Practitioner Profile Jill Sinclair First Grade Teacher On-line Graduate University Instructor Conducted by Ronna Roberson September 2007 Background Information Jill Sinclair is currently a first grade teacher at Zach Elementary school in Fort Collins Colorado. She has a B.S. in Elementary Education from Kansas State University and a MAT from Grand Canyon University out of Phoenix Arizona. Jill has been teaching elementary education for 22 years with 15 of those years teaching first grade. For over 2 years she has conducted online learning courses for Grand Canyon University. The courses are mainly graduate level College of Education courses, but include a couple undergraduate courses as well. I have come to know Jill through teaching at the same school, but also by taking classes with her. She is insightful and creative in her presentation on projects and in the classroom. Her knowledge and skill in teaching has made her a fascinating person to interview. The Discussion Q: How did you get good at teaching and being on online educator? A: I have had many mentors over the years. There is a saying (not mine) that good teachers aren t born; they re made by the teacher next door. I think that is partly true. I truly think some people have an aptitude to teach. I certainly have learned a great deal from my years of experience, but I would have to say that I ve also learned a lot from others. As for online educating, I took an online (Blackboard) training from Grand Canyon University for instructors. I took Blackboard training through Poudre School District to further my knowledge of the Blackboard classroom. I also took a training last spring using the Angel online classroom. GCU currently uses the Angel Learning Management System which is similar to Blackboard.
Q: What strategies or knowledge have you learned by your own experiences while online educating? A: Wow, I don t know where to begin. I have learned to streamline processes and procedures to make the best use of my time. I have learned to be very clear with expectations. All students are sent an email with my attached expectations. This is a lengthy message that covers many things including expectations in many areas such as discussion board, cooperative groups, plagiarism, late assignments, APA formatting, etc Q: What has been your biggest challenge with online educating (i.e. people, tools, and communication)? A: My biggest challenge has been slacking students. This only accounts for a few of the students, but every term I have some who have excuses almost every week for not turning things in on time, blah, blah, blah. I also get some who have very poor writing skills. This makes grading assignments very difficult. Please know that most are wonderful! Q: How do you keep up with continuing educational developments? A: I attend any online training required by GCU, like when they switched to Angel. I also keep up with postings in the faculty resource discussion board. Q: Do you feel technology has strengthened classroom instruction? A: Yes, I do. There is a wealth of information available on the internet, and programs such as Soft Chalk and web quests are wonderful tools for teaching. I do think that there is a need for both (old fashioned teacher led research and classrooms with technology assistance). I think that it is like most things. Balance is a good thing. Q: What instructional technology trends do you see as being hot today? Are you seeing more pod casting, blogging, etc. with your online educating?
A: I think that online learning itself is hot and becoming hotter every day. Online learning fits into so many crazy schedules and is easily done from anywhere. I am not seeing more of these (blogging, pod casting, etc.) with my online teaching, but other instructors might be. Q: What instructional technology trends do you see as most important in our learning experiences (adult and child learners)? A: I m not sure if I m on track here, but it is my hope that children will turn to technology as if it were as common as grabbing a pencil. I hope it becomes intuitive for them. Q: So you feel it is good that kids are getting exposed to Blackboard in middle and elementary school for communication and assignment tracking? A: My first graders are so young, and I haven t really used web quests and such with them; although, I have created some. My Blackboard knowledge comes more from working with adults at GCU and in PSD. You might remember that I did two online differentiation classes with our staff two years ago using Blackboard. Q: What s hot in instruction, but shouldn t be? A: I don t think that online learning fits all people. There is still a need for face-to-face instruction. I think with so many online programs available today, many people are signing up that wouldn t necessarily do so if they had to go the traditional route. This isn t bad for most, but in my opinion, there are some who don t take school seriously and shouldn t be in graduate school. The quality of the work is very poor. I wonder how long this would go on in a traditional classroom. Q: Where do you see online learning going in the future? A: I think that online learning will continue to grow. I think it will become more and more popular as people see the benefits to learning at any time of day and in any location.
Q: Where do you see classroom learning going in the future? A: I think that people will be more particular about classroom learning, wanting only the best! Q: Can you clarify only the best for me? A: Only the best means that they will want a classroom/school that uses cutting edge technology. It also means having high expectations for all learners. The academics should be strong and instruction differentiated. Q: Do you have any advice on classroom teaching or online learning for me? A: Don t sweat the small stuff in either classroom. Sometimes you just have to let some things go. Also, have high expectations for all learners. Students will rise to meet them. Reflection After my interview with Jill I was more aware of the teaching environment in my school and around my district. I found there are a good amount of teachers who teach outside of their regular classroom. At one of my district technology meetings, I asked around to see if people were teaching outside their classroom. I found a wide area of technology based educating was going on. Some were conducting online courses while others were starting to venture into satellite school settings. Others were tutoring using webcams. I guess I knew these teaching were happening; I didn t realize how much. One area Jill and I spoke about was how online educating is done. I ve learned that online instructors don t always get to create the material they teach. This was the case for Jill. She had to teach from lessons that were already created and couldn t change them. She stated that this was difficult at times, but she has worked around any problem areas with communication and her own documentation.
It s interesting how most households can now afford a computer which can connect to a university to listen to pod casts, complete lessons and conduct online courses. We can read books on our ipod and send email correspondence on our phone. We are a mobile society and have more options. As teachers we need to grasp those options and prepare our kids for the future. I feel Jill has, and still is, doing this with great success.