I have been a teacher in Thornton Township District 205 for the last 30 years. After being in the classroom as a health education teacher for 25 years, I am now one of two ITC technology specialists for our district. I have used computers since the mid 1980 's and have always tried to make learning interesting and exciting for both students and staff members. Since the mid 1990's some of the projects I have designed are:
In 1996, I participated in an Enternet workshop which helped me to construct webquests for my classes. In 1999 I taught several Ready, Net, Go! classes for South Cook ISC4 and Aurora University.
In the summer of 2001 I participated in the Apple Teacher Institute held at Northwestern University. Approximately 100 educators from all over the world and the United States attended the Apple Teacher Institute at Northwestern. The four-day intensive workshop included experiences with creating digital movies editing with iMovie software, and presentations by all participants. Participants were each given an iBook laptop computer for the entire experience, each of which was equipped with an Airport wireless connection. Participants communicated wirelessly with one another and to the university network and the Internet. Another major component of the institute was the creation of a model unit of instruction based on the grade level(s) taught. These multimedia units were shared at large group sessions. Additional topics offered included Digital Media and Project- Based Learning, Editing Digital Movies with Final Cut Pro, Internet Resources for the Teacher as Learner, Digital Whiteboards, Virtual Field Trips and Creative Implementations with Forms and Templates. The experience of learning along with technology-minded educators was inspiring as well as enlightening.
In 2001-04 I participated in several workshops, with Bernajean Porter and Kristin Ciesmeir, on evaluating student projects and administering and evaluating the State of Illinois NextSteps Survey to students and staff in our district. Administering this survey has really helped the district to evaluate where we are with technology use, where we want to be, and what needs to be done to "fill in the gaps". The surveys have been very valuable in developing our District Technology Plan. The NextSteps results are posted on my ITC page.
In the summer of 2004, I participated in Web Training for Teachers (WIT) sponsored by the University of Chicago. In this class I constructed a new webquest called Yours, Mine, or Ours?. This project, hopefully, will help students and teachers to understand copyright and fair use guidelines in education.
I have been married to Steve for 33 years and have one son, Brian. My hobbies include gardening, traveling, collecting Shaker antiques and raising my two dogs, Chloe and Bailey.
Carla
Katzberger
Thornton Township District 205
Technology Specialist
last updated 7/30/04