POST #1: Introductions and Sharing Your Past Experience

I have been teaching for sixteen years at Cedar Valley Christian School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  I teach sixth grade through twelfth grade, a mix of literature, world history, and Bible, and I am the speech and drama coach.  I have not really accessed the AEA Online resources.  I am so busy with so many preps and extra curriculars, I haven't had much opportunity to explore what is available to us.  Also, our school has only been accredited for four years or so, so we have not had access to a lot of these resources until the last few years.  As I was looking for classes to take for my license renewal, I was intrigued by this one.  We have had a little bit of training on some of these resources, but it was mostly geared toward our elementary teachers as our AEA coordinator is the first grade teacher.  I was really surprised and pleased to see that several of the resources are good for secondary students, too.  I am always looking for ways to incorporate more technology into my classes, and this class has helped me feel more confident about doing that.

*Information:
Name: Cheri Bolar
Position: Title One Reading Teacher, Franklin Elem in Marshalltown Community School District
Grades taught: K-4

*Past Experience:
Background for you about my assignment: With the specific district required interventions I am expected to use, I typically do not use devices and/or computers. Here are a few ways I have/may be using technology directly with students:
Sometimes if I am assessing students one on one during group time,  the remaining students in the groups have an opportunity to work on the computer site “MyLexia” which is a district purchased initiative for improving reading and language arts.
I do progress monitoring for the state data using the FAST assessment on the computer.
Students sometimes publish works they have written. We follow the writing process but do not always type/publish each story they’ve written.
At times through the year I assist my identified Title one students with the core research projects they are assigned.
Of course at all times I am monitoring what students discuss and share with me. If it were inappropriate use/discussion involving Digital Technology topics and/or Digital Citizenship concerns, I would address it with them or the school counselor to be sure we proceed properly, as suggested by this course.

So, due to my role it was not traditional to use technology. I have not had much AEA use other than Britannica when helping kids research. HOWEVER, that will and has already changed. I have begun implementing some of what I have learned into my lessons. I used teachingbooks.net to build background and author's purpose during a genre study.

*What interested me:
The course interested me because I was pretty unfamiliar with the resources. I thought it would be a good bit of knowledge to have. We are blessed to have a district that has this provided.  I had no idea just HOW blessed we were. This is an enormous wealth if resources and information....free....right at our fingertips.

     Presently, I am employed as a part time "Home School Assistance Teacher" through our local school district, where I help with our newsletter, field trips, special classes, and parents and students office visits.  During the 1970's I taught high school math and science, but most of my working years were spent delivering parcels.  Several years after retiring from that job, I felt the need to go back to work (especially in the winter months, when I couldn't play golf).  So, for the last few years I've been substitute teaching and working as a home school assistant.
     One of my first experience with modern interactive A/V, was when I was subbing in a first grade class.  The regular teacher had covered almost every square inch of the classroom white boards, what used to be our blackboards,  with posters.  I accidently wrote on the interactive screen with a permanent marker and the first graders quickly let me know that it was not the way it worked.  In case you're wondering, the permanent marker did come off with a lot of scrubbing.  This was one of the reasons I took this course. I want to know how to effectively use the resources available.

I am currently a paraprofessional in a special education classroom in an elementary school.  The school I work in has over 400 students. The school serves all the English Language Learners in the district and also has over 60% of students who receive Free and Reduced Lunch.  Prior to working in this school, I taught sixth, fifth, and fourth grades in a rural school district for 33 school years. I taught science, math, and reading.

When I started teaching school, I used reel films and checked the StarLab out from the media center at the AEA.  My experience with AEA online is limited.  I have used AEA Online to take the mandatory abuse training as well as bloodborn pathogen training.

I was interested in taking this class for license renewal. Since I am not in the classroom as an instructor, I thought it would keep me up-to-date on resources.  One of my jobs is to work with students with Autism. Many of them are intrigued by non-fiction.  I think the TrueFlix e-books will be motivating for them and assist their literacy even though some of the students are not functional readers.  I also think that I could talk to my supervising teacher about using this resource with parents. It would be an efficient way that they could support their children.

Since the school I currently work out has children with ELL needs, I was also interested in the Culturegrams.  I have a daily time period when I need to supervise students between recess and lunch. I may use this resource to promote some discussions among the students.

