POST #1: Introductions and Sharing Your Past Experience

I have been teaching in the Iowa Falls- Alden CSD for the last 7 years.  I have served as the 7th-grade math teacher, Data Coach, and middle school basketball/high school baseball coach.  This year I will be moving to 8th-grade math and some 7th-grade math.

Although limited, I have some experience with the AEA Online Resources prior to taking this course.  Our school librarian has presented on some of these resources at staff professional development.  The majority of her presentations were focused around Copyright and Britannica.  I did not utilize these resources much in the math classroom in the last 7 years, but after taking this course I have realized how expansive the rest these online resources are.

As a TLC coach for my school, I found myself taking notes on all of these resources to be able to share them with my colleagues.  Many of these resources would be highly beneficial supplements to the current curriculum being taught by many of our teachers.  Personally, I have been searching for more resources to use with my own curriculum.  My school purchases a couple of subscriptions to educational sites and after viewing the extent of this content available to us, I wonder if the money we spend is worth it?  I plan on sharing my learning from this course with my colleagues, as well as supplementing my current curriculum.

I am currently working as an elementary teacher.  I returned to the classroom 4 years ago after staying home with my 4 kids for a number of years.  I am making my 3rd grade change in 4 years. As well as my first time to departmentalize in Science and Social Studies.   I decided this would be a good class for me to take because up until this point I have not utilized AEA online resources. I have spent all my time just getting familiar with the curriculum.   I will be teaching 4th grade (all my previous experience has been k-2) and wanted to find additional tools that would help me.  In my 2nd grade classroom last year I had 5th grade Science buddies and was able to see bits of the online tools they used.  I knew this was something I needed to dig deeper in once I got word I would be moving up to 4th grade.  I am so glad I did as I have a list of resources to load on our Chromebooks.  

I am the kindergarten through fourth grade teacher librarian in Decorah. I will be starting my 8th year teaching in Decorah this year. Prior to this self-paced course, I have had some experience with several of the Iowa AEA Online resources, especially those helpful for early researching and topic exploration. I have mainly used Britannica, Culturegrams, BookFLIX, and iClipart with my students. I was interested in taking this course because while I have had some experience in using (and teaching students how to use) several of the Iowa AEA Online resources, I wanted to explore those resources in more depth. I also wanted to learn about the resources that I had not been using and see how they could fit into my curriculum, as well as the curriculum of the classroom teachers. I was excited to learn more about what resources I could use to support my teaching, as well as resources to recommend to my colleagues.

I have been teaching for over 20 years in the state of Iowa.  For the first 15 years of this time I taught World History.  As a classroom Teacher I was always looking for new and credible resources to be used in class that were legal to access.  The last few years I switched to helping in our Media Center and creativity and Fair use became more of an issue. Because of the switch in my job I became much more interested in what was out there to be used in a free and legal way for the increasing options for our students in all our classes.A specific activity that we were doing was with the AP photos and the events since the turn of the 21st Century.  The more I have been working with the teachers about the research and possibilities to present their research I have been great impressed and excited with the amount of resources that Iowa AEA Online has to offer.  I have taken this class to get a better handle on all the sites and materials that can be used.  I have been very pleased and also some what surprised by the amount of materials that are specific to the lower grade levels.  Having worked only in the High Schools for my career I didn't think about how much was out there for Pre-K to 2nd or 3rd grade.  I think that it is very important that School personnel get to know the materials that our government is providing for free.  I look forward to being able to use some of these new sites in the new School year.

I do think that these materials are very important for the Media Specialists in our State need to be very knowledgeable in these provided resources as the State continues to cut back on funding and schools are forced to make some tough budget decisions.

I have been a social studies teacher at the middle and high school level for the past 12 years.  Currently, I am at Treynor High School where I have been for the past 4 years.  This year, I will be the Instructional Coach for grades 6-12.  In the past, I have used the Iowa AEA Online resources in a variety of ways and in multiple contents.  For example, I have utilized the SIRS Researcher in psychology and modern issues courses alike.  This resource is great for conducting classroom debates.  In my classroom, we have conducted debates in areas like gun control, abortion, and the role of media violence in school shootings.

