My name is Ada Cueva, I was born in Colima, Mexico but have lived in Anaheim from the time I was one year old. I graduated from Katella High School in 2006, received my Bachelors Degree in Biology from Cal Poly Pomona in 2011, followed by my Teaching Credential in 2012. After six years of school I decided to take a couple of quarters off before starting my Masters in EMM. After graduating from high school I was hired as an instructional aide in the same district that I graduated from and have moved into other positions including substitute teaching and now teaching full time. I have also returned to my high school as the Varsity Tennis Coach...so when I'm not in the classroom, I'm on the tennis courts. In the summer I work as the Nature Director for a Day Camp in Anaheim Hills (picture).
This is my third quarter in the EMM program. I took last fall off to coach (and give myself a mental break) so I started last winter. I am hoping to complete the program by this upcoming spring quarter. The classes I have had so far were interesting and engaging. I really enjoy the exposure to multiple resources. Although I don't feel that EVERYTHING we use will work for me, it is nice to have the option to use it.
I definitely do not consider myself a technology genius but I would not say I am clueless either. I enjoy learning new ways to use the technology that is available. I chose to earn my Masters in EMM because I teach Science to junior high students who were born into a world submerged in technology. I feel that technology is something that comes extremely easy to them and if I can incorporate it into our lessons, it will help to keep them engaged in a variety of ways. It's relevant, dynamic, and readily available to most students and I want to take advantage of that to help them learn our science content.
Hello Ada!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you keep yourself very busy! Technology definitely comes easy to many of our students, but there are still some who are not very privileged to have all this technology around them. My 4th grade classroom, during clinical practice, was introduced to iPads for the first time the quarter that I was there and many of them had no clue what an iPad was. They were, however, very eager to try it out and got the gist of it in minutes! It's amazing to see how easily they learn to use new devices at such a young age and how engaged they become, which works to our advantage as teachers! Even if some students do not have these devices at home, they will stay technologically current because of our amazing lessons using all this technology!
Hi Ada,
ReplyDeleteI'm really impressed that you will be finishing your master's so quickly, especially while you are doing so many other things. I've been subbing mostly but when I've had a class to myself (in a long term assignment), it takes a lot of time. I'll have to talk to you about some of your secrets in time management. I also think your ideas about keeping up with the kids technologically is great. Plus I'm sure you'll run into some students who won't have been so lucky with technology and you'll be able to teach them.
Very active and busy! As a high school tennis coach, you also have to travel with your team after school, right?
ReplyDeleteI am really jealous of you in that picture, tortoises are one of my favorite animals but I so rarely get a chance to hold them. I stay pretty up to date on technology but I am blown away at how much the students know now-a-days. I recently had a student jailbreak my iPod, something that I would never have been able to figure out on my own. To him it was like turning on the TV. I agree that learning how to incorporate it into the classroom will really help in engaging students. It is part of their daily lives so it only makes sense to start incorporating it.
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