POST #1: Introductions and Sharing Your Past Experience

Currently I am a stay at home mom working on my recertification as a substitute teacher.  I would like to substitute K-12, preferably in my children’s schools.  I have always been an advocate of the Iowa AEA.  I frequently remind students to “use your resources”.  The Iowa AEA has a wealth of resources that are underutilized.  When I first began teaching science in 1998, I ordered a lot of books and videos from the AEA.  When I taught ESL, I would always have a full canvas bag of AEA resources to borrow, use and return.  The resources greatly enhanced my teaching and helped meet individual student needs.  After being out of the classroom for years, I want to be able to utilize the most current Iowa AEA online resources for available each topic, research project and grade level that I can.  AEA online allows students, teachers and parents a safe and relevant way to learn and explore.

I am currently a 2/3 grade special education teacher in the Davenport Community School District. My only experience with using the Iowa AEA online resource is to use Trueflix a few times with my students last year. As I was preparing for the year I decided I would like to incorporate technology more in my classroom. I work with students who have behavior disorders and struggled last year with finding online resource that where helpful to all the different reading abilities in my room. After sharing my frustrations with a co-teacher of mine she suggested that I use the Iowa AEA online resource in my class she found it very helpful resource in her room and recommended this course. I have to say I was very impressed with all that learned about the AEA online I did not realize all that was available to us as teachers. I look forward to incorporating this resource in my classroom this coming year.

I teach 7-12 Art and Publications in a small Iowa High School town.  I see about 120 students per day on average.  I've been teaching in the same school since I graduated from College.  This year is the beginning of my 15th year.  I have not used the AEA Online resources very much so far.  I was lucky in that the previous teachers bought a lot of materials to use and they have stayed very relevant the past years.  I took the course because I find the students are leaning more onto the internet for their resources and I find that they are not always appropriate for what we are doing.

For the past eight years I have been an Early Childhood educator. Some of that time has been in the Waukee School District and I am currently working in the Davenport Community School District. Before this course, I had limited experience using a few AEA online resources. Primarily, I used Bookflix in my classroom. I took this course because I knew there were so many online resources that I was unaware of. I have been able to share some of these resources with my colleagues as well.  I appreciated the opportunity and the freedom to take this course in my own time.

I have been involved in education for 15 years. I am currently a 5th grade teacher in Carson, Iowa. I am responsible for teaching language arts and math.

I lived out of state for 8 years and just moved back one year ago. I did not know this wonderful resource existed until recently. I was working with an Instructional Coach and she was helping me with meeting the needs of a very diverse class. She introduced me to Britannica Schools. We utilized this with my diverse group during L.A. centers. The option to read the same material at different levels is amazing!

Through our talks, she mentioned that this website was a great resource in many ways. I was not familiar with it prior when I was teaching in Iowa. As I was looking and planning to complete my renewal credits, I came across this course as an option. I thought this would be a great opportunity to learn more in depth about the resources offered and make a plan to utilize them in my classroom.

I have worked in a preschool classroom for the last 19 years as a associate. I have had many roles in the classroom, from helping to prepair the daily materials, creating a act project for the kids to make that ties in with a book or curriculum of the week. I also have the privilege of being a 1 on 1 with some of our speical needs kids when needed.
I am the process of renewing my para certificate, while looking for classes to take I came across this one. I know that my teacher uses the aea website but I dont no much about it ( or didn't know as much as I know now).
I think this could be a great tool for me to use with my little ones, from writing, rhyming and beginning math. Also gives me a website to sent my grandkids to when they need help their with homework.

I am currently a private Wilson Reading System tutor who is working with students where reading and/or encoding is a challenge. This process of teaching reading works well for students diagnosed with dyslexia, but it also can help students who are not making growth in decoding and encoding. I am a prior special education teacher (elementary/middle school levels), Heartland AEA special education consultant and teacher education program supervisor at Iowa State University. I have had the pleasure of working in different educational arenas, but I am really enjoying the work of teaching students to read.

As a special education teacher (about 16 years ago), I think I followed the lead of the gen ed classroom whose classroom I was supporting and the media specialist as far as what resources we were using in project planning/learning. As a consultant, we accessed learning tools such as Boardmaker and other very helpful communication tools to help students communicate. But, the extent of the interactive and online tools now is incredible, and I knew I was "way behind the curve" about current resources.

Sadly, I have had limited knowledge of online resources prior to taking this course. My initial intent was to take the course in order to become acclimated with all of the resources online. I wanted to be helpful in connecting the families whose children I am tutoring become aware of what is available directly through their school buildings. It is crucial for students with dyslexia to have access to visual tools to teach content. Their brains are amazing! Another real challenge for students with dyslexia is the ability to provide access to grade level content while his/her reading intervention is underway. Students may not be able to read grade level information for content areas, but could access this information online. The online resources through Heartland are amazing! Students will not necessarily be able to read their grade level textbook or a pdf supplied during a science class (for example), but there are online resources which would connect them to the content they need access to. I took this class because I knew that I wasn't aware of nearly the resources Heartland has available.  

