Education
A former elementary and middle school math teacher, Nicole understands the pressures that integrating technology into a curriculum can put on teachers, so her goal is to ease that anxiety for her colleagues. She is willing to teach a lesson in any teacher’s classroom, work with a teacher on a project, or set it all up for the teacher to take the ball and run with it – no task is too small or large and all subjects can benefit from technology use. On the flip side, with a teaching background, she understands the importance of introducing technology to students as a tool; one to be used carefully, creatively, and efficiently. On both sides, her flexibility and “can-do” attitude opens the door of learning for both students and faculty alike. During the weeks I visited Nicole’s classes, it was all about coding. At the younger grades, students were learning the basics of coding through card play with squares and arrows and Scratch, an on-line coding curriculum. As I moved up the grades, I saw students who were already creating games, video book reviews, and other animations. All ages were enjoying the process of learning and using this fun skill of coding, which is puzzle solving on the computer!! Nicole’s next step for technology education is that Powhatan will participate in the Hour of Code, which many schools around the world will be doing. She is using this international activity to officially launch Powhatan’s computer science program, which will build upon the skills she has already introduced to her students and further their ability to independently code. Next, she will be working with teachers to incorporate coding projects into a unit they are currently doing or a topic they are currently studying. Read more: http://powhatanschool.org/pulse/head-of-school-message/november-letter-computer-science/