Dance Teacher Gone Digital

Andrea Oberlander

EDUC 526 Capstone Experience in Digital Teaching and Learning

Professor Gilbreath
Orange County Campus
http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=1478918
March 12, 2015

SECTION ONE:
Introduction
Back in 2013 I finished my credential program at Azusa Pacific, it was a great
experience and I grew so much as a teacher and as a lifelong learner. I took a break
from school to have my daughter, but I knew that if I did not go back and finish my
masters that I would have an extremely hard time as time went on. I had prayed about
what direction to take and I felt that every time I asked God if it was a masters in
Physical Education I heard him saying no over and over again. From trying to follow
what I felt I heard from God I looked into other programs that would be interesting and
beneficial to me. That is when I discovered the Masters in Digital Teaching and Learning
program. Our school had just announced that we would be going 1:1 with iPads and I
felt that I would definitely grow from following the path of the program.
Currently I run the dance department at Whittier Christian High School, which Ive
been teaching at for the past eight years. It has been a growing experience filled with
many trials and frustrations, but also filled with many wonderful moments that Ive
witnessed my students having. I teach five class periods a day; two Introduction to
Dance courses, one Intermediate Dance course, one Advanced Dance course, and our
performing group Dance Ensemble. I have two prep periods throughout the day and am
commissioned to choreograph for the all school musical and our Pops concert as well
as directing our Fine Arts Department Winter show. I feel very blessed to be teaching all
my courses in my content area, it has not always been this way. Taking on my masters
while doing all of these things at school has been a challenge, but one that I have been
able to conquer.

When I first decided to finish my Masters in Digital Teaching and Learning it was
my goal to just finish and get my masters. Over the past two semesters my goals have
changed. Each class it has been my goal to try to take away as much as I can from
each professor, even if I am not able to use certain materials they are teaching right
now in my classes. There were so many classes that I took in high school that I cannot
remember the material from, and I do not want this to be the case for my masters
program classes. My hope is that someday I will be able to teach at a college or
university and be able to integrate what I have learned throughout both my credential
program and masters program.

Personal Growth
I have discovered that through this program and all of the courses that I am a
student that needs to read and re-read materials and details for assignments multiple
times before it begins to set in what is required of me. I also like to have my
assignments written down on a calendar and break down the assignments into smaller
manageable tasks. I use an app on my iPhone/iPad/Macbook that syncs up my to-do
lists and each course gets its own list. I do not work well under pressure, doing things at
the last minute right before they are do. There is a sense of peace when I get an
assignment done early, just because there is the option to go back and double check
my work without being afraid that I will not have enough time. I have always been this
way in my studies, but as an adult now with a full time job, a husband, and a two year
old I have to be on top of everything in order to function.

During my classes I have only had a few classmates that have been through
some of the courses with me, but I have not made any personal connections with them.
I believe this is due to the nature of how these classes are ran, through google plus or
adobe connections. I connected very well with all my classmates in my credential
program because we saw each other twice a week for about a year. In situations like
that you are bound to make connections and build friendships. I still keep in contact with
some of those classmates, and its wonderful to see them blossoming in their careers.
Spiritually I feel that I have not felt God move through me during my masters
program. I am unsure if this is due to the way my classes are a being held or if its just
the place I am at in my life. My relationship with God has been a rocky one since last
May when my aunt passed away suddenly. Although I still have faith in who God is, Im
currently trying to regain hope. I still pray, read my Bible, and have conversations all the
time with GodI just feel like I am going through a learning process in this area of my
life as well. If I were to add a new entry into my Spiritual Timeline, it would probably be a
low moment.
The completion of this degree would mean for me that I was able to overcome a
busy time in my life that I did not feel I would make it through. There have been many
things on my plate this year that I did not know if I would overcome while working on my
masters. Work this year has been busy with me teaching a zero period and the addition
of our 1:1 iPad program. My mother also moved in with my husband, daughter and I and
the house we live in is very small, so the lack of privacy in our home is hard to deal with.
I constantly struggle with worrying if Im not spending enough time with my daughter
and often think about whether or not completing this program was the right thing to do. I

do believe it was the right thing to do, and I feel that I will be a good example for my
daughter for doing so. I can tell her someday when she is going through a rough time
that I was able to push through and finish something and that she will be able to as well.