Currently I teach 4th and 5th grade math and writing. In the past 14 years I have taught everything from elementary self-contained to the intermediate talented and gifted program as well as elementary TAG. I also coach intermediate volleyball and belong to our districts Teacher Leader program as a Model Teacher.  I teach in a K-8 building in a small Iowa community. I have used AEA resources in the past for Science and Social Studies videos and beginning of the year classroom behavior videos. My intermediate TAG students would use the research sections while learning about their National History Day projects. I have also used Culture Gram with little ones to create Social Studies projects. Some of the students even made the recipes from the site. What interested me in this course was my past experience with the AEA resources and I wanted to learn what other resources where available. I wish I would have known about the Teen health when my daughter was that age. I believe we could have really benefited from that resource.

I am a 4th grade teacher at West Liberty Elementary School.  I teach two sections of Math, two sections of Science, and a Walk to Literacy group that focuses on various reading skills.  I have a wide variety of students...ESL, SPED, TAG, etc.  I thought this class sounded very interesting because of the diverse population West Liberty serves.  I wanted to explore the options I had at my finger tips to better serve my students.  I was very excited at the different options I never knew about.  My past experience using AEA resources has been limited.  In the past, I remember using the AEA to "check out" books.  If I needed to supplement my reading curriculum or if we were reading a novel during reading and I needed a few extra copies, I could check with the AEA.  I had no idea all the different interactive sites that the AEA provided.  I am looking forward to exploring some of these sites in more depth and using some in my classroom this year.  

Hi,
I'm Lu and I have been with the Missouri Valley School System for twelve years as a paraeducator and two years ago, became a school van driver. For the last six year I have been working one on one with an autistic student.
When first I starting working at the school the Iowa AEA Online was used a lot. It was a great tool to use with the middle school students. It was used a lot as a resource to find images and information. The special needs department used Book Flixs, Tru Flixs, and iclipart.
But with time... technology changes and so has the usage of Iowa AEA Online. Lots of new avenues of resources to use. So this is why I wanted to take the course again...I took it 5 years ago!! I want to be able to show the new teacher, who is from NE, all the great information and resource that Iowa AEA Online has to offer!! I have been excited by exploring it all on my own!

I am currently in my 10th year of teaching high school choir at West High School in Davenport, IA. I have always known that the Iowa AEA had many resources for teachers to use in their classrooms.  However, given the format of my classes, I have not had very much experience using Iowa AEA Online resources before this class. It is sometime assumed that resources for music teachers aren't readily on these kind of sites as we've been conditioned to believe everything is geared towards core classes. I was interested to learn more about what the Iowa AEA has to offer so that I could possibly use those tools to enhance my teaching. I'm glad I've learned that there are lots of resources for me to use.

 When I started this online course I worked in a middle school in Des Moines as a 8th grade math and algebra teacher. I have since then accepted a new position over the summer and am currently in Ankeny teaching 9th grade geometry and algebra 2. The two experiences have had quite a few similarities and differences.

I haven't had any prior experience with the AEA online resources prior to this course. I was searching for some courses I thought I would be interested in so I could get renewal credit and grow as an educator. I am always looking for fresh new content and some of the lessons I have created in class have me using a bunch of pictures and incorporating places in the world. I was interested in this course to see if there was anything that I could use. Once I saw some of the resources that were offered, I was immediately excited about the iClipArt for schools and the CultureGrams.

Greetings.  My Name is Julia Jacobs, and I work for South Central Calhoun Community Schools.  I have a unique role here at South Central Calhoun.  I am the technology coordinator.  If it prints, connects to the internet, or beeps for some unknown reason—I get called.  I cover three buildings, two different towns, and over 500 devices.  I also teach two periods a day at the high school.  I teach Graphics and Multi-Media and Photoshop I (a earlybird college credit class for Iowa Central Community College).  I am also in charge of the school website and like all of you—other duties as assigned.
I have not used the Iowa AEA Online resources much prior to this self-paced course, mostly because of the nature of the courses which I teach. I do love the schools.iclipart.com site, however, and have used it for years—and the more I visit the site, the more ways I find to implement its use.
I am taking this course because I need 6 credit hours to renew my certificate.  I was going to retire, but decided to stick it out for another year—so here I am taking any class that looks interesting that will fit in my schedule.

I have been a substitute teacher for the past 6 years.  With the use of the internet being used more in the classrooms I was feeling inadequate with helping students.   My children are 12 and 14.  While deciding if I wanted to continue subbing or seek full time employment I decided to check out what classes were available. This is the forth class I have taken through AEA.  When I saw this class I decided it would be a great tool to understand while subbing.  I also love all the different links and tools that I can access to help students and my own children with their projects.    

I am a fourth grade teacher at BGM Elementary in Brooklyn, Iowa.  I taught second grade for four years (1996-2000) and have taught fourth grade ever since.  I teach all subject areas except for social studies.  
 