What interested me about this course is my new position.  My new role is to support teachers by providing new strategies and best practices to enhance student learning.  Iowa AEA Online is great tool for teachers, and I wanted to be able to assist the teachers at my school in providing more resources for their classrooms.  Therefore, I needed to ensure that I could navigate the site and also decide what resources are best for the different teachers and subjects I will be serving.

My name is Joe Thompson and I am currently in my 13th year of teaching. I have spent my entire career in the classroom and have taught at three different Des Moines schools. I have experience in grades 2-5 and am currently teaching 4th grade at Studebaker Elementary. I am responsible for teaching all subject matters (literacy, mathematics, science and social studies) as well as work hard to incorporate social skills into my classroom as well.

This is my first time participating in a self-paced course via AEA. I have however taken a variety of both in person and online courses through Heartland AEA. I have enjoyed learning more about how to incorporate technology by learning about Google Classroom as well as how to use the iPad productively in the classroom. I have also had the opportunity to gain knowledge in geometry and several literacy classes at the primary level.

I have always heard that the AEA online community has many resources. I have taken advantage of some of them, but I wanted to expand my knowledge and become more familiar with more resources that would allow students to use at home and for student projects.

I currently work in a 5-8 Middle School, where I teach 4 choirs, one for each grade, plus a choir made up of selected 8th grade students.  I also teach 7th grade Life Skills, which is comprised of 3 components:  Financial Literacy, Service Learning, and Health.  In addition, I do vocal lessons throughout the day, I create the Middle School Yearbook, and I am the Middle School Drama Coach.
Our AEA representatives have come to the middle school to help inform us about what opportunities they have to assist us in education.  I have used their resources for many things, but not much online until now.
In our Life Skills classes we will have the opportunity to utilize many of the programs I have learned about here; that will enhance my classes considerably!

I currently work as a special education teacher at WACO Community School District. I have served 7th through 12 graders, but this year I am working with 7th through 9th grade students. I have worked in special education since 2003, beginning as a paraeducator.
I have been made aware of the AEA online resources at our professional development meetings but haven't taken the time to really explore what is all available. So while looking for credit courses available I saw this as an oportunity to do just that. I am glad I did.
I am impressed with the commprehensiveness of Britanica, CultureGrams, Gale, and SIRS for when my high school students do research work. Many students have a difficulty finding reliable sources on the internet. Using these resources will help alleviate that problem.
I was also interested in the copyright and fair use information. It clears up some of the muddy thinking I previously held about legal issues with classroom resource materials.
There is much more available than I originally thought. I look forward to using these resources with my students now. I didn't feel knowledgeable before taking these courses.

Hi, my name is Kelli and I work at Dallas Center-Grimes school district.  My current role is curriculum facilitator (district) but prior to this role I was a secondary classroom teacher.  It is my job to find resources that can help teachers improve or enhance the classroom activities and curriculum in order to better support  student learning.

I have looked at Iowa AEA Online resources previously and used a few here and  there but I was never sure what exactly was available and what the intended uses were.  The one resource I used most consistently was MackinVia, as a support in my co-taught classroom.

This course was interesting to me because I wanted to learn more about the different online resources available.  I figured that this course would teach me about a variety of resource options and allow me to determine how I can help other teachers access them in order to enhance their learning environments.

My name is Tim Marsden and I am the Director of Vocal Music at Red Oak High School, a position that I have held for the past 11 years.  Before that I have taught everything from Elementary to High School music in the Omaha area.  So much of music is performance based, especially at  the secondary level, so for a short amount of time in Iowa I didn't pay much attention to the AEA Resources.  Then a few years ago I did a study group where we looked at a lot of the AEA Resources and I was overwhelmed with all of the great options and tools that are at our disposal.  While doing things like short music history units, musical theater productions, a few research projects etc. the tools that are offered to us through the AEA Resources.  Ever since that class I have used the tools offered by the AEA Resources with my classes and for my own purposes.  And then 5 years ago I took this same class about using the online resources, but 5 years is a long time when it comes to technology and I knew that things had to have developed, changed, and been updated since I took it last.  And I was right, there have been some great changes and the entire site looks different so  it was well worth my time.