     I am currently the K-12 ELL teacher for a small school district.  I serve ELLs at all stages of English language development.  I also assist content-area teachers as they design their curriculum so that it includes accommodations for ELL needs.
     My history using Iowa AEA Online resources is limited.  Our librarian sends out regular emails encouraging staff to utilize resources and reminding us of login information, but I always felt too overwhelmed with my daily responsibilities to explore what the online resources really were.  
    The thing that encouraged me to take this specific course is my need for easy-to-access resources for my teachers to use with our students.  After taking a quick look at the resources offered, the choice of taking this course to learn more about each of them was a no brainer. All aspects of these sources will be so useful to my students.  The ability to find resources that can be adapted for age/reading skill is amazing!  Teachers can easily find resources that cover even complex topics at the lower lexile levels required by many of my students.  I also really look forward to having my students do their class research using the online resources.  I feel the search results will be more safe and more usable for my kids.  They won't have to sift through junk to find the sources that are reliable and useful.  I'm just very excited to keep learning and to present these resources to the teachers in a way that will encourage daily use.

Hi! My name is Debbie, I work at Lawson elementary as a S&P associate (Severe and Profound) in a class room with 6 children of special needs.  I have been with this job for over 10 years, prior to this I worked with children with behaviors.  I have taken many classes with AEA, to keep up with my Para license and my sub license. I am interested in social media and would to be more effective with this media.

My name is Jane Whitney and I work for the Des Moines Public Schools as a Substitute Teacher. I have worked for this school system for at least 2 years. During this time I have had my ups and downs as a substitute. In every school I have visited the staff was VERY supportive and backs me up when ever I needed assistance.
In my past experiences I have learned to be flexible and not to be afraid to ask for help. Each School is unique in how to govern their students, because each area of this city has their own tiny government outside the school.
In my own personal experience  with the Iowa AEA that was when i decided to give Substitute Teaching as a way to utilize my higher Education. I have a passion for art and the performing arts. When I first came to the Iowa AEA the classes were live forums. That is we met in one of the classrooms and attended class. When I needed to renew my Authorization, I had the option to do my advance training on computers. Not my strongest forum. But when I put my mind to it I grabbed  the wheel, put it into gear and hit the gas. It has been a slow process for me, but I kept at it. So here I am. Trying to finish my posts.
I chose Internet Safety & Cyber bullying because I sometimes see this in the classroom. I was helpless to what to do or how to handle the situation. Hopefully, I now can be a little effective on the behalf of the student.

Currently I am not teaching, but working at a bank.  I am a teller, but I also open new accounts and help with a variety of other banking tasks.  Along with being a banker, I also carry a part-time position at my church where I work in the Kid's Ministry.  Pryor to these positions I worked for 4 years in the WMU CSD as a 5-12 Band Instructor.  Currently I am working toward renewing my teaching license, as I am very interested in teaching again.  
Before taking this class, I had zero experience with Iowa AEA Online.  I had no idea all of the resources that it has to offer!  I was always aware that Iowa AEA Online was out there, but I didn't really know what it was or how to use it.  This is why I wanted to take this class.  I wanted to see what resources were available to me and I also wanted to see if any of them would be appropriate to use in my future music classes.  Thankfully I feel more confident in using the site after taking this class.  

1) My name is Lisa Carstens.  I currently work at North Scott High School, and am completing my 16 year in a Level II Special Education Program, grades 9-12.  I was hired into this program almost 16 years ago.  The program has graduated many students into the world of work with a clear understanding of what is expected of them; this program is very rewarding.  My role is as a certified paraeducator is to help students achieve their long term goals, help students to accomplish what is expected of them during their school day, and to work closely with the teacher in the classroom in implementing curriculum, meeting Standards and Benchmarks, and to monitor behaviors.  

2) Prior to taking the Iowa AEA Online Resources class, I have ordered kits and other resources for the teacher that I work with.  We have ordered sets of books to use as a classroom.  At this time we have a work-related kit that includes cleaning supplies, cleaning utensils, and the materials that go along with them.

3) I was interested in this course due to my love of research.  I enjoy looking into different ways for our students to become involved in the subjects that we teach.  Technology is constantly changing, and so I felt that this would be a great way to see what our AEA believes our students would be interested in, and what our AEA believes should be available to teachers.

