![]() Hi! My name is Sarah, and I teach high school chemistry, human A&P, and Zoology in Columbia, MS. I am also currently an MAT student at the University of Southern Mississippi and will be graduating in December 2021! I currently live with my mom, Melissa, and my 5 year old chihuahua, Ollie. My mom is pictured above and Ollie is pictured to the left. I received my Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Related Sciences from the University of South Alabama in 2019. Prior to my transfer to USA, I attended USM from 2014 to 2016 where I was majoring in Chemistry. So it is pretty ironic that I've ended up teaching the very subject I shied away from in my youth! This blogfolio will serve as a means to express my thoughts on the assignments and criteria required in this ITD 645 course. In my personal life I use nearly all social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, Reddit, and Snapchat. My social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat is mostly to keep up with distant family and friends. I only use Tik Tok and Reddit to scroll and pass the time. My teaching philosophy is something that has always been difficult for me to describe. I believe that students should be given realistic expectations and provided the tools and guidance to accomplish them. However, I also believe they should always be treated like human beings, and given compassion and grace. We cannot expect children to act like adults when they are, in fact, not adults, and expect them to be children at the same time. Therefore, it is important to me as their teacher to teach them my content area, but also teach them the life skills and life lessons that come along with growing up. I emphasized this heavily with my students this year, and I saw how many of them blossomed in their responsibilities and met the realistic expectations I gave them. I had many students whose first instinct was defense, as in they were ready to battle and fight me with every turn. Once they saw that I was not there to give them busy work and I was actually going to teach them what they needed to be successful, they had a change of disposition. In my classroom, I utilize Google Suite every day. I utilize Google Classroom to post lectures, notes, and assignments. I create content presentations in Google Slides and use Google Docs to create most of my assignments. We also utilize learning tools such as PhET Simulations, GimKit, CK-12, and Edpuzzle. These tools really help students to interact and develop an understanding of concepts in a virtual hands-on manner. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, I have learned how to integrate technology more affectively in my classroom. The above tools have been very effective in providing technology based education while maintaining social distance. I also have been appointed as one of the Facebook editors for our school's Facebook page this year. It is very fun getting to post all of the fun and creative lessons that teachers come up with! I also work a lot with iMovie and create videos for the school. This year I created videos for 3 of our Awards Day ceremonies, a video honoring the graduating class of 2021's time at East Marion, and a video of the Senior Walk. It is vert rewarding and fun to honor our students through technology.
4 Comments
|
Sarah HolderA quirky science teacher with English teacher handwriting. ArchivesBlog Reels
|