Joliet West High School English teacher Maggie Maslowski has been featured in the online education blog, angelamaiers.com. The website, which has been highlighted on CBS News, the Huffington Post, and other news outlets, focuses on helping educators better their reach in the fields of writing, literacy, and communication.
Maslowski’s piece discusses a writing activity she presented to her students at the beginning of the school year. The activity required students to produce a detailed poster that featured proud moments and dream goals.
“The students then wrote down their ‘Proudest Moments’ to show off how amazing they are, their ‘Dream Goals’ to ensure that they kept their eyes on the prize, and their ‘Favorites’ to show their individual personalities that will enhance our classroom,” said Maslowski. “They also added a picture of themselves that was semi-current so that we could match their face with their name.”
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The project allowed the student to apply writing skills in a creative way. “Students loved being able to show their creativity in English,” said Maslowski. “They weren’t just filling out a worksheet or writing a small paragraph for me that might be put away in some file folder and never showcased. They had an authentic audience: their peers and their parents.”
The students’ projects were displayed on a class ‘We Matter’ wall in Maslowski’s classroom. “Every day, students came to class and went to the ‘We Matter’ wall to see whose picture was up next,” said Maslowski. “And, their excitement showed when their own picture was up or one of their friends. They wanted to come to my class and they felt like they mattered.”
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Technology in the Classroom
Maslowski was asked to be a guest blogger after Angela Maiers noticed that students were tweeting about the project to @jthsmaslowski on Twitter. “It was a huge honor to be a guest blogger because Maiers is an educator known worldwide,” said Maslowski.
Maiers is a renowned educator who was recently honored at last year’s Bammy Awards, a national celebration of the value of education, educators and life-long learning. The honors are presented by the Academy of Education Arts and Sciences International, which includes an eclectic cadre of leading educators, education leaders, education professors, journalists, editors, researchers, commentators, advocates, activists, visionaries and pioneers.
In addition to her recognition from Maiers, Maslowski has been invited to participate in the Reform Symposium E-Conference (RSCON) in October. The online symposium includes presentations and keynote speakers from around the world. Through the Blackboard Collaborate platform, educators, students, and innovators can connect during RSCON to share initiatives about teaching and learning. Maslowski will be hosting a session titled “This I Believe Narratives.” The session describes the project Maslowski introduced to her students.
The “This I Believe Narratives” assignment project challenged students to express their personal beliefs in a variety of mediums, utilizing technology,” said Maslowski. “They wrote essays that were posted on the school’s online educational platform, JT Learn. The essays were then peer edited before students created multi-media video presentations through any program of their choice.”
This integration of technology into the classroom makes Maslowski’s project stand out among educators.
Maslowski will be presenting her project in an online session on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 3 p.m. Angela Maiers will also be a keynote speaker for RSCON. More information about RSCON and Maslowski’s session can be found at: http://www.futureofeducation.com/forum/topics/this-i-believe-narratives-with-technology-component
