Teacher and Life Role: Jack of All Trades
Introduction
My name is Katie Brennan and I am proud to be a jack of all trades. I have been a teacher my whole life. I started out working in the private sector in an environmental company but realized pretty quickly I needed to go back to school to become a teacher. I have worked as a license teacher for 10 years (going into my 11th year). I took a little break to focus on my family before going back two years ago. I have worked in both the private and public sectors of education, taught younger and middle school students, taught most subjects (social studies, science, math, STEM) and both as a classroom teacher and an exploratory/special teacher. I have taught a variety of students with a variety of needs and learning differences. I have also worked with students as a softball coach in both the younger ages and high school and in a more unstructured setting.
Technology
My first six years of teaching was limited as I worked for two private schools and Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Money is tight in both of those environments so we spent time in the computer lab when needed. But we did not engage with technology on a daily basis. When I moved out of CPS, my next school environment centered around 1:1 iPads for the students as well as more technology tools available to the teachers. My current school has a wide range of technology availability as well as the financial resources to get what I need to create a rich educational environment for the students.
Technology has played an important role as an educator over the last three years as a STEM teacher. I am using an online STEM program, FUSE, that provides my students with a variety of activities. Most require the students to use different technologies to print out things in 3D, build buildings, cut items out in vinyl, along with a lot of others. The students are given the choice to pick what activity they would like to work on and then dive into that topic. The students can move on if they do not enjoy the activity as there are a lot of options. The topics range in the different areas of the STEM world and how they are presented (digital, digital/kit, kit, Do It Yourself and 3D printing). With the 5th technology teacher, we have created a vertical alignment to see how we can build off of each year while keeping the student’s interest.
I am a mom of three amazing little kids and have been loving the last few years to take lots of trips and experience the world around us. We go camping a lot and will probably go more in the future as we are upgrading our camper. I played softball from the time I was 8 and still continue to play. My sisters and I are starting our own softball organization to help bring a better softball experience to the girls in the area. We are building it from the ground up including our digital presence, social media, and branding. I am really excited to take this class to dive into the digital world as I feel it would impact all of these different trades in my life.
How wonderful about your softball organization, Katie. That sounds like it could be a full time job in and of itself! Thanks for sharing a bit about your experience and STEM. My daughter is in her final semester as a mechanical engineering major and has been a big part of Iowa State's "Woman in Science and Engineering" program so STEM is near and dear to me. Looking forward to learning with you this fall.
ReplyDeleteHi Katie!
ReplyDeleteI love your passion for teaching and for STEM. I am a high school math teacher within the charter of ACERO under CPS. Similar to your beginning years, we do not have a lot of funding to incorporate a ton of technology. We do the best that we can. I am so jealous of your ability to print 3D objects and build buildings. Super cool! Thanks for sharing!
Hello, Katie!
ReplyDeleteIt is so great to meet you. I think you brought up so many wonderful pieces of information about yourself and your career that I do not know where to start my commenting!
I did notice that you mentioned camping. I think that camping is such an incredible activity because it lets us slow down and enjoy the smaller moments in life. We are so busy all the time! Does it have to be that way? What are your thoughts on that? Do we need to change how we run our daily schedules, or should we take breaks from society every once in a while to just relax? I think it's a little bit of both!
STEM is the future. Thank you for being a part of this process to bring much needed education to our youth. So often, I feel that students are not given the opportunity to actually explore STEM if their scores are not high enough as they are plopped into reading intervention classes over STEM, arts, etc. We need to work to find a system that allows all students the opportunity to explore.
-Daniella Cozzi
Camping has been one of the best things for my family. We definitely get to slow down a bit and have fun while enjoying out the doors. My kids spend most of the day outside playing games, enjoying the wilderness (usually trying to defend out territory) and then I get to do my gross and messy activities. My husband and I get a fire going and just spend time together.
DeleteIt is difficult as I get almost every students in the school, I would not have it any other way. I have worked super hard to provide as many STEM experiences for my students as possible regardless of their learning difference. I was talking to our head maintenance guy today and education. STEM is a great way to get so many important executive functioning skills in for students and allow them explore the world around them.