It's time for our newest Eduporium Featured Educator interview! For the month of July, we're fortunate to pass on some inspiring stories from Jessica Moore. Jessica is a gifted and talented teacher at the Buena Vista Elementary School in Greer, SC. She's helped facilitate some awesome STEAM learning experiences for her students, keeping in mind the increasing value of collaboration and teamwork. Among some of the projects she's helped lead are some coding experiences with various educational robotics tools, 3D design challenges using Tinkercad, and more. We thank Jessica for taking the time to share her experiences and know they're sure to inspire other educators in similar situations!
Jessica Moore
Gifted and Talented Teacher, Buena Vista Elementary, Greer, SC
Q&A:
Please share any innovative technology project(s) you've completed with your students or plan to complete soon.
Within the first few years of teaching, my students became leaders visiting classes in the building to train their peers on emerging technology platforms and devices. Today, you will find them traveling around the building and showing other students how to design and 3D print, for example. They've created wattle and daub houses for our Native American units and used programmable robots to enhance spelling lessons to name a couple of examples. They also encourage and collaborate with our special education students and even connect with other educators in the district.
Yes, my students are often the presenters. I typically get to stand back and facilitate their presentations, including one at the UTC (Greenville County’s Upstate Technology Conference). Most recently, my fifth graders designed and 3D printed catenary arches to go along with our Westward Expansion Unit. While learning about Gateway Arch National Park, we discussed the design process in-depth. This specifically involved how the height and the width of the arch are the same. Students worked tediously to design their 3D arches in Tinkercad before printing them. Although several of them were unsuccessful in their first build, they found that “failing” led to successes in future attempts!
As Rosie Revere says, “The only true failure can come if you quit.” Through my mission and commitment to the SAMR model, my students are certainly leading tomorrow. That's certainly one reason why I strive to continue to equip them with the knowledge and experiences for future successes!
What is a challenge you faced or are facing with your technology use as an educator?
What resources have you used in your instruction or are in need of?
The teaching profession continues to adapt to an ever changing world. In order to stay current and relevant, I must continue to be a learner myself. We are our best resources and sometimes, professional development comes from observing a peer down the hall, visiting other schools, attending conferences, or following a trendsetter in education on social media. I know that, other times, however, it means making an impact with our own knowledge.
I'd like to to connect with other innovative educators as pandemic-era learning continues. I'm thinking this could possibly be done through Zoom or Google Meet, which would allow us to work together while connecting our students and their perspectives. I'd love to have a camera connected to my Promethean board, too. This would allow my entire class to see the other end of the call.
What are some of the real-world skills you've seen your students develop through regular technology use specifically?
How can students apply them in the future?
My most recent initiative is collaborating with the Golden Strip Career Center in our district. I'm working with one educator there as my students move through the design process to create 3D models of Adirondack chairs. Ultimately, the hope is for his students to build a chair out of one of our designs! This process will educate my students on the opportunities the center offers. I'm hopeful that they will also recognize my commitment to their future, whatever avenue they choose to travel.
What interests you most about Eduporium's educator offerings?
The mission and vision of the Eduporium team is very much aligned with my professional philosophy. Their tagline of 'empowering the future with technology,' in my opinion, gels very well with my belief that “teaching and learning occurs best through engagement and innovation, while accommodating student interest and needs.”
We thank Jessica for sharing her thoughts and experiences with our community and for helping inspire other educators with similar goals. We hope these features continue to enlighten educators and lead to them trying some new things in the classroom! Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more of the great things educators are doing with technology. If you’d like to apply to be an Eduporium Featured Educator, we’d love to have you fill out the application! Whether they're a STEM educator or not, we'd also encourage sharing the application with other teachers in your networks.