I have used AEA as a resource in the past.  In the early part of my teaching career I used it as a way to get films (yep, I used to get the 16 mm reels and thread them through the projector to watch educational films).  Later, I ended up getting VCR tapes and soon after DVDs.  I have also used the AEA to get multiple copies of books, free clip art, and at one time used it to get paper cut-outs for a bulletin board I had made.  Last year, we had an AEA representative come to our school and give some practice using a few of the online resources that are available.  
As a result, I have used True Flix in my classroom to do a report which the kids really enjoyed this resource.  My two favorite resources include MackinVia which is a site with free, online books which works out great for us to have multiple copies of the same books.  I also have been using Mystery Science a lot for my science curriculum.  It uses hands-on experiments to explain scientific concepts and vocabulary in a fun and meaningful way.  
 
I am very interested in taking full advantage of the AEA Online resources that they make available.  I have noticed that they continue to add resources and I would like to learn more about them and how I can utilize them within my classroom.  

I taught in a self contained Early Childhood Special Education classroom for 2 years, then I went on to teach special education in a self contained 7th grade classroom for 6 years. I am currently working at the AEA as and Early Childhood Special Education teacher (Early Access provider for children age 0-3) and also and ECSE Consultant for Children age 3-5 for problem solving and referrals for the Child Find process. I support 3 ECSE teachers who teach in integrated preschool programs. The classrooms consist of typical preschool age children and children 3-5 that have been identified and eligible individuals with IEPs. I am also on several year long trainings this year that focus on Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) for children on IEPs and also a year long training on Autism Navigator For Iowa's Early ACCESS Providers. 2) As a classroom teacher (at the preschool and middle school level)  I used Iowa AEA Online resources to help support my work with students and creating book studies. 3)  I took this class for several reasons: my teaching license expires soon and I wanted a class that I could complete on my own time; since I work at the AEA and the teachers I support are always creating materials to support their teaching and the needs of their students. I wanted to have a greater knowledge of what is available through the Iowa AEA Online resources in addition to ClipArt that I refer to often when making 5 point timers, social stories and picture schedules for my Early ACCESS families and intensive interventions for the purpose of determining eligibility for special education services.

 I am currently a mobile art teacher for an elementary school in Northwest Iowa. I have been at this position for 9 years. Aside from teaching art on a cart, I also participate in 13 Interventions in varying grades.

I have little to no experience with Iowa AEA Online resources outside of taking AEA Pd Learn at Your Own Pace Courses, which I enjoy. I love being able to work and learn at my own pace and feel all the courses have been very relevant to my everyday job as well as things I have genuinely interest in learning about.

I was very curious to take this course because I knew I was not utilizing all that Iowa AEA Online resources have to offer for myself, my lesson plans as well as my students. I am very excited to use Gale InfoBits for student based research of artists and famous artworks. Often times a simple search of an artist or an artwork could yield age inappropriate information for the students. Similarly, I am curious to see how we can put to use the AEA Digital Library and Brittanica Online for our research.

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 currently work as a science teacher in the Iowa City Community School District.  I am a seventh grade science teacher and have been in this role for 10 years.  I am also a track and field and cross country coach in the district.  My previous experience with the AEA Online sources have been to take several courses for license renewal credit as well as other required courses (mandatory reporter, blood borne pathogens, etc.).  My interest for taking this self paced course was 1) to hopefully earn another license renewal credit and 2) familiarize myself with the other resources that are available for teachers beyond my required courses!  

Assignment #1 Introduction/past experience with AEA Online Resources/My interest in the topic to take course

• I am a special education para at elementary level. Unlike teachers who do the lesson planning, a para’s roles and responsibility is limited to what the teacher is asking us to guide or re-teach the student. This is only after the teacher has taught the lesson. I am told what to practice with the student in small group or one-on-one.  
• I have not utilized the Iowa online resources. I have seen the passcode and site address posted in the computer lab in past years. I was unaware what it was and how to get around on the site. A couple years ago, I worked with students on science and ELA research, but they had already started the research and was using the general web not the AEA site.  It was hard to keep them off Wikipedia and to use legitimate based sites, such as NASA. Most sites were difficult reads for my students.
• When I discovered the description in your self-paced online class I was excited that I would get access to the pass code and taught how to navigate the links. Using the researching tools available in different age levels can be useful for the multiple learning abilities of my special education students.

I currently teach third grade in Dubuque, Iowa. In the past, I have used BookFlix and TrueFlix regularly for students to read and listen to independently.  I have used TrueFlix to extend their content knowledge when learning about specific topics.  I have also used ScienceFlix and FreedomFlix when I taught fifth grade. I knew there were more resources that I could be using, but did not know much about them, or how to use them.  The self-paced course was ideal for me, and about a topic I've wanted to learn more about but have not gotten a chance to explore. I learned a lot about ways to implement some of these resources.