Over the last 11 years, I have been an elementary school teacher, primarily in the second and third grades. I have used Britannica School and iClipArt with students in the past. I used Britannica School to allow students to research Mr. Everest which we were reading about. I used iClipart several times to allow students to enhance their final writing pieces in our Writer's Workshop class. This year I am taking some time off to care for my young children, but I am hopeful that I will return to the classroom setting in the future. I am taking this course to stay up to date on the ever-changing world of technology in the educational setting. My goal is to use my time outside of the classroom to find great resources I can use to enhance student learning and performance. I was aware that the AEA offered some fantastic free resources, but I had previously not had the time to dive deep into learning about all there was to offer. This guided course looked like the perfect opportunity to find some great tools for the classroom.

I have been teaching English in Japan for the last 2 years. It’s part of a cultural exchange between Des Moines and Kofu, Japan.  Previously, I was teaching math at the high school and middle school levels in Des Moines.  

Before taking this class, I have never even heard of some of these resources. When I was teaching in Des Moines, I mostly used textbook and publisher resources as well as resources from my colleagues.  

 I wanted to learn about what was available to me through the AEA.  It never hurts to expand one’s resources when it comes to teaching.  This class provided me the opportunity to discover what other resources are out there.  I’m really looking forward to using and discovering what is available through the AEA.  Some of the resources I’m looking forward to are BookFlix, CultureGrams, and Learn 360. Thanks to the AEA, I have more resources than ever before.

I currently am a fifth grade teacher at an elementary school in Dubuque, Iowa. In my role, I teach all subjects areas including language arts, math, science, health, and social studies.  Having only recently returned to full-time teaching, (after 20 years at home and 10 years of substitute teaching), my experience with AEA Online resources has been minimal and tangential. Hearing from various colleagues about the many resources available online – especially those that would aid in research projects - intrigued me. I wanted to take this course to learn more about these tools so I can guide my students in their proper use.

The fifth-grade language arts curriculum requires the students to engage in inquiry projects at the end of each unit. In brief, students work in small groups and choose an open-ended inquiry question inspired by the theme of the language arts unit just completed. Knowing where I can safely send students to search online and collect information to answer their questions was a main motivator for me to enroll in this online course.

I am currently a first grade teacher in the Sioux City Community School District.  I have taught for 19 years, 4 years in the area of special education, and 15 years in elementary education teaching first and second grade.  I have used aea online resources for several years.  I love Bookflix and have used Truflix some but found some great resources besides these two when taking this course.  I honestly had no idea there were so many options on this site.  I was interested in this class because our librarian always asks have you tried such and such resource on our aea online.  I now know why she suggests this site.  Reviewing copyright was helpful and a good reminder of the do's and dont's.  I didn't realize that this site is useable for lower elementary.  We have an animal adaptation unit coming up and I am definitely going to have my gets find info. from a few of the sites.  It is a great resource that I wish I had looked into earlier.

I have been teaching for 20 years.  After many years of teaching second and third grades, I now teach elementary reading and math intervention groups in the Des Moines school district.  As a classroom teacher, I utilized the AEA primarily as a resource for ordering books for specific units.  I have taken a few online classes through AEA Online, but have not used many of the resources we learned about throughout this course.  

One of my colleagues was using Bookflix with her class.  I observed the students become engaged with the stories.  Then the teacher linked the stories to the standard and learning targets being taught for the day.  I had never seen Bookflix used before.  I asked her about the resource and she referred me to AEA Online.  After browsing through the resources on my own, I decided to take the course.  I am amazed at the number of available resources that I never even knew existed!!

