Opening New Doors

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Angela Sicinski

My alma mater is the College of St. Francis now known as University of St. Francis. There I received my bachelors degree in Elementary Education in 1987.  I am originally from Plainfield, Illinois where I started my teaching career in 5th grade at a small parochial grade school-- the same school in fact that I attended.  I taught there for 3 years and then the tornado of 1990 came through and destroyed our school and town.  I moved onto the public school system and worked for Troy District 30C in Shorewood/Joliet, Illinois where I taught 5th grade for 9 years.  During the last 3 years of my time at Troy I earned a Masters Degree in Educational Administration from Illinois State.  Then came the move to Bloomington with my husband in 1999 and my entry into District 87.  I currently teach 5th grade regular education at Bent Elementary. 

As technology has seeped into education over the years, I have welcomed every opportunity to learn more about how to use it, and where I can integrate it into my curriculum. I actually can't imagine teaching without it.  Do you remember the Apple II's? -black screens with green font??  or when Computers for Teachers was writing programs?--flow charts-- That was where my technology experience began and surprisingly I have stuck with it ever since.  My experience with technology is varied. Though I have minimal formal education in technology, I like to think of myself as a sponge when it comes to technology and a quick learner.  Most of my learning has come from taking the time to play around with it. That is how I have picked up a lot of troubleshooting skills. Anything I can get my hands onto I will try it out and find a way to use it in my classroom. In my classroom, I have used Microsoft Word, Publisher, Power Point, Photo Story 3, Movie Maker, Moodle, United Streaming, FrontPage, Reading Counts/SRI, Pearson Successnet Online Science, Google Tools and Hot Potatoes.

This is my third year as a trainer for the Moveable Feast.  There will be so much to see and learn this week. The best way to make the most of this week is to have an open mind and choose 1 or 2 areas of technology and/or software you would like to focus on for the week.  Also, think about your curriculum and where best that technology could be used. Then let your imagination and creativity take you away.  Having done that I'm sure you will walk away learning a great deal!  Good Luck and don't forget to HAVE FUN!!!