Bria Koch

4.d. : Establish and leverage strategic partnerships to support systemic improvement.

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Artifact: 

• Spreadsheet from spring 2017 virtual cooperating teaching experience

• Professional Twitter handles: @SVCIRCRowan & @MissBriaKoch

• Shared training materials

  • Impero​ handout

  • MobyMax handout

  • Microsoft Teams handout

 

Description:

I have selected three artifacts to demonstrate my competence relating to this standard simply because all three seem to make up parts of a strong whole. The first partnership was established through Grove City College’s technologies of instruction course for K-12 pre-service teachers. I was connected with the instructor of this course from a previous employer during my time at Grove City College as an undergraduate student. As a way for pre-service teachers to connect with others working in the field, they are assigned an educator and are required to work with them to create artifacts for the teacher’s classroom. I began serving as a virtual cooperating teacher in spring 2016 and have continued each semester as needed.

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In the past year or so, I’ve connected with other educators around the country and world through Twitter. Building my personalized learning network (PLN) has enabled me to participate in education-related Twitter chats, form working relationships with other educators, and enhance my teaching by following what other teachers do in their classrooms. I have included both my professional personal Twitter handle (@MissBriaKoch) and the Twitter handle I created through my position at work (@SVCIRCRowan).

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In addition to forming connections with other educators via Twitter, I have created strategic partnerships within my own school district with the other technology facilitators. This has been occurring since the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year, and I’ve done this by creating training materials and sharing them with my colleagues.

 

Reflection:

The virtual cooperating teacher program was a way for me to give back to pre-service teachers. This program allowed me to build partnerships with pre-service teachers and enhance my own instruction as I have been introduced to new tools. Though it often seems like pre-service teachers are always looking to in-service educators for tips and tricks in the classroom, I can honestly say that I learned a lot from my students. Sometimes it helps to see a topic or a tool with a fresh set of eyes, and it truly helped my instruction in the process.

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Though I have used Twitter personally since 2009, I only made the shift to using it as a professional in 2016. There have been many instances where I have participated in more relevant learning through Twitter chats than in entire days of professional development. The chats allow me to connect with other educators in a no-pressure, low-stress environment. Though it’s clear that I am building my skills and improving my own teaching, even by changing my outlook on some days, it doesn’t feel like traditional learning. Plus, it is pretty incredible when you find that someone you’ve been following and chatting with lives in Pittsburgh!

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All of these communications have stretched me, but sharing my training materials with other educators is something that has required deliberate attention on my part because I am quite introverted. It’s often difficult for me to feel comfortable enough to put my work out there for others to review and use in their buildings. I definitely feel as though I have grown the most as an educator in regard to this standard because it’s been something on which I’ve had to consciously work.