My Teacher Story
By Mark Curcio, M. Ed.
Submitted October 28, 2019
Updated 9:33 PM ET, Wed December 11, 2019
Submitted October 28, 2019
Updated 9:33 PM ET, Wed December 11, 2019
I’ve always been synonymous with technology my entire teaching career by default. During student teaching, I used a lot of web tools 2.0, also known as websites, so my student teaching mentor viewed me as “tech-savvy.” Whenever I graduated from Penn State, I immediately set my sights on earning my Master’s Degree, so I asked my mentor what her thoughts on my strengths were. Naturally, she said technology. I then spent two years earning a degree in Instructional Technology, which right now is a moot degree because the skills and tech that I learned back then in 2011 is now irrelevant in 2019 considering most technology changes every three years. When I got hired at my current school district, I immediately became the go-to guy for technology, which was fine - but in hindsight, I wasn’t necessarily “changing the world.” Then in 2016, I received an email from my high school principal that she nominated me to be a Keystone Technology Innovator, also known as KTI. Little did I know that this email would change my pedagogy for years to come.
With hesitation, I applied. Because of my underwhelming experience in my Master’s program, I definitely suffered from a case of impostor’s syndrome. I knew that if I applied I had a chance to get accepted, but after reading that only 100 Pennsylvania educators are accepted - I definitely pump-faked a handful of times before submitting my application. After waiting a few weeks, I received the email I was waiting for - I was accepted… to go to a week-long edu camp at Shippensburg University to become a KTI Star. Although the moniker was admittedly corny, I was still excited for the opportunity to professionally improve myself alongside a few of Pennsylvania’s best.
At the camp, I immediately made friends whom of which I collaborated with the entire week and still do today. We called ourselves “the hooligans,” and every morning, the energy of the group seemed to reverberate off of our table and onto every other table in the room. I needed this energy and reinvigoration because at my current school district - I was in a little bit of a professional rut. Not because of a lack of passion, but because of my situation. A few years prior, I was told that my position was going to be cut due to budget concerns and declining enrollment. I was only brought back due to a literacy grant that we won that I helped write, but not as a full-time contracted educator - as a full-time substitute. I quickly learned that I was the only LTS at this camp, as the other 99 educators were tenured teachers looking to improve their craft; I was the only one who was looking to improve my resume.
Despite this realization, I tackled each day with as much energy and focus as possible. The days were set up in one-hour workshop sessions revolving around the latest innovations and ideas in edutech. Some of them I knew and used weekly, some of them were just trying to sell a product (as evidenced by their Apple/TED talk-style presentations), but most of them were novations that I never had seen before. These were the ones that garnered my interest the most, especially the one on G Suite, also known as Google for Education.
Prior to the camp, I knew of Google. I had a gmail account, I used Google as my primary search site to “google” information, and I’ve heard of Google Classroom, but at the time, I was using a similar web tool called Edmodo. But Edmodo quickly became obsolete as quickly as it takes Google to find about 122,000,000 results for the search term “mind blown” - 0.65 seconds.
Google docs changed everything for me as an educator. I learned about sharing documents and how much collaboration can occur within one document with two people miles away from each other. I learned about how documents automatically saved with every single change in Drive. I learned about commenting. I learned about the three ways a document can be worked on: editing, suggesting, and viewing. I learned about how a Google doc can be viewed and edited anywhere there is internet: on your laptop, on your desktop, on your ipad, or even on your phone on-the-go. I think the most mind-blowing thing about everything that I learned was that there was so much more to learn… and learn I did as I became Google Level 1 certified a year later - something that significantly improved my teaching of writing ever since.
A Google Certification displays that an educator is able to successfully implement G Suite for Education into their teaching practice in order to enhance the learning experience. At first, I thought it was just a marketing ploy considering you get to display a badge in your email signature upon passing, but it really wasn’t about the end result - it definitely was more about studying and learning more along the way. While I was learning about Google and all of its opportunities, I frequently found myself taking notes as to how to use things in my classroom. The biggest change that I made was how I taught writing. Instead of using Word to type a draft, print it, and workshop it - I developed a whole writing plan centered around the process theory for every paper that I assigned.
