Ann Garland MPA, MSEd

If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.” John Dewey

OVERVIEW

Born and raised in a bilingual environment in Montreal, Canada, I obtained my BA in Anthropology from McGill University. On graduation, I taught internationally in Burkina Faso, England, France and Japan.

On arriving in the States, I moved into the nonprofit sector,  specializing in program evaluation and funds and grants management. I received my Master of Public Administration at Pace University, NY.

I have returned to teaching as I realize there is a great need for technology specialists in the classroom. I am delighted to be able to combine my technology and program evaluation skills and my multi-cultural experience with my love of teaching.

Student Journal Entry

Journal entries with tag "deadzone"

Week 8

The saga continues. The students in French class made a podcast and I wanted them to complete a survey following the podcast. As there wasn't enough time in class, I thought I would take a laptop cart down the hallway to the room where they have class. I checked with the teacher who manages the cart and saw there was a padlock on it but he said he had the key. Needless to say the day I rolled the  cart down the teacher with the key was nowhere to be found so I could not use the laptops.

Today, armed with the key, I rolled the cart down, proudly asked the students to take a laptop and complete the survey posted on the school website. First, the laptops were not charged, but undeterred, I plugged in the whole cart and took out a few laptops and put them on top of the cart, still connected to the charger. Once open the students told me they couldn't connect to the internet...the class was in a dead zone!

So then I asked students with smart phones to download QR Readers and scan a QR code I had made for the survey and connect that way to the survey. I took out my phone and used that as well. By the end of the class I had connected 6 more surveys.

After class I took one of the laptops and went back to the dead zone classroom to test out connections, thinking I had not been patient enough. No connection. I told the IT tech and he said if it didn't work in the class (the receptors were 2 classrooms away), to go out into the corridor. (Clearly this is not an educator speaking, but a tech!) So back I went with the laptop and it worked. I stood by the door.

Tomorrow I will once again roll the laptop cart down the corridor and have the students stand outside of class and complete the survey.

What is frustrating in all this is that I am working with a teacher who is tech averse! Well who wouldn't be under these circumstances.

 

Ann Garland's portfolios

3. Digital Graphics and Media

Glogster project on Italian cooking

4. Project-Based Learning

PBL using Web 2.0 strategies

5. Digital Study Skills

EasyBib for 21st century notetaking and bibliographic skills.

6. Project Rubrics

A sample of my rubrics for student projects

7. My Research

Presented at the NorthEastern Educational Association's Conference, Oct 2012.

8. My Resources

My Twitter, Livebinders, RSS feed, Diigo, and Blog from student teaching.

9. Résumé

Skills, education, and work experience

MPA Capstone

Masters of Public Administration Strategic Plan
11 portfolios

Skills

  • Bilingual educator (French/English)
  • International cross-cultural communicator
  • Expert in Web 2.0 technologies and applications
  • Experienced on-site professional development trainer in digital-based strategies
  • Creative designer of materials for diverse classroom needs
  • Innovative, adaptable, team player
  • Believes every child has potential.

Goals

Prepare students for the 21st century digital workforce:

  • Engage them in developing real-world skills: communication, critical thinking, and collaboration
  • Equip them with flexible, transferable, problem-solving skills
  • Sharpen their critical thinking, analysis, and creative expression through digital communication

Reflections

"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." -- Benjamin Franklin