Professional Growth
Since I began my credential and masters program through APU I feel that I wish
I would have done this whole process sooner. Although I felt like I was a successful
teacher before the program, I have grown tremendously because of it. I feel more
confident in the classroom, in my lesson planning and in my overall preparation for my
school year. Although teaching dance has a more relaxed atmosphere I have never felt
this much respect from my students. I truly feel that I am able to create a safe
environment for my students where they feel comfortable with me, trust me and are
excited to learn from me. I always thought that if I went back to school for my masters
that it would be for dance only, which someday I do hope that I am able to. Even my
mentor teacher from college was surprised that I was going back to school to become a
better educator, the history with this teacher is that she always thought I would become
a professional dancer and never teach. I have thoroughly enjoyed this change in vision
of where I thought I would be.
My schedule at work this year has been both exciting and time consuming. In
previous years along with teaching dance and running the dance department I taught
health and offered a study hall as well. This year I am strictly doing dance and it has
been a wonderful change, one that I have been waiting for for quite some time. With this
change I also have taken on choreographing for two major productions in the Fine Arts

Program; our all school Musical, and our Pops concert at the end of the year. Although
fun, both shows are extremely time consuming. The addition of my masters program
along with these changes has been interesting and has taught me so much about time
management.
My EDUC 522 professor really helped me understand how considering multiple
intelligences can truly change the way a person teaches. I felt most connected with this
study as I love analyzing how people act and why. This has been a new instructional
strategy that I am using now to better understand the needs of my students. Other than
this, I feel that the majority of the masters program is gearing us to know the different
technologies. My credential program really prepared me to enter the world of teaching
with many tools under my belt.
My Action Research Study is focused on fitness and healthy eating. My research
question for this study is will using my fitness plan keep me on track to eat healthier and
working out by measuring my weight loss and any other physical changes. I have
started recording what I eat each day, and my whatever exercise I have done into an
app called My Fitness Pal, which so far has proven to have been helpful in this change
of lifestyle. During the study I am allowed to have one cheat meal item on Saturday and
one on Sunday. I am also challenging myself to workout at least four times within a span
of a week. The biggest goal for me is to be able to change the way I see food and
fitness and for me to want a healthy lifestyle.

Technical Growth
Since beginning the masters program I have felt that I really have connected the
digital teaching aspect to my classes. Although our school transitioned to the one to one
program with the iPads, I had already begun my own incorporation of technology in my
classes. I utilize the iPad and all its apps almost every day. All of my music is played off
of my iPad and any of my fast editing tools are also on this device. Since starting the
program I have learned so much about the many different technologies and how to
actually incorporate them. I have begun to use iMovie on a consistent basis creating
videos and project introductions for my students. Although many of the technology items
we learned were already previously known about I feel more confident in using those
items. I also feel confident in where to turn to discover answers for my technology
questions. I thank my EDUC 514 and EDUC 515 professors for introducing many new
technologies to me. The use of screenshots and screen casting have truly changed my
perspective on teaching. The use of iMovie and the correct tools for sound and video
have been very helpful as well.

Life Long Learning Plan

From here in my career path I plan on continuing to implement technology into
my dance classes. I hope to spend more time focusing on better ways to document
dance with a camera and how that can help re-set a piece of historical choreography. I
would really like to purchase a Go Pro camera and do a series of films from a dancers
perspective. That goal is more of a personal goal rather than a professional one in the
field of education. I am also hoping to start the process of clearing my credential this

summer, which I would like to do now rather than waiting until the last minute to get that
done. I will always want to go back and get my Masters in Dance, but I will have to see
if that is in Gods plan for my life. In order to go back to school for Dance I would have to
either quit my current job and solely focus on dance, or spend numerous consecutive
summers trying to cram in all of my courses. I would love to be able to do the first
option, but now is not the time.
I love learning and I have discovered that I really am a lifelong learner. There is
so much to know about education and the dance world that I long to continue to learn
about. I think that in order for me to stay passionate about my subject I will need to
constantly immerse myself in what is new and exciting. I hope to attend a few dance
teacher seminars in the near future as I feel that learning from other dance teachers is
so important. I also would like to connect to other local high school dance department
directors. Making those connections would be helpful to see another teachers
perspectives on things that I am going through at my school. I see myself teaching five
years down the road, along with hopefully having more children. I am the type of person
that wants it all; the family and the great job. I like to believe that I can have both, and
be a good example to my daughter of what it means to work hard for the things you
want in life. It is hard to think about ten years from now, but I like to think that I will be
teaching and spreading my passion of dance to others.

SECTION TWO:
History of Coursework and Course Evaluation

Name:

Andrea Oberlander

Term:

Spring 1 2015
Course Title

Course & Instructor

Name

EDUC
511

EDUC
512

Foundations in
Digital Teaching
and Learning
INSTRUCTOR:
Dr. Gilbreath

Instructional
Applications
Productivity
Software

Term

Complete
d

Fall 1
2014

Fall 1
2014

LiveBind
http://www.livebinders.com/
er
play/play?id=1478918
URL:
Key Skills
Acquired
Live Binder
Building,
Symbaloo, Writing
Vision Statement

Comments/Suggestions
Dr. G was very helpful and
answered all my questions.