In Google Classroom, you have the ability to create a document and make a copy for every student in your class. On this document, I included the correct format, the prompt, a suggested outline, and a sample paragraph. Upon receiving this document, my students could make it their own and delete all of my additions when finished. Instead of submitting a printed out draft, a student could share their draft with a classmate and allow him or her to edit their drafts under the “Suggesting” mode and comment with specific feedback on a sentence-by-sentence basis. If a student doesn’t like their suggestion, they can just click ignore. If they like it, they can click resolve. The biggest thing that I like about using Google docs is that I can enter a student’s paper from anywhere and comment. This allows me to view a student’s paper numerous times before the final draft. In essence, I basically get a chance to “grade” the paper numerous times before actually doing so with a cliched red pen. This was how I wrote papers for years in Word without sharing it with anyone. This was the writing process for me. Now, due to technology, this is the writing process for my students… live.
Upon leaving the camp a week later, I developed friends that I’m still close with to this day. We still frequently share ideas and collaborate via email and a shared Google doc (go figure) on a weekly basis. That summer reinvigorated my pedagogy for the better when I needed it most. I entered that school year with more fire, more passion, and more drive than ever before. I guess I just couldn’t wait to try out new ideas and tools that I never knew existed prior to that summer. When I launched my students’ Google accounts and Drives, they seemed hesitant at first, but it quickly caught like wildfire.
With hesitation, I applied. Because of my underwhelming experience in my Master’s program, I definitely suffered from a case of impostor’s syndrome. I knew that if I applied I had a chance to get accepted, but after reading that only 100 Pennsylvania educators are accepted - I definitely pump-faked a handful of times before submitting my application. After waiting a few weeks, I received the email I was waiting for - I was accepted… to go to a week-long edu camp at Shippensburg University to become a KTI Star. Although the moniker was admittedly corny, I was still excited for the opportunity to professionally improve myself alongside a few of Pennsylvania’s best.
At the camp, I immediately made friends whom of which I collaborated with the entire week and still do today. We called ourselves “the hooligans,” and every morning, the energy of the group seemed to reverberate off of our table and onto every other table in the room. I needed this energy and reinvigoration because at my current school district - I was in a little bit of a professional rut. Not because of a lack of passion, but because of my situation. A few years prior, I was told that my position was going to be cut due to budget concerns and declining enrollment. I was only brought back due to a literacy grant that we won that I helped write, but not as a full-time contracted educator - as a full-time substitute. I quickly learned that I was the only LTS at this camp, as the other 99 educators were tenured teachers looking to improve their craft; I was the only one who was looking to improve my resume.
Despite this realization, I tackled each day with as much energy and focus as possible. The days were set up in one-hour workshop sessions revolving around the latest innovations and ideas in edutech. Some of them I knew and used weekly, some of them were just trying to sell a product (as evidenced by their Apple/TED talk-style presentations), but most of them were novations that I never had seen before. These were the ones that garnered my interest the most, especially the one on G Suite, also known as Google for Education.
Prior to the camp, I knew of Google. I had a gmail account, I used Google as my primary search site to “google” information, and I’ve heard of Google Classroom, but at the time, I was using a similar web tool called Edmodo. But Edmodo quickly became obsolete as quickly as it takes Google to find about 122,000,000 results for the search term “mind blown” - 0.65 seconds.
Google docs changed everything for me as an educator. I learned about sharing documents and how much collaboration can occur within one document with two people miles away from each other. I learned about how documents automatically saved with every single change in Drive. I learned about commenting. I learned about the three ways a document can be worked on: editing, suggesting, and viewing. I learned about how a Google doc can be viewed and edited anywhere there is internet: on your laptop, on your desktop, on your ipad, or even on your phone on-the-go. I think the most mind-blowing thing about everything that I learned was that there was so much more to learn… and learn I did as I became Google Level 1 certified a year later - something that significantly improved my teaching of writing ever since.
A Google Certification displays that an educator is able to successfully implement G Suite for Education into their teaching practice in order to enhance the learning experience. At first, I thought it was just a marketing ploy considering you get to display a badge in your email signature upon passing, but it really wasn’t about the end result - it definitely was more about studying and learning more along the way. While I was learning about Google and all of its opportunities, I frequently found myself taking notes as to how to use things in my classroom. The biggest change that I made was how I taught writing. Instead of using Word to type a draft, print it, and workshop it - I developed a whole writing plan centered around the process theory for every paper that I assigned.
