Portfolio

Adding Fractions
Instructor Comments: "Excellent work on the Adding Fractions Google presentation. The instructional purpose is sound, and the presentation is well done and professional. I love the vibrant and engaging use of colors. It is short and not overwhelming for students. Great work!" - Professor Kimberly Guerrazzi

Working with linear equations, systems of linear equations, quadratic equations, the quadratic formula, and exponential equations
Instructor Comments: "Kathryn, exceptional work on the Algebra II:Senior Party Webquest! It serves as an example of a well developed webquest to move students beyond rote learning and utilize higher order thinking skills while engaging them in a subject area. The webquest has a great visual appeal for the student audience - I actually like this format better than the Zunal site format - nicely done! The Introduction is motivating and draws the student into the lesson. The Task (Mission) does a good job describing the goals of the project and the end project students are suppose to complete - which is fun and engaging! The Process has clearly stated steps and it requires many levels of thinking as well as engages several different learning style resources. Great collaborative work in groups with defined roles. The amount of resources were more than sufficient as well as of high quality - you put a lot of effort into creating these and this lesson which is why I gave you extra credit along with creating your own webquest (not using Zunal). The Evaluation process clearly states the expectations. Great conclusion and teacher page. Nicely done! May I use this as an example for the rest of the class?" - Professor Kimberly Guerrazzi

Exploring similar and congruent triangles
Instructor Comments: "Kathryn, well done on the Comparing Similar and Congruent Triangles Lesson Plan. The paper was well written to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the planning questions, instructional strategies, and technology tools. The lesson plan demonstrated a thorough understanding of how technology is applied with instruction and with in a lesson plan. You incorporated the technology tools effectively to require students demonstrate higher order thinking skills while engaging and motivating them to learn - application, analysis of information. The rubric clearly defined expectations for students. Great work" - Professor Kimberly Guerrazzi

This instructional video can help students learn how to find the optimal value in a situation that can be represented by a quadratic equation. By being available outside of the classroom, this video allows students to evaluate their own methods (at their own pace) by comparing theirs to those in the video. Back in the classroom, we can discuss this and other ways to find solutions to similar problems.
Instructor Comments: " I think your videos can also help in a job search. You can demonstrate that you can make materials for a flipped classroom! " - Professor Kathryn Dirkin

Students could use this infographic as a quick study guide for quadratic equations. All the important aspects of this concept are organized in one place, showing relationships between the different ideas.
Students could be assigned the task of creating their own infographic as a study guide for any subject. In math, key concepts in the year could be given special attention by having students create infographics to add to their notes. In English, we could map out stories in different ways (ex., chronologically, characters, relationships, geographically). We could share them in class or on a class website, too, so students could benefit from each other's organizational styles.
As a teacher, a handout like this is easy to update with newer graphics and examples to keep it "fresh looking" through the years; so while the initial product can be time-consuming, the gain is definitely justified.
Instructor Comments: " You communicated A LOT of information in a single graphic. Media is of a high quality. Media properly reflects information being represented. What made all of this information manageable was how you used color and you had some things faded out. This let students "see" the most important elements. Thank you for sharing your struggles with exporting your graphic and the implications for quality. I can see in your design why you needed so much control. " - Professor Kathryn Dirkin

The animated gif I created could be used as a writing prompt. It's fun to watch (and therefor engaging), but it's not really clear what exactly is going on. The person enters the frame, jumps, ties his shoe, does some stretching, sees something, and then runs off. Meanwhile, a flower is growing, it's turning to night time, and a searchlight sweeps the scene. It's left to the imagination of the students to deconstruct what is happening, by evaluating what elements are important and determining what might be happening off screen (either just out of view or right before/after the animation takes place).
Instructor Comments: " Your animation must have been fun to make. I loved the blooming flower. " - Professor Kathryn Dirkin

As I was creating the Gliffy, parsing the information into smaller bits, I started thinking about how helpful it could be in writing a paper, particularly a research paper. The organizational aspect of mind-mapping is an obvious benefit. But students would also be forced to reduce information from sources into very basic tidbits of information, removing the possibility (or at least temptation) of plagiarism. The limited space forces the creator to pare down information to just what is most important.

Glogster is a great digital poster - allowing for the addition of multimedia. I can see this being used in place of virtually in poster project: summarizing a book, presenting research results, organizing data, etc...
To just watch the video: Using Multimedia in the Classroom.
Instructor Comments: " The video was excellent! [...] Can I share the video with future classes? I loved it!" - Professor Kathryn Dirkin