I have been teaching science for the past 20 years starting in Illinois for the first 4, then spending the last 16 years teaching physical sciences in the East Mills School District.  I used several of the AEA online resources when I first came to Iowa, but that usage all but came to an end when several of the resources that I used to use were removed.  Since then, I have not made time to go and see what is available from the AEA.  I thought that this class would be a good opportunity to do that and earn renewal credit at the same time.  I am glad that I did.  I have come across several things that can easily be incorporated into my classroom.  I didn't realize that so much has been added since I visited the site in the past.  I am eager to start using these resources right away.

I was an Iowa farmer for over 25 years, and have been teaching high school level mathematics for about 15 years.  (Yes, I'm getting old.)  Upon moving to the Des Moines area, I just started teaching a precalculus and calculus class at Grand View Christian School in Des Moines and I teach mathematics to adult learners at Des Moines Area Community College at the Southridge center.  At DMACC, the adults are trying to earn their high school diploma by taking a high school equivalency test, HiSET.  

I do not have experience using Iowa AEA Online resources.  I have been a "by-the-book" math teacher in high school, and the textbook was more than enough material for the school year.  However, at DMACC the adjunct teachers have been coming up with their own materials, and it has been a challenge for me to find the right materials to do the job.

I am hoping that Iowa AEA Online will be a good source of materials to help with my math teaching responsibilities.

I am an ELL (English Language and Literacy or English Learner) teacher in Marshalltown. I work with 5th and 6th grade students of all levels. We have mostly students whose families are from Mexico. However, Marshalltown does have more than 30 languages represented in our school district. We are getting increasing numbers from Burma as well as other countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas.  I have used some of the online resources (e.g. clip art and britannica) but I wanted to learn about more offerings. As an EL teacher having videos and images to demonstrate content is particularly important.  I have enjoyed having one central location for various resources. It’s also useful that they all have the same password and username.  I think that digital research is the way of the future and I want to be able to send my students to reliable sources of information. We often use Britannica but I wanted to learn about the other options and work to add more technology into my curriculum.

I think I posted this previously in the wrong spot as a new message but hopefully this is the right way to do it.

My name is Brian Keeton and I am a 4th grade teacher at Emerson Hough Elementary in Newton, Iowa.  This is my first year at Emerson Hough.  I taught from 2000-2003 at Keota Elementary in Keota, Iowa and then worked full-time in the ministry for the next 13 years.  So even though I am a 4th year teacher, I feel like a first year teacher all over again.  To be honest, I had literally no experience with the AEA Online.  When I taught over 15 years ago, there was an AEA person that came to our school once in a while, but other than that...I knew that teachers checked out books occasionally from the AEA, but that was it.  The school I now work in has a school psychologist from the AEA that I see a couple of times a week, especially when I have an IEP for a student in my class.  But I had no idea there was so much great information online that was accessible for teachers in our district!  I originally signed up for this course because I needed license renewal credits.  When I spoke with someone from our AEA, she suggested this class would be a great place to start.  She was right!!  I have already used several resources from the AEA Online website with my class and am looking forward to what I can do in the future.  Now that I know of all of these resources, I am excited about incorporating them into my lesson plans next year.  Thanks for the great class.  :)

I am currently employed with the Wilton Community School District as the Jr/Sr high school media manager.  While I have attended the Mississippi Bend AEA Media Academy for the past 4 years, I wanted a more in-depth look at the databases so I could better explain their benefits to the staff and students. I have introduced Sirs, Gale and soundzabound to students in the past.

I currently work at a small Christian school that is a ministry of our church in Davenport, Ia.  I have taught since 1981 in some capacity  - homeschool, private school, Christian/church school.  In every case, it was a situation with limited funds.  As on-line resources became available, I was in the dark, so to speak.  I have always had to "make-do" with freebies and give-a-ways.  (The public library was a great resource for me.)  New opportunities have been presented to me this year - I was given a smart phone (which I am still trying to learn how to use) and our school was given some lap-top computers.  For me, working on-line is like "hunt-and-peck" on an old manual typewriter!  My students are far more adept with a computer than I am.  I decided I need to be "in-the-know" so I can keep up with students, and so I can teach in the 21st century.