In Google Classroom, you have the ability to create a document and make a copy for every student in your class. On this document, I included the correct format, the prompt, a suggested outline, and a sample paragraph. Upon receiving this document, my students could make it their own and delete all of my additions when finished. Instead of submitting a printed out draft, a student could share their draft with a classmate and allow him or her to edit their drafts under the “Suggesting” mode and comment with specific feedback on a sentence-by-sentence basis. If a student doesn’t like their suggestion, they can just click ignore. If they like it, they can click resolve. The biggest thing that I like about using Google docs is that I can enter a student’s paper from anywhere and comment. This allows me to view a student’s paper numerous times before the final draft. In essence, I basically get a chance to “grade” the paper numerous times before actually doing so with a cliched red pen. This was how I wrote papers for years in Word without sharing it with anyone. This was the writing process for me. Now, due to technology, this is the writing process for my students… live.
Upon leaving the camp a week later, I developed friends that I’m still close with to this day. We still frequently share ideas and collaborate via email and a shared Google doc (go figure) on a weekly basis. That summer reinvigorated my pedagogy for the better when I needed it most. I entered that school year with more fire, more passion, and more drive than ever before. I guess I just couldn’t wait to try out new ideas and tools that I never knew existed prior to that summer. When I launched my students’ Google accounts and Drives, they seemed hesitant at first, but it quickly caught like wildfire.
It was very validating to see something that I primarily used and endorsed being used in the hallways. After two assignments, I would catch students working on their papers in the cafeteria on their phones. I would receive invitation emails from students asking me to look at their work. I would get knocks at my door from colleagues asking me, “so, what’s this Google docs thing that all the kids are talking about?” I felt valued and appreciated - something that I struggled to find all of the years prior.
At the end of last school year, it became official that my school district was transitioning into a Google school. I’m not saying it’s because of me because it’s not. I might have started to highlight the accessibility of Google in the classroom, but there were other figureheads all over the district that wrote grants and knew of G Suite’s power - it was definitely a collaborative effort. The middle school all received Chromebooks at the beginning of the school year, and the rumor is, the high school will all receive Chromebooks at the start of next year. Considering I am Level 1 certified and going to go for my Level 2, I will probably be one of the lead trainers - for which I am honored. Not just for the opportunity to highlight my skill set and experience, but because I am a huge advocate of the program considering I use it on a daily basis.
Before becoming a STAR, I was a long-term substitute with no clear path. I was interviewing elsewhere, I underrated my skills with technology due to the stigma that was implanted in my brain due to my Master’s experience, and I was just going through the motions with hopes of receiving some sort of validation for the job that I was doing in and out of the classroom. The school year post KTI, everything changed. I now have an identity.
I’m no longer a long-term substitute.
I’m not even just an ELA public high school teacher.
I’m a technology using, process theory-following, overly-enthusiastic, and positive mind setting high school English teacher and technology innovator who is currently pursuing his dream of earning a doctorate in Composition and Applied Linguistics. Where my story goes from here… might only be one more opportunity away.
At the end of last school year, it became official that my school district was transitioning into a Google school. I’m not saying it’s because of me because it’s not. I might have started to highlight the accessibility of Google in the classroom, but there were other figureheads all over the district that wrote grants and knew of G Suite’s power - it was definitely a collaborative effort. The middle school all received Chromebooks at the beginning of the school year, and the rumor is, the high school will all receive Chromebooks at the start of next year. Considering I am Level 1 certified and going to go for my Level 2, I will probably be one of the lead trainers - for which I am honored. Not just for the opportunity to highlight my skill set and experience, but because I am a huge advocate of the program considering I use it on a daily basis.
Before becoming a STAR, I was a long-term substitute with no clear path. I was interviewing elsewhere, I underrated my skills with technology due to the stigma that was implanted in my brain due to my Master’s experience, and I was just going through the motions with hopes of receiving some sort of validation for the job that I was doing in and out of the classroom. The school year post KTI, everything changed. I now have an identity.
I’m no longer a long-term substitute.
I’m not even just an ELA public high school teacher.
I’m a technology using, process theory-following, overly-enthusiastic, and positive mind setting high school English teacher and technology innovator who is currently pursuing his dream of earning a doctorate in Composition and Applied Linguistics. Where my story goes from here… might only be one more opportunity away.