POST #1: Introductions and Sharing Your Past Experience

I am a special education teacher working in the Des Moines Public school district.  I have been with the district for 4 years, and began teaching a little later in life, then most.  Although we don't directly work with the AEA we do use the resources which are available, through them.  I have used Bookflix for several years and have found that students enjoy the books which are on the site, as well as the comprehension and games at the end.  Trueflix is also a resource which I have used in the past.  iclipart and soundzabound are resources which I have explored and used but not as much as I should have.  I thought that this course would be interesting because the AEA has been such a helpful and knowledgeable resource for my classroom, in the past.  I wanted to explore and learn about resources which I may not know they have, but which would be beneficial for me to use with my students.

My name is Kristopher “Kritter” Hayes.  I am in my 8th year of teaching.  I began my teaching career at Creston High School in Creston, Iowa and have been in the Keokuk Community School District for the past 4 years.  I have taught at both Keokuk Middle School teaching Life Skills and currently teach 9th grade World History as well as a Character and Career Exploration course.  I also coach in the district as well.

While at Creston High School, I had a great experience with the local AEA and used their resources.  It was done more through another individual than myself accessing the sources online.  I am curious to know how the Iowa AEA Online resources have changed over the past 4 years and how it differs between the different AEA’s.  Prior to taking this self-paced course, I was really unaware of the vast amount of online resources that are available to teachers.

This course interested my greatly and was excited to see it offered at the right time for me.  I want to expand my teaching using various forms of technology and incorporate a wide variety of resources.  The offerings from the AEA will tremendously enhance my classroom instruction and add variety to my presentations.  

Kristopher

I am a 7th and 8th grade reading teacher at Emmetsburg Middle School; this will be my 5th year teaching middle school and I’m starting my 12th year in the district.  I have some experience with the AEA Online Resources, generally by way of our school librarians.  I would take my students to the library to learn how to use the resources from our in-house experts and then hope the students would remember how to use them.  Of course, this had mixed results.  The course was recommended to me by my school librarian.  She had taken the course and felt I (and my students) would benefit from it.  My students need to do some research throughout the year and I want them to use credible sources without getting lost down the rabbit hole of the entire internet.  They also create presentations throughout the year and would benefit from the access to sounds and images they can use appropriately.  

I currently teach middle school science,  grades 5 thru 8, at North Iowa Community Schools.   In the past I have used Learn360 videos in the classroom with students,  and explored Britannica Online for some student research projects,  but didn't consider using the other AEA online resources.   I was interested in taking the course to get a better understanding about the AEA online resources and how to use them more effectively with students in the classroom.

This week  I will be starting my twelfth year teaching high school Spanish in NE Iowa.  For the past 5 years I've also been serving as our district's ESL teacher for both elementary and high school.  I have used some of the AEA online tools in the past, and find them very useful.  I just wish sometimes I had more time to explore them on my own, which is one reason I wanted to take this course.  Some of the tools I used before were culturegrams, learn360, and soundzabound.  Although I teach high school, I love the kids edition.  I think it gives some really interesting information on there that is sometimes different than the world edition.  I've shown video clips from learn360 in the past, although it was a while ago and I can't remember what it was.  At times my students make videos in imovie, and we've used clips from soundzabound.
Because I've become more focused on teaching proficiency through reading and storytelling, and comprehensive input, I would be more interested in items that were all in the target language.  I've found a few things for a novel that we read (Esperanza Renace) but will need to do more digging for Spanish materials.  I also like using images related to topics in class that students would either have to talk about or write about.  I think that using the real images in the clipart tool will be useful for that this year.  

My name is Carol Nielsen and I have been an elementary teacher since 1973 in various school systems in Nebraska, Minnesota, and Iowa. This will be my 12th year in the Red Oak Community School District teaching Kindergarten for 8 years and beginning my 4th year in 1st grade. BookFLIX sums up my experience with AEA Online resources.  I have taught my students how to get into the AEA site from our school's home page and sent the little cards home with our school's username and password..  I am truly amazed at the resources that are available for both teachers and students.  I am so curious to find out how much the higher grade levels in our school use these resources, or are aware of the scope of what is available.  This course was recommended to me by a friend who works in one of the Iowa AEA offices and she shared that it was enjoyed by many teachers.  

For the past 17 years I have been a substitute paraprofessional in the Mason City School System.  During the past year I was a long term substitute in the high school for a student with learning barriers providing one on one supervision and guidance.  My experience has been completing my original paraprofessional certification on line.  I also have taken most of my paraprofessional credits online through the AEA.  It has been a very valuable means of accessing ongoing education in a variety of topics which has been useful to my work.  I was very interested in taking this course as I had little experience in the use of online media and wanted to grow professionally.  I believe this training will help me in the coming years to provide better assistance to my students in the use of online resources.

Hi, my name is Becki White.  I have been teaching in Southwest Iowa going on year eight!  I started teaching first grade and title reading in Prescott, Iowa until May of 2015.  August of 2015 I started teaching ELL (english as a second language) PK-12 in Creston Iowa.

