March 2018 - Ciara Marks
Name
Ciara Marks
What Do You Teach?
3rd Grade Math
Where Do you Teach?
James Bowie Elementary
How Long Have You Been Teaching?
5 years
How Does Educational Technology Play a Role in Your Classroom?
Technology plays a major daily role in my classroom because of the access my students and I have to some great technology tools. Technology use increases my student engagement and time on task, which in turn makes me one happy teacher. Technology allows me to be help my students explore and expand their knowledge in math. I allow technology to assist me in unlocking a wealth of information about my students and the content. From start to finish of each class, technology plays a leading role in my instruction.
How Do You Find Technology in the Classroom Helpful?
I find that technology usage in the classroom is helpful because of the feedback that technology provides. With instant feedback from the clickers, I am able to gauge my students' true understanding of concepts and provide immediate extension and enrichment. The ease of access of technology is also very helpful because ActivInspire is so user friendly when creating Flipcharts. Whether I'm using a pre-made flipchart or one I make as I go through the lesson, I can depend on the variety of tools ActivInspire offers to assist me in deepening my student's understanding, application and curiosity of the content.
What Is Your Favorite Piece of Classroom Technology? Why?
My favorite piece of technology would have to be my ActivInspire Slate. The slate allows me to be able to move freely around the classroom and still interact with the board. My students are still in awe as to how I am able to write on the Slate and have it project on the board. The slate has allowed me to transition my classroom from a teacher centered classroom to a student centered classroom because I am able to navigate throughout the classroom and not remain stuck at the board.
What Is On Your Technology Wish List For Your Classroom? Why?
My technology wish list includes: a wireless microphone and a class set of iPads or touchscreen laptops. The wireless microphone is on my wish list because I would like to record myself more often when using ActivInspire and play back on-screen narrations and voice recordings. This would be greatly helpful for my students who may need to hear the information covered again and it would increase the voice quality of the recording. I would like a class set of iPads or laptops to reduce the usage of paper and allow my classroom to become a Google classroom. The iPads would also help with time spent grading because I could send things to my students and the grading would be done immediately based on the answers students entered.
What Do You Love Most About Teaching?
The thing I love most about teaching is how significant the role is that I play in the lives of my students. The respect my students and I share for one another is admirable. I was once a student who thoroughly enjoyed going to school because of the influence that my teachers had on me and I love that I can return the favor and spread the love, influence and positive light to my students, no matter what their situation may be. The significance and impact of quality teaching is one that I cherish and I consistently aim to be one of the best role models they have.
Nominated by:
Erica Smith, Student Services Administrator at Bowie Elementary
"Mrs. Marks uses technology throughout and ongoing in her lessons in various ways. However, I am most impressed through her use of student clickers. She integrates student clickers in a manner that allows her to assess their understanding quickly and efficiently. Through the use of student clickers, Mrs. Marks does not allow any of her students to hide their true understanding. She assesses their knowledge and intervenes quickly to move her students forward."