Below you will find links that showcase various ways that I have grown and developed professionally!
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Camp Invention - Instructor
In the summer of 2015, I had the opportunity to become a leadership intern in the Camp Invention program. In the summer of 2016, I was asked to return, not as a leadership intern this time around, but as an instructor. A couple of weeks later, I also become an instructor at a nearby camp that the local IU was hosting. Throughout this experience I was able to broaden my teaching strategies as I became exposed to STEM teaching methods. I was able implement hands-on and discovery learning that required students to enhance their critical thinking, communication, teamwork, and problem solving skills as they were presented with real-world challenges. You will see two different students to the left bring an invention to life as they took apart an old device they brought in from home (DVD players, alarm clocks, old telephones, etc), disassembled it, designed, and then built a movable machine which was inspired by a real life challenge presented to them. |
Candice Berner Scholarship Committee
As an employee at Mercer Middle/High school, I joined
a newly formed scholarship committee in which honored
a late special education teacher. This scholarship would
be the first to award a student with a specific learning
disability with funds to further their education or get
them started with a job. As a committee, we outlined
the stipulations for being rewarded the scholarship,
how we would continually fund the scholarship, and the
terms of the scholarship.
As an employee at Mercer Middle/High school, I joined
a newly formed scholarship committee in which honored
a late special education teacher. This scholarship would
be the first to award a student with a specific learning
disability with funds to further their education or get
them started with a job. As a committee, we outlined
the stipulations for being rewarded the scholarship,
how we would continually fund the scholarship, and the
terms of the scholarship.
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"Around the World" Family Reading Night
As an AmeriCorps service member in the 2013-2014 school year, I organized the first reading night that my host site ever had! It was themed "Around the world". I generated staff volunteers to help me plan and facilitate different stations (aka "countries") throughout the building. We created fliers, posters, and afternoon announcements to advertise for the event. When the day arrived, families received a passport. As they visited each country, they earned a stamp for their passports. Students and their families traveled to Argentina, China, Japan, Poland, Kenya, and western Europe. They became acquainted with different cultures while expanding upon different literacy skills. I had an exciting opportunity to explore Argentina with families! We were able to put writing into action! Recently discovering epals.com AND knowing that an "Around the World" Family Reading Night was approaching, I seized the opportunity to collaborate with a classroom from Argentina and connect each of our students with an Argentinian pen pal of the same age. Not only were students able to practice good writing skills, but they were also able to gain firsthand knowledge of a different culture and learn how to use technology (email) that has become an integral way of communication in our generation. Furthermore, seeing the pure excitement and eagerness to get writing in each of the students was priceless! It was great to see so many families from various socio-economic backgrounds attend a night that we all worked so hard to plan! Not only was I given an opportunity to have a little more time with my students, but I was able to personally communicate with their families who are a vital part to my students' educational development! In the left column, you will see photos from our reading night, the brochure I created for parents' information, a station map, the advertisement, and my Family Literacy Night plans that were created a few months ago when I decided to host a family night! |
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The Kindle II Project
Beginning in the fall of 2011, I collaborated with a few of the education professors and education majors at Westminster college to conduct the Kindle II project. The Kindle II project was one that tested middle school aged children to see if technology, in this case a Kindle, would help students’ reading comprehension and fluency. We tested students in grades six through eight at Austintown Middle School in the spring of 2012. Furthermore, we tested sixty students total that had Individualized Education Plans (IEPs)—thirty had a kindle, thirty did not have a kindle. The goals of this project were to answer several of our research questions. First of all, Will the Kindle improve comprehension in students with disabilities? Not only comprehension, but will using a Kindle help improve the fluency levels in students with disabilities? Lastly, what would the benefits of incorporating e-readers into a reading program for students with disabilities be? This project was presented at both Westminster's campus wide research symposium and at the state PaCEC (Pennsylvania Council for Exceptional Children) Conference in Harrisburg. |
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Keystone SMILES AmeriCorps
Through my service as an AmeriCorps member during the 2013-2014 school year, I had the opportunity to participate in a variety of trainings that both the program and my host site had to offer. These include CERT training, CPR, PowerSchool, and AIMSweb. |