When it came time to renew my license, I saw this course and knew it would be just what I needed. I have not had any past experience with AEA on-line courses, although I have taken the self-paced courses in the past.  I was not terribly excited about delving into the on-line world, but I knew it was what I needed.  When I saw all the free resources offered through AEA, I did get excited.  I began to think about the research project my kids will do for the end of this school year and I was already planning how to teach my classes about using the new resources.  But then I saw that it was only for accredited schools.  (We are an approved school, but not accredited.) Now I am finishing the course hoping to learn something, but am disappointed that I will do same work others have to do for a license, but that license will not allow me the same privileges.  I realize I could pay to subscribe to the resources, but now we are back to the limited funds.  Oh, well.  We have a saying among the teachers at our school - it is what it is, so make the best of it.

I am a retired adult probation/parole officer who has been substituting in rural districts for about five years. Usually, teachers have everything plotted out very thoroughly and the students are very adept at utilizing all the bells and whistles.  If someone, including me, voices the need for assistance, there has always been one or more students who can and will solve the problem. Districts have varying levels of technology and varying qualities of official IT support. Students are issued their own computers and a fair number of them wait to charge them until they are at school. Some students treat them carelessly and then they are "in the shop" a lot.

This is compounded by my own insecurities when it comes to computers. It has been a blessing and a curse to have three out-of-area adult sons who are very gifted in the field. I struggle and need a lot of repetition. It is embarrassing. This course introduced me to resources and areas I had no idea even existed. As an "authorized substitute" my time in any class is limited and I am always aware I am in someone else's classroom. I look forward to delving into these resources on my own time and my own dime because there is so much information for me to learn and to enjoy.

I currently am the Online Learning Room director and work with credit deficient high school students to better prepare them for their life after graduating. I am in charge of the Parallel Program, which is an alternative to the regular 52 credit requirement for students to graduate, rather allowing them to have 42. They are taken out of their electives and required to complete their core classes. They spend their afternoons with me focusing on scholarships, colleges, work options and they must complete an online course - career planning.
I have taken a couple online courses through AEA for licensure renewal and I love that I can work at my own pace. It is very helpful for teachers to complete courses on their own time. This course interested me because I work with high school students every day and assist them in planning their future. Financial literacy is a component that they are well aware of, but may not know how it pertains to them. This will give me more ideas lessons to work with them.

I have been teaching for fifteen years. All fifteen years have been with preschool.  The preschool class contains a mixed age group of three year olds through five year olds.  The preschool is a full day program with wrap around care. The preschool program that I work for is a community partner with Cedar Rapids Community School District.
I have not had much exposure with the lowa AEA Online resources before, so I thought that his would be a great time to get to know one more resource.  I have heard other teachers talk about Iowa AEA Online but just didn’t know or feel conformable just jumping into the site.
The reason that this topic was interesting to me is because the world is geared to find information online.  I thought that it would be good to know more about a safe place to gain information that is found online. The information would also be correct and up to date.   I also thought it might give me ideas of how to allow the preschoolers to use the internet safely. I was also glad to see that the class would talk about copyright rules. This would help me understand what I could use from online.

I currently teach kindergarten in Ankeny. I have also taught grades 1-3 as well as served as a literacy leader for four years. This is my first online course with the AEA. I chose this course because I am always looking for ways to enrich my classroom instruction and make it more meaningful and engaging for students. My students are very familiar with BookFlix, TrueFlix, and PebbleGo. We use these applications on a fairly consistent basis, primarily for the text to voice feature.  With kindergarten, it can be quite challenging to find readable-text, so I am very thankful for the AEA providing use access to these! I would like to become more efficient using the other available programs with my students.

I currently teach 5th & 6th grade Math & Science in Muscatine, IA. Previously, I have taught 5th grade all subjects in Davenport, IA, and 6th grade Science in Indiana.

Before taking this course, I have visited the AEA in Bettendorf to use resources such as laminating, die cuts, etc.  I also use the StarLab portable planetarium on a regular basis. I have never taken advantage of the online resources, and frankly didn't even know they were available. When I asked some of my colleagues around the building, no one else was aware of the resources either. Is it possible to have an AEA rep visit each school and present these resources to the staff during an in-service meeting? With how much the state spends on these resources, I'm surprised it's not required for the staff to be in-serviced in this way.

When first signing up for the course, I thought I would be introduced to more resources like the StarLab, ones that could be checked out and physically used in the classroom. I was initially hoping to find more of those types of resources, but I am happy that I now know about all of the digital resources.