My current position is in Early ACCESS through the Ottumwa AEA office, and I serve Region 3, more specifically Davis County, Moulton-Udell, and Ottumwa school districts. This is my first year in this position.  Previous to this position, I worked for the Albia Community School District for 11 years, first as a 6th grade teacher and then as the Preschool Special Education teacher.

Previous to taking this class, I had limited experience with the Iowa AEA Online resources. I had heard of a few of them, but some were new to me. I took a leave from the world of education from 2015-2019, and as we all know, resources and technology can change dramatically in 4 years, especially in today's society. I was most informed on checking out physical books, kits, etc. for use in my classroom, but I was not very familiar with the online resources.

I was interested in this class because 1) I wanted to know what resources were available to my own children for use with school projects, and 2) I needed credit to renew my teaching license. I liked the format of a self-paced course, and while I don't know how much this course will apply to my professional life, I will definitely be encouraging my own children to use it for school.

     First, I would like to introduce myself. I am a K-12 English Language Learner teacher for the Dubuque Community School District. We are located in Eastern Iowa along the beautiful Mississippi River. I have been assigned to teach students who qualify for English Language Learner services. In my position, I either pull students out of their general education classroom to teach them or I push into their classroom. In our district, ELL students remain in their neighborhood schools and the ELL teachers travel between schools. This year I have been assigned to three schools.
 
     Next, I would like to explain what interested me about this course. Many of my colleagues use the Keystone AEA online resources in their classrooms. Many ELL teachers especially like to have their students use the resources to do digital storytelling. I have never explored the AEA website other than to use the classes for professional development. When the opportunity to take this self-paced course came up, I decided to take it and explore the option of digital storytelling with my students as well.

My name is Dusty Krager and I teach Compass Academy at North Middle School in Sioux City, Iowa. Compass Academy is a self-contained Special Education program designed for students with high behavioral needs. Prior to taking this course about Iowa AEA Online Resources I had used their online media catalog fairly frequently. I would order boxes of leveled books, class sets of novels to read during English Language Arts, playaways for students to listen to books and follow along with the reader, and other various supplemental materials. I have always been interested in expanding my use of technology in the classroom. Because I teach all subject areas this can be a daunting task. Another aspect that has made finding the proper resources difficult is the fact that I have 3 grade levels of students present in my classroom for all of these subjects at the same time. This course has broadened my view and understanding of all of the options available to us teachers through our AEA system. I am excited to begin incorporating some of these materials into my daily instruction.

I am a substitute teacher with a Substitute Authorization License.  I had to quit subbing May, 2014 to take care of our terminal brother.  He came from Texas to live with us.  We then found out September 9, 2014 our son was needing to have surgery for his FAP.  Our brother passed on September 11, 2014 and I started homeschooling our son due to his complex surgeries and medical issues.  Our son has gotten more complex medical issues and was diagnosed with cancer July 7, 2016.  I am his 24/7 nurse, mom, teacher, learning coach.... etc.  We are still with IAVA Iowa Virtual Academy.   I am his learning coach.  I want to keep my sub license current so that when our son's journey is done, I have that choice to sub again.  

When I did sub, I was enrolled with 5 different school districts in Iowa.  I subbed for West Branch, Wilton, Muscatine, West Liberty, and Durant.  I don't know what experiences I have had with the Iowa AEA Online resources.  It has been 5+ years since I have subbed.  I am not sure how to answer this part of the question.  I have taken courses the past 10 years to keep my license current.  Most were from AEA.  I am not sure what teachers used what for the classes I subbed for.

I wanted to take the course, to learn about what is actually available, with AEA online resources.  I love to learn.  I try to learn about online help with technology.  There is so much out there.  AEA would be a wonderful resource.  I also needed another credit.  This just seemed like a wonderful choice.  Computers, technology, and online resources have grown so much.  They will keep growing.  It is amazing what can be done these days.  I grew up with no internet, no computers, and the Atari gaming system had just been introduce when I was a teenager.