In my own teaching, in what ways do I:

• facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity;

I like to create inquiry based activities for students to make observations and decide on the facts for themselves. I also have a children’s entertainment background as I have worked for several years as a “Mad Scientist” and regular perform shows and presentations. I use the skills from these experiences in my teaching to engage students in a fun an entertaining way whenever possible.

• design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments;

I am always looking for ways to use technology in the classroom. Something I have done regularly with students is created a class wiki where each student had their own personal log in and would create their own page where they have to upload writing  and media assignments and embed gadgets etc. The students also comment and share on other students pages and work which helps promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility. The students are all aware that they are responsible for their own login and every activity they post or delete will show in the history. I had a student post a rude comment to another on the wiki once and used it as a teachable moment to that student and the entire class on digital citizenship. We then followed with a research and writing  activity on cyber-bullying.

• model digital-age work and learning;

I always like to create and demonstrate samples for the students so they can see a modeled demonstration of what my expectations are. I will often draw on previously generated work available online and encourage students to research and see if they can be inspired by something they find.

At times I have created step by step instructions with screenshots on how to perform a task and posted them online. I then instruct students to visit the instructions and try it for themselves.

• engage in professional growth and leadership?

My undergraduate degree was in computer science and I do try to regularly research and learn any new technology that I come across. I also jump at every opportunity to take a course or workshop. As well we are all committing to professional growth by engaging in this very course.