CHRISTINA M. WELLING
21st Century Educator. Lifelong Learner
Welcome to my online teaching portfolio! On this website you will find a depth of knowledge pertaining to my journey through the Master of Arts in Educational Technology program at Michigan State University. Take a look at my professional work and learn more about me. As always, contact me with any questions!
"You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives."
-Clay P. Bedford
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TECH PORTFOLIO
Graduate Work Showcase
Here is a showcase of all my best work while in the Master of Arts in Educational Technology program at Michigan State University. There were many assignments, projects, and papers completed while in the program. I handpicked the finest illustrations of learning throughout my journey and organized them by category below. The three categories are "Discovery and Reflection", "Creativity in Teaching" and "A Community of Practice". "Discovery and Reflection" comprises an important document that helped me reflect on my professsional and personal life. "Creativity in Teaching" comprises projects that pushed me to think outside the box, while creating valuable resources for my students and classroom. "A Community of Practice" comprises assignments that involved my community, taking into consideration all stalkholders involved. Click on each picture to access my work. All of my Master of Arts in Educational Technology work, in addition to these projects, is also accessible under the Menu Tab above labeled GRADUATE PROGRAM.
Discovery and Reflection
Here is a culmination of my thoughts and feelings in what has shaped me as an educator and lifelong learner. It is an online “diary” of my journey that details paths I have taken to get to where I am professionally and personally in life. My personal manifesto also gives suggestions of learning pathways to take, in order to get to where I am. My hope is that this piece of work encourages others to learn and reflect through their journey as educators and individuals.
Creativity in Teaching
Creativity starts in the architecture of space surrounding us. My creative space is my choir classroom. In it I feel comfortable creating music with my students. It is a colorful environment full of energy, which gives an allure of creative learning. Please visit my Sway presentation here to learn more about my teaching environment.
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Creativity stems from experimenting with new methods of teaching and learning. One such method is a makers' movement approach to learning. This method of learning is hands on and requires all learners to actively engage in the process. Here is my experience with creating Solfeggio Spoons using a MakeyMakey kit! These musical spoons can be created in a music classroom and used for a variety of activities.
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Modeling as a Creative Process
Creativity can be displayed through high quality modeling. Teachers model their craft on a daily basis. As a vocal music teacher I want my students to be able to understand what their bodies are doing while they sing. Singing is a science; therefore as singers, we should have an understanding of how our bodies diaphragmatically breathe. Visit my post here for a functional model of the human lungs and an explanation of how we breathe.
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Playing as a Creative Practice
Creativity can emanate from playing. Sometimes the best “play time” or time to explore something new, offers the best ideas and creations. Through my own playtime I have made a recruitment video for my choir program. Using pictures and video clips and the program iMovie, I created two videos that I can show to incoming middle school students so they have a better idea about what choir is.
A Community of Practice
Technology Integration in a Community
Surveying a community of educators gives great insights on a topic. Using Google Forms as well as Piktochart, I surveyed my teaching community to get a better understanding of how technology is used in my school district. Then I displayed the results using an infographic maker.
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Here is a hypothetical document that could be emailed out through a school district, coming from a member of the technology department within the district. This memo addresses planning and implementation for increased communication, collaboration, and accessibility of information amongst students and staff through the use of a new software, Microsoft Office 365, as well as the training that would be offered with this new technological affordance in the district.
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Here is another hypothetical document that addresses a heated topic within school communities, Bring Your Own Device (BYOB). This paper addresses the possible problems that may be faced as well as solutions to this “thorny issue”. Written from multiple perspectives, this document provides insight from all stakeholders within a school district in regards to this topic.
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Rethink Teaching Project: Wicked Problems of Practice
Here is a collaborative effort amongst a group of educators to present a challenging problem in teaching: How do we rethink teaching? After many Google Hangouts and collaborative efforts we agreed that there are five essential qualities inhibited by all teachers that make them capable of handling all of the wicked changes at the classroom, university, and policy levels.
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