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image source: personal photo
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Hello!
My name is Emily Wolken (she/ her/ hers). I was born and raised in a small, mountainous town in central Idaho. I grew up riding horses, climbing trees, and feeding the ducks at the local beach. After graduating from the
University of Idaho (Go Vandals!) in 2003, I worked as a production editor, videographer, and creative services producer at 2 different TV stations in the Pacific Northwest. At my 2nd station, I met and fell in love with the sports anchor, Zach. Not long after that, I left the news world and went back to school to get my
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| image source: espn.com |
Master of Arts in Teaching in 2011. Thinking that I would teach high school broadcast journalism, I soon found my teaching home in elementary school. Zach and I married in June 2012 and moved to the Windy City a week later, it was an insane month! We now have 2 amazing daughters who keep us very busy with all of their hobbies, but I live for the summers off with them #teacherperks. This past July, my husband and I had the amazing opportunity to visit South Africa and go on Safari. It was such a magical experience. The picture above shows us with a crash of rhinos in the background.
Background:
Professional, I have worn many hats. I was a kindergarten teacher my first-year teaching, then the K-8 technology teacher for 4 years at UNO Roberto Clemente Charter School. In 2016, I started teaching 4th grade at
Acero Carlos Fuentes Charter School for the next 6 years. My burnout came real quick after Covid. I am currently in my 3rd year as a Paraprofessional at Carlos Fuentes. I currently work 1:1 with a 3rd grader and I love it. Being able to connect with students & their families and work with kids is the best. Plus, I still have great benefits and a summer that benefits my young family.
Why am I here:
I am (slowly) getting my School Library Media Program endorsement to work as a school librarian. It has been a dream of mine for a while. I also love learning so I cannot seem to not be enrolled in school. Once my kids are older, I will continue my studies to get my MLIS to work as a Children's Librarian in a public library. This is my 3rd semester at DU and I'm really enjoying my LIS studies and I am looking forward to this course.
Me vs. Technology:
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| image source: Gify.com |
My relationship with technology is strong. Being a member of Gen X, I feel like I know a lot about technology, sometimes more than my coworkers younger than me. I love a good spreadsheet formula that makes my life easier. I use tech in all parts of my life: mom/ wife, student, and teacher. My husband and I use apps together to meal plan, create shopping lists, and manage finances. I use a calendar to plan events for my kids, photo apps to share with my family and audio books listen to books because I don't have a ton of time to sit and read. As an educator, I use technology to track progress, grades, and behaviors, to reach out to families (my school uses ParentSquare), to create lesson plans, slide decks, and worksheets. As a student, I use Speechify to read my text to me. I am a multimodal learner, so hearing and seeing it helps me so incredibly much. I use very few social networking sites, however the one I do use, I am very present on. I am very excited to learn more about technology in this class!
A few more picture from our trip to South Africa!
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| Elephant calf protecting mama- image source: personal photo |
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| Male leopard looking for another leopard in his territory- image source: personal photo |
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| Male lion looking at nearby pride- image source: personal photo |
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| Big yawn from male hippo- image source: personal photo |
Emily your photos are incredible! What an amazing experience for you and your husband. Thanks for the great post about who you are and how you use technology to benefit productivity and communication. I'm sorry the pandemic took you out of the classroom but it sounds like you are in a good place professionally. I'm looking forward to learning with you this fall.
ReplyDeleteHi Emily! I loved reading your post and viewing your amazing pictures! I am also pursuing my endorsement in Library Media Specialist and seem to love school a little too much! I am currently finishing my Masters in Education while pursuing my MLIS. I admire your strong relationship with technology. I am always striving to strengthen my technical skills and relationship with technology. Being an educator in today's classroom environment requires knowledge and continuing development in technology. I look forward to reading more of your posts and following your journey!
ReplyDeleteHi Emily! I loved reading your post and viewing your amazing pictures! I am also pursuing my endorsement in Library Media Specialist and seem to love school a little too much! I am currently finishing my Masters in Education while pursuing my MLIS. I admire your strong relationship with technology. I am always striving to strengthen my technical skills and relationship with technology. Being an educator in today's classroom environment requires knowledge and continuing development in technology. I look forward to reading more of your posts and following your journey!
ReplyDelete*Sorry for the duplicate posts. I was signed out the first time so I was labeled as anonymous
Hi Emily,
ReplyDeleteI loved reading about your journey and how you've embraced so many different roles in education! It’s inspiring to see how you've transitioned from broadcast journalism to teaching, and now you're pursuing your dream of becoming a school librarian. Your enthusiasm for technology is impressive, especially how you integrate it into your daily life and work. I'm curious—how do you find balancing your tech-savvy approach with the need for personal connection in your role as a paraprofessional?
Looking forward to learning with you this semester!
Heather
The comment above was made by me, TechInstructor101.
ReplyDelete