Introduction – Lauren MacDonald
I can remember reading this card a student gave to me at the end of my Practicum placement and being so proud of such a small accomplishment. Although I didn’t teach the student anything extraordinary, he was incredibly impressed with himself after learning how to draw a star. As you can see from the faint pencil marks on the bottom right, he continued to draw these symbols on almost every surface for the next few weeks (something my co-op teacher emailed me about in jest). Little notes like these are keepsakes that I hold near and dear to my heart, reminding me that even small insignificant things that happen in your day can mean the world to some of your students.
As you can see from the title of my post, I’m Lauren MacDonald! I am living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, but grew up in a small town in Cape Breton, about three hours away from the city. I recently graduated from my Bachelor of Education from Mount Saint Vincent University, and was able to spend my first year as a teacher working for a program in Toronto doing Academic Advising for Middle School youth.
I decided on pursuing Educational Technology because I have always enjoyed working with technology in some way or another and the more that I can learn about incorporating it within the classroom the better! I work specifically in Elementary Education, and I don’t believe there is enough technology use and support for the students I am working with. Thinking about text technology is incredibly important in Elementary, as the various symbols that can be used to shape text and convey meaning are the building blocks of my practice. I am looking forward to working with everyone over the course and learning from all of your insight!
Welcome to ETEC 540 Lauren!