Mrs. Freddy's Practical EdTech

Thinking back on this last year in education, it has been a crazy, mixed up experience for all. I was only in my first full year of teaching (I had started in the middle of the year before), when the Covid 19 pandemic shutdown happened. I don't follow much news and so, the whole thing came somewhat of a surprise to me. I was planning out the end of the year and just thinking about how to finish out the year. Like everyone else, my district shutdown very quickly with the intent to reopen in 3 weeks after our Spring Break. We all know that did not happen.  The district had to plan out a way to finish out the year in a big hurry. We had paper packets and gave out any device we could to accommodate. Students without internet access were provided with hotspots in hopes that they would work. The district had the infrastructure within the schools to provide access but the students did not have that at home. The reality of the socioeconomic differences throughout our district was made very...

In my college career, I have taken fully in person courses, hybrid courses, and fully online courses. My experience with online courses has been a relatively good one. I enjoy the freedom to complete assignments when I can and not needing to meet in person. I would say that the best thing about online learning is having the ability to complete an entire degree without leaving my house. Something that sticks out as the best experience I've had in all my online learning has been learning about using Learning Management Systems (LMS). I could not have known that my training would be put into place so quickly. The Covid pandemic put my skills to use last year in the most real world experience. I had to teach other educators at my school how to set up their own Google Classrooms and upload assignments. I was able to be a leader in my field. With no experience in teaching an entirely online course, we all fell into the trap of "'dumping' Face-to-Face coursework onto the web....

I currently teach special education at a very large middle school. We have a big department with lots of teachers and paraprofessionals. This means we have to communicate lots of information to a lot of people and do it correctly. In my time in this position, I have been able to observe the ways in which our department leaders communicate with employees. Some have been an example of great communication and some have not. It is a good way for me to learn how to do what is needed in a leadership role to build that environment that encourages team communication. "Managers and researchers have long agreed that communication processes influence the organizational success" (Krywalski, p. 71).  I know from my studies and reading that taking a leadership role often means that those you lead are apprehensive about communicating their grievances due to fear of losing their position. At the same time, for the leader, it can be a lonely role when you may be the only one in that position....

This year has created many opportunities to connect with people in new ways. This has been especially true in the field of education. "Educators must be experts in effective communication techniques, especially when it comes to parents and other key stakeholders." (Sheninger, p. 169). For me personally, I would have never dreamed that I would need to be in contact with parents and students as much as I have this school year. I'll just say that I'm not an expert, but I have learned a lot about effective communication throughout this pandemic year.  When schools shut down in March 2020, I had to immediately begin calling, texting, emailing parents and students daily. It was not something that had been done quite so often. I set up a Google Voice account so that I could text students and parents without using my personal number. This helped me let students contact me with questions easily and send me assignments through pictures.  At the beginning of this school year, we...