WebQuest, Blog,
Classes were not too
Keynote, Numbers, overwhelming but there
Pages
was still useful information
being taught.

INSTRUCTOR:
Professor Geib

EDUC
514

EDUC
515

EDUC
522

Digital Video in
the Classroom
INSTRUCTOR:
Professor
McKean

Evolving
Educational
Technologies
INSTRUCTOR:
Mark Rounds

Learning in the
21st Century
INSTRUCTOR:
Dr. Rodriguez

Fall 2
2014

Spring 1
2015

Fall 2
2014

Audio, Lighting,
iMovie,
Screencasting,
editing, video
shots

Great class! Learned so

much! He was also mindful
of our time!

Weebly website
creation, Twitter,
Blogs

Very interesting class and

helped me evaluate what
currently is going on with
educational technology.

Differentiation,
Blooms Taxonomy,
Multiple
Intelligences

Most of the apps and

programs that were taught
were meant for younger
students and I wanted to
learn more about
secondary level students.

EDUC
526

Capstone
Experience/
Digital Teaching
and Learning
INSTRUCTOR:
Dr. Gilbreath

Spring 1
2015

Growth
assessment, Action
research, Lesson
planning,
Developing Unit
Plan, Vitae

The Virtual office hours

were great and allowed
time for individual
assistance.

Each course that I have taken for my masters program has given me a new tool
that I can add incorporate into my dance curriculum. During my EDUC 511 course I was
able to really take a look at my goals during my time writing my vision statement. This
was important for me to do because I was able to really think about what I wanted for
myself. While in my EDUC 512 course I was able to create a Webquest, and one that I
am using currently for my students. I am not sure I will use Webquests much, but am
glad that I was able to learn their purpose and create one. For my EDUC 514 class I felt
I learned so much about video creating and editing, and these are things that as a
dance teacher I will implement on a very regular occasion.
Currently in my EDUC 515 class I am spending time blogging and figuring out
how to discover my personal learning network and having fun doing so. Dr. Rodriguez
introduced multiple intelligences to her students during EDUC 522 and I thoroughly
enjoyed learning about these and how to teach each student based on their intelligence.
Right now in EDUC 526 I feel an overwhelming sense of completion, being able to see
all the different facets of my time in this program. I am excited to complete this masters
program and feel I have grown so much in many ways.

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While reviewing all the different courses of this program I am unable to give any
negative feedback, except for two courses. My EDUC 512 course which was taught by
Professor Geib seemed to cover very basic technology, that I feel we as teachers
should have already been familiar with. Although this was minor I had hoped to dive
deeper into other types of technologies we might encounter. My EDUC 522 course with
Dr. Rodriguez, while extremely helpful in studying multiple intelligences, lacked in the
technology aspect for secondary teachers. Many of the apps that were introduced were
all for elementary teachers. Not only were all the apps for younger students, we were
asked to spend time playing with these apps, which on a late Monday night is not my
ideal for a masters course.
Evaluation of the impact of the Digital Teaching and Learning Program
One example of a new instructional tool that I will implement as a result of one of
my Digital Teaching and Learning course activities is the use of iMovie. I spend time in
my EDUC 514 course creating videos and editing them with iMovie on both my
macbook and my iPad. They were so simple and easy to use that I feel I will be making
many videos for my dancers. These videos can be a quick how-to for a simple
assignment, or even creating a nice video of their performances. I want to use this tool
because I know my students use iMovie all the time and I want to be able to use the app
easily and efficiently.
Program Evaluation
My overall experience at Azusa Pacific University has been a very happy one. I
have encountered professors that are very knowledgable in their subject area, are

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flexible and who truly love teaching. I have already suggested this program to other
teachers who I work with and talk about how easy it is to accomplish being both a fulltime teacher and a student. I have, at times, struggled with being connected to the
correct people in financial aid offices, admission offices, etc, so that would be somewhat
of a complaint of mine. I feel that the credential program was fantastic and equipped me
to become a better teacher. I compare the program at APU to other schools around
Orange County that offer similar programs and I know that I received the best education
and mentorship. My mentor teachers were able to work with me since I was already
teaching full time, and that was such a relief to be able to count my current job towards
my credential process.

My time at Azusa Pacific has been a very memorable one and I am very glad to
have gone through this experience. Although it took me a while to receive both my
credential and my masters I am so happy that I chose to challenge myself to do this. I
feel more confident in my teaching and I owe so much of that to the programs here at
Azusa Pacific University.

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