CAMI Portfolio
A link to my presentation in Canva for the CAMI portfolio is on my the picture of me in my classroom on the left.
Coaching and Mentoring Institute Reflective Essay
My journey to becoming a coach has been an interesting journey. For me, teaching is a second career after being a scientist as I transitioned into motherhood. The formal teaching in public education started in 2018 and I have been very successful at Chamblee Middle School with the school-wide STEAM program and winning a national teaching award (Maitland P. Simmons Memorial Award for new teachers) from NSTA in 2021. The STEAM program was certified on March 17, 2021 by Cognia (Advanced ED) for upholding their standards and providing STEAM curriculum through the school for about 1000 middle school students. The journey from being a new teacher and coach started at the same time since my role at CMS focused on creating a STEAM curriculum and professional development for staff. Over time, the coaching role emerged with me providing support about incorporating STEAM into the classroom as well as helping other teachers realize their potential with the STEAM curriculum and initiative at Chamblee Middle School and DeKalb County School District (DCSD).
Some of the examples of coaching cycles are the group coaching with CMS on integration of technology and workshop based coaching on the incorporation of 5 C’s with new teachers of DCSD. The coaching cycle for CMS is very complex and a diagram on the website with 5 major steps. First step is we took the feedback from Cognia on the STEAM certification and identified we needed to incorporate technology into daily instruction and term technology means applications, computational thinking, ISTE standards, and hardware (Sphero and MicroBits). Second step is the creation of target professional development for SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition), ISTE standards, and computational thinking for daily instruction at CMS. Then, the third step is the delivery of the professional development at Summer professional learning STEAM Camp on computational thinking, SAMR, and ISTE standards and the pre-planning workshop on the SAMR in daily instruction. The fourth step is to assess teachers’ use of technology in daily instruction with observations and the fifth step is creation of more professional development for the staff to maintain the technology integration in daily instruction. At the moment, I am working on the fourth and fifth steps with CMS.
The second coaching cycle example is the coaching providing for the STEAM Takeover Day for the new teacher in DCSD. The goal of this coaching was to provide new teachers a plethora of applications and pedagogy to utilize STEAM education in their classroom, curriculum, and instruction. The talk focused on the 5 C’s of the 21st Century and the 5 C’s are critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, and citizenship. I was able to actively use some of the applications showcased in the talk by poll the audience with menti.com poll and using Canva.com as a presentation generator. Then a follow-up google form on feedback with the teacher about the talk. I feel the workshop was successful in highlighting how technology can impro
Flipped learning is a key component in my teaching and coaching. I utilize a modified flipped classroom in the STEAM classroom and I model my coaching off my instruction. These past four years, I have grown as a teacher with pedagogy, applications, and curriculum. These experiences have catapulted me into being a coach. In the beginning of the Coaching and Mentoring Institute (CAMI), I felt unworthy of being a coach and after the course plus a lot of reflection has led me to feel I am a coach that provides support in 4 major ways. I support STEAM educations with application training (OneNote, MicroBit, etc.), workshops, 1-on-1 mentoring, and group coaching. So, I can say comfortably that I am a coach that teaches others about STEAM and technology integration virtual or in-person. Lastly, I am excited about taking my experiences as a STEAM teacher and co-coodinator to help other teachers bring more STEAM and technology into their instruction.
My journey to becoming a coach has been an interesting journey. For me, teaching is a second career after being a scientist as I transitioned into motherhood. The formal teaching in public education started in 2018 and I have been very successful at Chamblee Middle School with the school-wide STEAM program and winning a national teaching award (Maitland P. Simmons Memorial Award for new teachers) from NSTA in 2021. The STEAM program was certified on March 17, 2021 by Cognia (Advanced ED) for upholding their standards and providing STEAM curriculum through the school for about 1000 middle school students. The journey from being a new teacher and coach started at the same time since my role at CMS focused on creating a STEAM curriculum and professional development for staff. Over time, the coaching role emerged with me providing support about incorporating STEAM into the classroom as well as helping other teachers realize their potential with the STEAM curriculum and initiative at Chamblee Middle School and DeKalb County School District (DCSD).
Some of the examples of coaching cycles are the group coaching with CMS on integration of technology and workshop based coaching on the incorporation of 5 C’s with new teachers of DCSD. The coaching cycle for CMS is very complex and a diagram on the website with 5 major steps. First step is we took the feedback from Cognia on the STEAM certification and identified we needed to incorporate technology into daily instruction and term technology means applications, computational thinking, ISTE standards, and hardware (Sphero and MicroBits). Second step is the creation of target professional development for SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition), ISTE standards, and computational thinking for daily instruction at CMS. Then, the third step is the delivery of the professional development at Summer professional learning STEAM Camp on computational thinking, SAMR, and ISTE standards and the pre-planning workshop on the SAMR in daily instruction. The fourth step is to assess teachers’ use of technology in daily instruction with observations and the fifth step is creation of more professional development for the staff to maintain the technology integration in daily instruction. At the moment, I am working on the fourth and fifth steps with CMS.
The second coaching cycle example is the coaching providing for the STEAM Takeover Day for the new teacher in DCSD. The goal of this coaching was to provide new teachers a plethora of applications and pedagogy to utilize STEAM education in their classroom, curriculum, and instruction. The talk focused on the 5 C’s of the 21st Century and the 5 C’s are critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, and citizenship. I was able to actively use some of the applications showcased in the talk by poll the audience with menti.com poll and using Canva.com as a presentation generator. Then a follow-up google form on feedback with the teacher about the talk. I feel the workshop was successful in highlighting how technology can impro
Flipped learning is a key component in my teaching and coaching. I utilize a modified flipped classroom in the STEAM classroom and I model my coaching off my instruction. These past four years, I have grown as a teacher with pedagogy, applications, and curriculum. These experiences have catapulted me into being a coach. In the beginning of the Coaching and Mentoring Institute (CAMI), I felt unworthy of being a coach and after the course plus a lot of reflection has led me to feel I am a coach that provides support in 4 major ways. I support STEAM educations with application training (OneNote, MicroBit, etc.), workshops, 1-on-1 mentoring, and group coaching. So, I can say comfortably that I am a coach that teaches others about STEAM and technology integration virtual or in-person. Lastly, I am excited about taking my experiences as a STEAM teacher and co-coodinator to help other teachers bring more STEAM and technology into their instruction.