Showcase
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This showcase is the culmination various skills, projects, presentations, and websites I have created, developed or collaborated on while attending Michigan State University Master of Arts in Educational Technology program. Furthermore, it demonstrates how I have put into practice what I have learned!
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Technology provides a wealth of tools that students and educators can use in creative ways to express themselves and have fun learning in the process! There are 4 specific themes to this showcase: ​
Click on shape above to quickly navigate to each section.
"amusing, entertaining, or enjoyable"
Fun!
Learning Can Be Fun - Creating an Epic Serious Game
Tech Trek is a 4-player card game designed for middle school students providing information about current technology related careers. The game is suitable for classrooms, is easy to put together and to play, and is a free engaging activity designed specifically for learning. Team members that I worked with: Leticia Cherchiglia, Yilang Zhao, Qin Zhang (Zoe).

Tech Integration: Google Website Development

Tech Integration: Wordpress Website Development
Student
Connection
Students loved playing the game in our play tests! Ellie stated, "I would buy this game from the store and invite my friends. I would play it with my family!"
Student
Connection
Expression
" is the process of making known one's
thoughts or feelings."
Provide an Opportunity for Expression Through Digital Media

It is my dream for students to appropriately express themselves by learning how to create, produce, and share digital media by means of video production and broadcasting. The highest level of Blooms Taxonomy structure is CREATE. This higher order thinking process in the 21st century includes filming, editing, remixing, producing, broadcasting and publishing. This requires video equipment and training.
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The Dream IT project is a grant proposal to get a video production studio for St. Johns Middle School. This project came about because I realized students love watching YouTube videos, sometimes the videos feature the students and sometimes they are just watching others. For this project I created a website which provided rational for the production studio. This involved determining the purpose of the studio, creating a plan of how the studio would be used, researching best educational practices, and determining how to integrate the studio in my courses and others. Once the foundation was set I researched logistics and media specification. Finally, I looked at ways to to evaluate the success of a video broadcasting studio.
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This proposal was written in the Summer of 2014. What is so awesome is when school started, I co-wrote a grant and we receive equipment to actually start a video production studio at St. Johns Middle School!
Application
Provide Teacher Training for Expression Through Digital Media

GUEST PASSWORD = video
Disregard the message that states
the course is not available
At SJMS we have a video production studio, now how do we use it? The answer... Create an online class for the staff to learn how to make a video introducing themselves and the courses they teach. The timing was perfect for a course in online learning! I learned about different learning management systems and how to build a virtual classroom. I also learned various ways to set up opportunities for communication and collaboration, assessment and course management. My online class also had to follow the universal design for learning framework.
The video above is the actual video that is now on my classroom website. Teachers have expressed an interest in taking the online course to learn how to use the production studio!
Application
Tech Trek - Creating A Serious Game
In this project I worked with a team of educators (Yilang, Zoe, Latecia )to create a game to teach students STEM Job Opportunities. I used the new studio to create the tutorial for the game. Below is a link to oWhat skills did you learn? What did you realize? How are you a better educator now? Why would people be impressed with you/the work?
Parent permission provided for online use.
Students resolve to make bullying end at SJMS and set a positive example for others. It was created as part of the Positive Student Impact Initiative (PBIS) and was viewed by all students to begin conversations related to bullies, victims, and the role of bystanders. Furthermore, it was used to make connections with Holocaust studies in 8th Grade Language Arts.
5/11/2016
Application
Parent permission provided for online use.
Making a Difference - Student Expression Through Digital Media
Ultimately, what I am learning in my graduate studies makes a difference in my pedagogy and impacts student instruction. After the work of setting up the broadcasting studio I was anxious to get students using it. Below are the videos I co-produced with Adel DiOrio. Students worked collaboratively on a micro-society learning format taking on various video production roles - director, editor, videographer, lead talent, and supporting talent. Students are blazing a trail at St. Johns Middle School (SJMS) by working collaboratively as a team to produce valuable, authentic videos for our greater community.
The Spina Bifida Association of Michigan Walk-N-Roll is an event to raise awareness and funds to support the spina bifida community living in our state. The SJMS students joined Team "Justin the Juggernaut" DiOrio and raised $1426.90 (as of 7/7/2015). The video that we created that was actually used on the Walk-N-Roll website!
Application
"Being a positive influence, setting an example for others, moving a group of people forward."
Leadership
Leadership - Connecting to the world to contribute & positively influence other educators.
One of the ways to make a contribution to any profession is to learn from experts. For this activity I worked with a team and we hosted a webinar called Social and Ethical Uses of Technology: A Webinar For Intellectual Property & Copyright in the Classroom. Together we all went through the process of producing the webinar. During the webinar, we each had our own responsibilities. My job was to provide a way for viewers to ask questions and then provide the answers behind the scenes. This was done using Titanpad. Team members that I worked with: Alexis Miller, Lauren Vallaluz, & Kate McCallum.
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Webinar process is on the bottom of the link above.
I was invited to participate in a webinar as a guest by Paul Allison on EdTech Talk, Teachers Teaching Teachers, Michigan State Master of Arts in Educational Technology. I was really nervous being interviewed, however, it was a great experience; I learned from my peers, became better at speaking in front of a camera, and others who watch learn something as well!
Leadership
Application
If text is not showing CLICK HERE
"The use of the imagination or original ideas"
Creativity
Creativity In Teaching and Learning
What makes someone creative? How do we learn to be creative? The answer is play. By introducing students to the concepts below and have them take what they know about a topic and play with it or look at it differently new ideas emerge. To be creative requires one to take the information they know, the resources they have and then create something new, innovative or thought provoking. The more knowledge you have, with new or different resources, changes the opportunities and outcomes of what is produced.
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As an educator, I am always searching for new ideas and technologies to implement in my classroom. Below are various concepts that can use to help spark creativity. For each of the concepts below, I developed activities and lessons. I purposely selected different technology tools to illustrate, demonstrate or teach a concept.


Tech Integration: Photography

Tech Integration: Photography & Green Screen

Tech Integration: SketchUp 3D Design

Tech Integration:QR Code, Google Survey, Flame Painter

Tech Integration: Video & VoiceThread

Tech Integration: Slideshow & Video Tutorial

Tech Integration: Audio, Game Design & Slideshow

Tech Integration: White Paper, Audio Recording, Twitter

Tech Integration: Audio Recording
" amusing, entertaining, or enjoyable"
Provide a Creative Overview: Integrate Stop Motion Video
These videos explore the concepts discussed in Daniel T. Willingham’s book Why Students Don’t Like School as well as its implications for technology integration and schooling. Our team was assigned Chapters 3 and 7. For each of these chapters we selected 3 main points and 3 implications. We then illustrated these using 2 different techniques with stop motion video. Creating a video to communicate for review could be creative, fun and engaging for students! Team members that I worked with: Alexis Miller, Lauren Vallaluz, & Kate McCallum.
Overview - Chapter 3
Tech Integration:
Stop Motion Video Using 3D Objects
Overview - Chapter 7
Tech Integration:
Stop Motion Video Using Paper