EDU698 Reflection Narrative Final McKee

8/13/2019 EDU698 Reflection Narrative Final McKee

1/8

Running head: Integrate. Innovate. Inspire. 1

Integrate. Innovate. Inspire.

Scott A. McKee

EDU 698

Rebecca Waters

Post University

Module 3, 2014


2/8

INTEGRATE. INNOVATE. INSPIRE. 2

Integrate. Innovate. Inspire.

Who Am I?

My name is Scott Allen McKee. I was born on January 31, 1964. I was raised and still

reside in my hometown, Merced, California where I graduated high school in 1982. I was raised

by my mother and grandmother after my father died in a car accident when I was 18 months old.

It wasnt as badas it seemed though because I was well cared for and have good memories of my

childhood and growing up in a neighborhood with a lot of children. I have two brothers; one

older, Michael, and one younger, Mark. We are all five years apart; we get along well and have

gone on to be well educated professionals in our fields.

While growing up I was more into sports than school; I played baseball, football, I was a

downhill ski racer, competitive swimmer, triathlete, bicycle road racer and now golfer. My

education started out rough, in first grade my teacher could not teach me how to read. She

became very frustrated with me and one day told me I was stupid because I couldnt read like

all the other kids in the class. This made me very angry and I was always getting in trouble the

rest of year. I was sent to the principal on numerous occasions and was given the paddle. That

summer my mom got me some help from a graduate student who was doing research on

dyslexia. It turns out I was very dyslexic, the graduate student taught me strategies and

techniques to work around my learning disability and voila, here I am today. Im still dyslexic,

yet I have overcome my early challenges to earn an AS in Life Science from Merced Community

College (1986), BS in Biological Sciences from CSU Stanislaus (1994), Single Subject Teaching

Credentials in Science and Math (1995), and Im currently near the end of my graduate studies at

Post University where I will graduate in May 2014 with a M.Ed. in Instructional Design and

Technology. If you had asked me when I was a kid if I would become a teacher, I would have


3/8


said, no way!

I married my high school sweetheart, Carmelina, in 1988; we just celebrated our 25th

anniversary last October. In May 1993 our fraternal twin daughters, Camille and Katalina were

born. Carmelina is a legal assistant for a local developer and Camille and Katalina are students

at Merced Community College where they will soon transfer to a university. We have two small

dogs we call the boys, Spike, our rescue dog and Scooter, our AKC/UKC Toy Fox Terrier; they

help bring joy to our home daily.

Current Educational Context?

This is my 19

th

year as an educator. Prior to that, I was a Medical Laboratory Technician

after graduating from Merced College for 7 years while earning my BS and Teaching Credential.

Since then I taught at Chowchilla High School from 1995-2002, where I taught; AP Biology,

Biology, Earth Science, Coached; Cross Country, Track and Field, and Tennis, and was a Class

Advisor where I did a lot of fundraising, managed finances, planned activities such as proms and

graduation trips. After 7 years of saying yes too much, I began to feel a little burned out. I

was offered a job teaching Biology at Golden Valley High School in my hometown where I had

done my student teaching. I accepted the job and taught there from 2002 till 2005. However, I

was not happy because the department was experiencing a lot of infighting amongst teachers and

it was not a good team atmosphere. So after 3 years of settling I began to look for another

school to offer my services.

This decision led me to where I am today; a Math and Science teacher for Merced County

Office of Education at Valley Community School, Juvenile Hall for the Bear Creek Academy

(2002-current). I work with students who have been incarcerated in our county for a variety of

criminal acts. Many of my students are involved in gangs, emotional disturbed, abuse drugs and


4/8


alcohol, run-aways, have been neglected and/or abused and any combination you can imagine.

Almost all of them are behind in credits and have a minimal chance to graduate high school.

Students are coming and going every day, so the chemistry of the classroom is always changing.

I have a good rapport with my students and have solid relationships built on trust and respect,

much like you would have with any other student in any other educational setting. I pride myself

on being firm, fair, and consistent with my daily routine and how I treat my students. When a

student is enrolled in my class, I sit down with them and go over their transcript, talk about their

likes and dislikes, get to know each other, map out a plan, and set goals to make the most of their

situation while they are at the Bear Creek Academy.

Each one of my classes can have up to 15 students at a time. Each group of students has

a variety of grade levels, ages, and educational needs. When I first meet with a student I assign

them math and science that is appropriate for their needs and then each day I work with students

mostly individually to facilitate their progress towards the goals we established at the beginning.

Basically, I have 15-30 individual education plans occurring on a daily basis. It can be quite

hectic at times, but very fulfilling, with many aha moments. Students stay in the same

classroom all day and the teachers rotate throughout the day from class to class. I have a cart

with all of my resources, materials, and supplies that has a laptop and net book that I use for

instruction and record keeping. Each classroom has 7 desktop pcs with limited internet access,

a Smartboard, and full internet access for the teacher laptop via LAN line.