In the past I have used BookFlix with my younger kids and have also used Learn360.  I love the fact that you can look up a clip or a video by using the state standards.  It really helped to make sure all of the subjects I was teaching lined up.  Bookflix was fun and interesting for my young kids.  I like that it was connected with a nonfiction book as well.  The non fiction book that was connected with the Bookflix filmed was usually the one we were reading in class.

I wanted to take this course because I wanted to see what other resources I could use in my ELL Classroom.
 Now, because of this course, I am really interested in looking into Brittanica Online, Culture Grams, and Gale.  

I am starting my fourth year of teaching, my second in my current position in Des Moines Public Schools. I teach English Language Learners at Brody Middle School, and I serve all graders 6th-8th. Last year I was the only ELL teacher in our building; this year, I serve beginners and advanced ELL students, and another teacher serves our intermediate levels. I do both pull-out and co-teaching classes.

Prior to this course, I was briefly introduced to AEA Online resources through a district support mentor. My students in my pull-out beginner/early intermediate class primarily used BookFLIX and TrueFLIX as alternatives to reading hard copies of books. I saw that other resources were available; I just didn’t take the time to explore them.

I was interested to take this course because I wanted to learn about other resources to use with my students to help with English language development besides those which I was already using. Specifically, I wanted to know about resources about culture and/or resources that students could use for digital projects.

Hi! I’m Nick Hayes and I’m in my 11th year teaching. I got my start in smaller districts, but for the past seven years I have been at Kennedy high school in Cedar Rapids. I currently teach chemistry, forensic science, and run the theater program.

My past experiences with the AEA Online resources goes back to my time in smaller districts. I used to be the only science teacher for a whole high school. As a rookie teacher I made much better use of the free resources made available to me. I also think we had better direct support from the AEA. In the bigger district, I have a whole PLC team dedicated to building curriculum around each course and I have drifted away from the resources the AEA provides.

While I think I have a mastery of the content I teach, I’m always left feeling like I can improve how that material is explored by the students. I’m looking to find more resources and ways others have used those resources in the classroom.

For the last 5 years, I have played the integral role of the substitute teacher.  I have a Masters of Art in Teaching and taught Financial Literacy for 7th and 8th grade prior to my current position.  I have small children and was finding that the pull between my kids at school and the pull of my kids at home was wearing on me.  I had a window of time that allowed me to stay at home with my children and still work part time as a substitute teacher.  I have found that the role of a substitute is much more important than people give credit for.  Getting random phone calls to fill in for teachers from every grade and content area is exciting but also a little scary.  However, I know that the school district counts on us to be flexible, professional, and brave (LOL).  I will be going back to the classroom full time at some point in the future and decided that this class would be a great resource for me.  The AEA has so many amazing resources that I was not aware of.  Being completely honest, I have used very little available resource material through the AEA.  For some reason, many of my peers are like me, and have not made use of the available resources either.  In my opinion, this class should be used as professional development for schools, so that teachers are made aware of these incredible resources.  I know that in the last 5 years, so much has changed in my building from grading, to assessing, to curriculum, and the list goes on and on.  I know that when the time comes for me to go back to the classroom full time, I will need to be on my "A" game.  This class has given me the confidence I am looking for to find those difficult teaching topics.  Knowing I can use these resources makes me feel much more prepared and confident, not to mention a little more excited!  

1) give us a brief introduction of where you currently work and what your role is in your current occupation.

I work at Lourdes Catholic School in Bettendorf, Iowa. I am the school principal. Our school has 335 students preschool through 8th grade. Because we are not part of a school district, oftentimes my role at Lourdes includes a number of responsibilities that would normally be fulfilled by district-level staff (curriculum director, transportation director, director of assessments, etc.) or even superintendent.

2) Share with us what past experience you have had with the Iowa AEA Online resources prior to taking the self-paced course.  

Before I because a principal, I taught in a public school for 14 years, and was a curriculum specialist for a public school district for three years. During that time, I used a number of AEA Online resources both with my students and later as a curriculum specialist with my adult learners/teachers. Most notably, when I was an ESL teacher, the students and I used Culturegrams quite a bit. It was also useful to provide to regular classroom teachers who had ESL students in their classrooms. Sometimes teachers do not even realize that they may have a bias or have a stereotype held about a particular culture.

3) Explain what interested you about the topic to take the course.

Frankly, I needed a course to renew my license, and since it has been a few years since I was a teacher or a curriculum specialist, I was curious to see if there were new resources I had not used before. I am glad I chose this course as it appears that there are many resources I was unfamiliar with.

I have been employed as a full-time teacher at the Netherlands Reformed Christian School in Rock Valley, IA since January 2005.  I began working as a full-time Science teacher, teaching grades 7-12.  In 2016, I also began teaching 7-12 Choral Music.  This year (2018), I began teaching a Bible class as well.  I am also still teaching 3 of my original Science classes (7th, 8th, and 12th Anatomy and Physiology).  

