This is Here?

It's time to say goodbye to the 2023-2024 school year. Adam reflects on the past year and what may come when the 2024-2025 year begins in the fall.

AI, phones in schools, Universal Design for Learning are going to be major topics heading into the new school year and this episode addresses where each are and where each may be headed in the near future.

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Margaret Sisler, this episode's guest, has held many different roles in Fairfax County Public Schools - Classroom teacher, School Based Technology Specialist, Educational Specialist, and now Elementary Assistant Principal.

Margaret also is on the board of directors for the Virginia Society for Technology in Instruction or VSTE and helps plan their annual conference where I presented on podcasting.

We had a great conversation that covered what VSTE does, the benefits of presenting and attending its conference, and how her role in supporting technology integration has changed over time.

Adam also discussed presenting at VSTE: how it was planned and the experience of live and virtual presenting.

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Recorded live at the Hotel Roanoke before the VSTE23 Conference I give a preview of my session on using podcasts in learning and what attendees can expect.

The end of the 2022-2023 school year is here and it's time to look back on what was achieved this year professionally as a Tech Coach. Adam is joined by Marissa Petty, Instructional Technology Coach at Key Middle School, the main feeder middle school for Lewis High School. They talk about collaboration ideas, expectation versus reality for life of a tech coach, finding satisfaction in a job that's very different than teaching, and planning meaningful instructional development for the coming year. Email Adam at thisisherepod@gmail.com.

Podcasts are great projects for students to help deepen their knowledge of content, build communication and collaboration skills, and provide an outlet for their creativity. I've worked with a few teachers on creating podcast projects and have put together an intro on creating them and tips for being successful using podcasts as a tool. Hope you find this useful!

Special thanks to Special Education/English teacher Amber Muse for contributing to the podcast in a unique way!

What's it like to create opportunites for students in class? From shadowing NBC while recording in our school, having students create culinary masterpieces, to helping teachers get what they need helps generate amazing learning experiences for students and teachers alike.

In this episode I speak with Sherrie Soos, our wonderful Family and Consumer Sciences teacher about her teaching Gourmet Foods and serving as one of Lewis High School's Lead Mentors. While different, both of these roles utilize her wealth of teacher knowledge and skills with staff and students.

Back in the Spring of 2022 I worked with English Teacher Chris Ingram on his Romeo and Juliet Trailer project. Students were asked to create a trailer for Romeo and Juliet where students had to frame it around a chosen theme such as Individual v Society, The Inevitability of Fate, Revenge, Death, and others.

In this interview we discussed the project and what it's like for a classroom teacher to work with a tech coach to plan and carry it out. What were some great things about working together and what could be improved for next year?

It was an interesting conversation about the dynamics of our partnership and why it could work in many different classrooms.

Continuing from the first episode this is a deeper dive into the different formats of student created audio that teachers can use in their instruction. From monologues, interviews, to podcasts each format has its benefits and uses in different content.

Also included are discussions of basic audio editing tools and equipment to get you started.