Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Mary Jo Pluchino
EDUC 526 Capstone Experience in Digital Teaching and
Learning
Mary Jo Pluchino
Azusa Campus
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July/ 2015
Section One
Introduction- Setting the Context:
Personal Growth:
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Azusa Campus
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Azusa Campus
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July/ 2015
resources, and definitely okay to make a mistake and learn from it. All
priceless lessons.
Professional Growth:
As an educator, I feel that I have grown in many ways. I am more secure
in my philosophies. I know what type of teacher I want to be, and I
couldnt have known this without this program guiding me to find my
individual path. Also, I know the classroom management skills I will use,
as well as my belief that every child can learn, it is our job to find a way
for them to learn.
My overall educational vision has only evolved slightly. I always knew I
wanted to be a warm, encouraging, and reinforcing teacher. However,
since my So What-Who Cares? paper, I have evolved in content and
instructional strategies, standard knowledge and resource strategies. I am
more exposed to the teaching skills which makes me a more evolve
teacher.
During the Spring and Fall 2014 modules, I was offered a long term
substitute assignment that lasted 7 months. This was a major change in
my life professionally. I thought it best to take Spring 2014 off from school
to fully focus on my new assignment. I was teaching 1st grade and my old
elementary school which made the experience that much more special.
During this time, I grew as an educator 100%. Actually having your own
classroom and reinforcing your own rules is a lesson you cannot learn in
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Azusa Campus
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July/ 2015
the classroom. However, with the knowledge I acquired from APU, I felt
fully equipped and confident I could do this job, and do a great job.
Amongst the stresses, and completely overwhelming moments, this was
an amazing time in my life.
The course that I feel I learned the most instructional strategies was EDUC
522. Learning about the importance of Multiple Intelligences, Depth of
Knowledge, and standards, and technology plays a major role in the type
of teacher I am today. I learned many different strategies to teach ever MI.
I also learned how to bring content knowledge to a deeper level with
Webbs DOK. In this class, we made a movie involving each of these. As I
worked on this project, the instructional strategies became very clear to
me and I know exactly how I could transition these theories into my room.
Also, the technology component of this class was phenomenal!
My Action Research Study is about fitness and staying active. My
question: Will exercising in the morning improve my overall mindset as
opposed to working out at night? I will work out in the morning for a week
straight then at night for a week straight and analyze the similarities and
differences in my overall mood and mindset.
Technical Growth
At the beginning of this program, I felt that I knew a lot about technology.
I always had the newest tablets and smartphones and loved learning new
tricks. However, now looking back, I feel like I knew nothing compared to
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Azusa Campus
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July/ 2015
what I know now. Now, I can officially use spreadsheets, Google Apps, and
website resources with ease. The DTL program had taught me to use
technology as a tool to teach. With technology, we can teach students the
way they like to learn. We can reach all types of learners more effectively
with technology. During EDUC 512, I learned the ins and outs of blogging,
tabs, and spreadsheets. These skills are still useful today. Furthermore, in
EDUC 515, I learned the importance of Twitter, PLCs, CUE, and many
more useful websites.
After taking EDUC 515, I can say I am very active on Twitter and use the
people follow as resources and share ideas. In EDUC 522, I learned the
importance of student created lessons. Students can use sites such as,
Animoto, Kidblog, or Weebly to create content to show their personal
learning. Another important skill I learned was video creation in EDUC
514. Learning how to use iMovie and GarageBand was very exciting. This
skill will come into importance when I establish my classroom
environment. Whether I use, blended learning or flipped classroom, I use
iMovie to create my video lessons.
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Azusa Campus
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July/ 2015
Section Two
History of Coursework and Course Evaluation:
Name
:
Mary Jo Pluchino
LiveBin
der
URL:
Summer 2015
Term:
Cours
e
EDU
C
511
EDU
C
512
EDU
C
514
EDU
C
515
Course
Title &
Instructor
Name
Foundations in
Digital
Teaching and
Learning
INSTRUCTOR:
Joanne
Gilbreath
Instructional
Applications
Productivity
Software
Term
Complet
ed
http://mastersdtl.weebly
.com
Key Skills
Acquired
Comments/Suggestio
ns
Wordle
Livebinders
Tech Safety
Keynote
Numbers
Webquest
Google Docs
Tabs
Spring
2013
Fall
2013
INSTRUCTOR:
Kristi
Hernandez
Digital Video in
the Classroom
INSTRUCTOR:
Bill Selak
Evolving
Educational
Technologies
Spring
2014
Fall
2014
INSTRUCTOR:
Jason Seliskar
Mary Jo Pluchino
Azusa Campus
Garageband
Rules of
Disposition
iMovie
Rules of Thirds
Twitter
Weebly
Case Study
Flipped
Classroom
Kahoot
Voki
Maker Movement
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July/ 2015
EDU
C
522
EDU
C
525
EDU
C
526
Learning in the
21st Century
INSTRUCTOR:
Lisa Rodriguez
Spring
2015
Web Design
INSTRUCTOR:
Linda
Mulhouser
Capstone
Experience/
Digital
Teaching and
Learning
Summer
2015
DOK
Multiple
Intelligences
iMovie
Unit Plans
Technology
Haiku Deck
Coding
HTML
Movenote
Action Research
Final Video
Livebinders
Summer
2015
INSTRUCTOR:
Joanne
Gilbreath
It is defiantly difficult to just pick one strategy that I have learned but I
think the most valuable lesson I learned was how to use Google Apps
(sheets, forms, slides, docs, google classroom etc). By learning this
strategy, I have the knowledge to eventually have a paperless classroom.
Using Google drive has saved my life in so many ways. No more do I have
to wait till I get home to work on a project, I can log on using my phone,
tablet, or classroom computer. Also, Google apps are so easy to embed
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Azusa Campus
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July/ 2015
into any blog or website. I believe Google will take over the world one day
and I am excited to see what they come up with next.
Program Evaluation:
My overall experience at APU has been wonderful. Everyone in the
Education staff is beyond helpful and accommodating. I have had certain
needs in the past and they help me with a friendly smile each time. Also,
my professors were very helpful in every class. They are eager to help
and answer emails quickly. Each of my coursed has been clear and
manageable because of the great professors.
It is hard for me to find any weaknesses in this program. Maybe I would
say that a few classes teach things we already learned in another class,
which feels a bit redundant. But, it can also be a strength for some people
if they did not understand the lessons the first time. The strengths that I
feel are most important are the small class sizes, helpful and passionate
professors, and content learned. I feel that I got the most out of my
money spent for this program and I am pleased with the overall
experience and outcome.
I would recommend maybe making sure that each class is used to teach
different skills and strategies.
APU has been a wonderful experience for me. Overall, the program has
taught me to be spiritual, confident, and effective as a future educator
and I couldnt be happier with my overall experience throughout my
credential and Masters. Thank you to all the professors for sharing your
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Azusa Campus
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Azusa Campus
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July/ 2015