Before taking this course, I used Iowa AEA's resources strictly for their vast library of educational videos that they possess.  When I started teaching, I had to order the actual VHS or DVD and wait it to become available and be delivered.  Now I can show videos right from AEA's online website.  

I always knew that AEA had way more educational resources than videos, but I never took the time to search it out, and that is why I decided to take this class.  

I'm currently a 5th grade classroom teacher. I teach at South Tama Middle School. Within my role, I teach literacy, math and social studies. Prior to completing this course, I had explored a bit of the AEA Online resources on my own, but had not spent much time working with them. I was drawn to taking this course because I want to be able to better help my students. They have some experience with the sources because I have seen them choose to read on Freedomflix or Bookflix (this is helpful for my special ed students.) However, I knew there had to be more options available and a better way for me to show my students how to use these sources. Another reason that I was interested in the course was because of the new social studies standards. A part of the new standards is analyzing sources and determining credibility. I wanted to learn more about sources I could provide students that they would be able to trust.

I currently teach in a very small district in southern Iowa.  The entire PK-12 is housed in on one campus in buildings that are connected.  I am the 3rd-5th grade Reading and Language Arts teacher.  Our 3rd -5th grades rotate to different teachers throughout the day.  Prior to this self-paced course, I was familiar with many AEA resources.  I use the AEA library to check out classroom sets of chapter books for my students about every 6 weeks.  In my prior teaching assignment in the elementary classroom seven years ago, I used several of the other online resources.  Some of the ones I used in my classroom were BookFLIX, CultureGrams, Brittanica Online, and TrueFLIX.  Last year was my first year back in the elementary classroom after a 5 year hiatus, and I decided I could be using the AEA resources more than I was.  Therefore, when it came time to need a relicensure credit, I decided to take this course to help familiarize myself with all the resources the AEA has to offer again.

I currently work for the Davenport Community School District at Walcott Intermediate. I am a level one special education teacher and for the last year and a half I have primarily co-taught 6th and 7th grade language arts. I have utilized Iowa AEA Online resources in the past and have shared with other co-workers the value of this resource. I have also taught special education classes and loved utilizing AEA Online in my classes. I always felt it was a valuable tool in differentiating instruction, covers such a wide variety of topics, is student friendly, and engaging.  I was interested in taking this self-paced course as there are resources within AEA Online that I have not used and wanted to learn more about, as well as expand my knowledge on the resources that I have used before.

I have been a general music teacher in the Ottumwa School district for 24 years.  Prior to that, I also gained teaching experience in South Dakota and Colorado.  Currently, I teach students in grades 2-5, while also sharing responsibility for performances and activities throughout the school year.   I have had limited experience in using resources from the AEA prior to taking this class.  I have worked with several educators who regularly used the AEA to supplement classroom activities, so I was familiar with many or the data bases available.  A colleague who took the class last summer encouraged me to take the course and become more familiar with things available through the AEA which would enhance my teaching and supplement the activities I currently use in my classroom.  As I said, I was familiar with some of the data bases available, but also became aware of several that I did not know about prior to taking this class.

I currently work for the Bondurant-Farrar Community School District. It is my sixth year here and my thirteenth year teaching overall. I teach third grade and I love it. That is the only grade level that I have taught throughout my career. In my current role, I teach the subjects of reading, math, writing, grammar, and social studies. We also infuse a little bit of cursive as well. My prior experiences utilizing the AEA online website have been very limited. In fact, one of the only things that I have used very faithfully is Bookflix. I have seen my colleagues here at school and around the state finding some very cool resources and references on the AEA online site. When I ask them how the found it the answers seems to be the same a lot, “on the AEA website that you have access to. Up to this point, I have not taken the time to sit down and utilize it. That is my main purpose for the class, to explore resources that I have access to that I didn't know existed!

I have been teaching high school social studies in Clarinda for 20 years.  I have had limited experience with Iowa AEA Online resources.  These resources have been shared with our staff by our Lead Teachers in meetings before and seemed very useful at the time.  That introduction and the addition of iPads in our building this school year led me to enrolling in this course.  I am looking for ways to more effectively use digital media in the classroom.

As a social studies instructor several of resources, Digital Library, Britannica Online, Gale, and SIRS Issues Researcher can have great value in research assignments and be a great place to direct students rather than always relying on a Google search.  Learn 360 and CultureGrams are also two sources I intend to explore more for classroom use.  I have a lot more to learn, but am further than I was before.  

My currently work for the Iowa City Community School District as a first grade teacher.  I have been teaching first grade for 9 years. I have used BookFLIX in my classroom often.  The kids always love watching the books come alive and I enjoy the paired text with both fiction and nonfiction.  I also have used Learn360 for videos to show in class. I was interested in this course because when I would go to click on BookFLIX or Learn360 there was always a huge list of other resources available but I was not familiar with any of them.  I wanted to learn what the other resources had to offer me and my students.