I have always made an effort to use technology in the classroom since I started in 1995.

In 1995 the internet was beginning to be used by the public through dial-up connections. I was

one of the first teachers in Chowchilla to get internet access and I fumbled around the best I

could. Three years in a row I was awarded a National award presented by Radio Shack, namely,


5/8


The Tandy Technology Scholars Award for educational excellence and the use of technology in

the classroom. Yet I really didnt know what I was doing, I was just doing, go figure? Since

then I have continued to be a lover of technology, however, mostly through trial and error until

2011 when I became a graduate student at Post University pursuing a M.Ed. in Instructional

Design and Technology. Now I dont just do it, I do it with a plan!

Professional Goals for the Future?

My future professional goals can be described by my mission and vision statements on

my PLE, which hasnt changed only slightly edited;

Mission Statement: To create and develop a digital learning environment for court school

classrooms. All students can learn and are entitled to access to similar resources in the process.

The plan is to develop a digital learning environment for working with the lowest achieving

students in the best situation and achieve positive results.

Vision Statement: To create a dynamic and effective digital learning environment using modern

instructional methods while utilizing technology. The intended outcome is to create a model that

other similar institutions could adapt to provide educational services to students attending court

schools. This will be an on-going process that will continue long after this program.

Reflections of a Graduate Student?

I am not quite sure what I was expecting when I decided to enroll in Post University as a

graduate student. At the time I was looking for more in myself as an educator. I remember

thinking, there must be a method to this madness of using all the technology that I have

available to me and my students. I always wanted to get a masters degree, but at 47 years of

age I felt like the window had closed some time ago. One day I was looking online at different

graduate programs and came upon a list of the top programs and future trends and I saw Post


6/8


University, M.Ed. in Instructional Design and Technology, apply today online; so I did. One

thing has led to another and here I am today with a Capstone Project between me and my

masters degree. I have learned a lot about myself along the way. I realize it is never too late to

pursue a lofty goal. Being a graduate student has not been easy; with personal and professional

obligations maintaining a balance in life has been a challenge. Compared to being an

undergraduate, graduate studies are more difficult for me mainly because of other responsibilities

and obligations outside of the program. Throughout it all I have stayed true to my cause and

pursued my goal with high expectations of myself and have become a better educator in the

process. The knowledge I have gained from this program will continue to aid me as I move into

the future. Not only by what I have learned, but because I have learned how I learn best, where

and how to find information, how to evaluate and assess my efforts and student results, and

established a good network foundation that will continue to grow as I collaborate and share with

like-minded professional educators.

Post University has done an outstanding job at structuring and providing learning

opportunities that have allowed me to meet all of the program outcomes. This was evident to me

as I wandered through my PLE this week looking for evidence of meeting the outcomes. It was

also obvious when I was completing the guided reflection that each course attacked one or more

outcomes, many attacked several at a time. This gave me multiple repeated opportunities to meet

the outcomes and to develop the necessary tools to effectively learn how to learn now and into

the future to integrate technology in innovative ways to inspire my students. This is the origin of

my tagline on my PLE, edudigitalteacher.com,integrate. innovate. inspire.

I cannot think of one aspect of the program I would change, Post University, its

professors, and instructional designers have done an outstanding job developing a quality


7/8


experience. I would encourage the team to continue to stay with current trends and let the

program evolve as the dynamic educational environment evolves.

Since starting this program I am better at planning the integration of technology much

more effectively, I learn from other educators and I am more creative and innovative in meeting

the needs of my educational environment. For example, many of my students have untapped

skills and are very artistic visually and musically. Last Fall I had three students make a

compilation of raps titled, Strive. All of the songs are motivational, inspirational, and true

expressions of the artists and their lives. All lyrics are original; beats are free on soundclick.com,

using basic studio recording equipment, a laptop, and audacity software to mix. Visit BCA

Productions on my PLE to listen to their final project. One song, Keep StrivenIntro is in the

process of being considered for a full length IMAX documentary funded by Universal Studios

and filmed by Jon Long titled, Search for Freedom to be released sometime next winter. My

students are currently involved in several digital design projects for the Sacred ROK

organization, creating greeting cards, a calendar with pictures and quotes, and a movie short

regarding their experiences in Yosemite with Sacred ROK.

Towards the end of my career I would like to take on more of a leadership role as an

Instructional Technology Integration Specialist (a profession I hope to see develop) and become

a mentor for other educators in the integration and effective use of technology for teaching and

learning in their own educational setting. Currently, I am one of a few teachers in my district

who are being trained as technology coaches to help our colleagues integrate technology into

their daily practices for teaching and learning. As a masters level educator with my educational

background, educational experiences, and technology coaching opportunities I should have a

variety of options as the future of education unfolds. Ultimately, my goal is to integrate


8/8

EDU698 Reflection Narrative Final McKee

Documents

Transcript of EDU698 Reflection Narrative Final McKee