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MY LIFE

I am a National Board Certified teacher with ten years of experience teaching in a large public school in the South, now teaching high school Social Studies at Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12. This year I am working on renewing my board certification and incorporating more opportunities for student voice and civic engagement into my classes.

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When I first moved back to Pittsburgh from North Carolina, I worked as a coordinator for the Smithsonian Learning Lab. In this role, I guided two cohorts of middle-school and high school teachers in the use and development of the Learning Lab as a classroom tool. I was frequently in classrooms, supporting teachers and students, but also continued to improve my skills developing Social Studies curriculum materials (many of which you can view here). I learned much more about museum education and open educational resources, and how the two intersect to create new possibilities for learning. 

MY GOALS

 As a Social Studies educator, I am  determined to help grow informed, thoughtful, and caring citizens. 

 

I hope to work with other educators in the Pittsburgh area to develop new opportunities for all students to think deeply about history, linking their learning to their own lives, and to support excellence in teaching.

 

I appreciate uses of  educational technology that increase exposure to  cultural resources and deepens communication, and I want to work on projects and for people who understand that.

Teachers have to address the political and social issues that divide our nation and dominate our social media feeds. More important, we need to equip students to address those issues on their own, to engage with and respond to conversations and news that may be troubling or challenging, from domestic gun control and police brutality to the 2016 U.S. presidential election and worldwide terrorism. So much of our students’ worlds is online. How can we get them to think critically not only about big media, delivered by giants such as Fox News and The New York Times, but also about “little media,” or the comments and tweets that they write, read and repost?

 

From: Harris, Kate. "Reader Idea | Thinking Critically About How We Engage With News Events Online and in Social Media.” New York Times Learning Network, 1 Sept. 2016, 

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