Hi there! My name is Kathleen (Katie) Degenhardt and was a full time High School Special Education teacher in Bloomfield Hills. I'm now devoting my time to my master's courses to finish my IT masters as quickly as possible!
I grew up in Troy, however attended Mercy High School in Farmington Hills. I then continued on to Michigan State University and was later accepted to their College of Education, majoring in Special Education- Learning Disabilities and minoring in English. Immediately proceeding graduation/student teaching, I was offered a couple of full time Special Ed. positions and decided on Bloomfield Hills, considering that was where I did my student teaching! I taught in Bloomfield Hills as a high school special education teacher for 4 years. During my 4th year, I made the very difficult decision to resign from teaching and go full time as a student to get my Master's in Instructional Technology. I recently decided to follow my lifelong dream of living out west and made the drive out to Denver, CO...I arrived here YESTERDAY!
While student teaching, I became good friends with our media technician/program/software manager and our District's IT guru for our building; needless to say, I ended up with a few programs/software updates none of our Sp. Ed. or Gen Ed teachers even knew we had. I wanted to use as much technology as our district had to offer, so I immersed myself in that setting. My last year, I had 6 iPads in my classroom which were used everyday by either myself or my students! My students and I learned (with each other) how they could access the curriculum in a way which best suited them.
Besides technology as a hobby, I am a big runner, love yoga, enjoy biking, swimming, photography/scrapbooking, reading-when/if time permits-, hanging out with my 4 brothers, my parents and keeping in close touch with my 20 cousins!
What brought me to the IT masters program? Well, one of my main goals as a Special Education teacher is to teach my students skills, techniques and strategies, they can use in their everyday school setting to show their 'true' knowledge, instead of their knowledge impeded by their disability. My other goal is to find them access to the general ed curriculum, just as their fellow students can easily access. As our world of education is rapidly transforming into a technology friendly environment, not only is knowing how to implement, integrate and utilize the tools technology has to offer, but being on the brink of instructional technology could be life-altering for my Visually Impaired, Reading Disabled, Writing Disabled, etc. students.
The program/path I am beginning is to obtain my Masters of Instructional Technology with an emphasis in K-12 technology integration. I hope to gain a more thorough understanding of what Instructional Technology really means, what it can look like in the K-12 setting and make a thorough conclusion on how to EFFECTIVELY implement and EFFICIENTLY utilize the tool-if and when appropriate.
Additionally, I believe that with a degree in science and technology, I will be very marketable and highly sought-out.
Wayne State's reputation in IT brought me to choose WSU.
As far as a favorite website, it would have to be either TED or Pinterest, as there are a plethora of topics to choose from within the age category needed.
I would like to apologize for my late response as I did not have access to my blackboard account until last night. (Unfortunately, as a result of recently moving, some of my mail was lost in the 'forwarding' process.).
Either way, I look forward to working with each of you and learn from all, as much as possible!
Katie~
"If a child doesn't learn the way you teach, then teach the way they learn." ~Unknown
I grew up in Troy, however attended Mercy High School in Farmington Hills. I then continued on to Michigan State University and was later accepted to their College of Education, majoring in Special Education- Learning Disabilities and minoring in English. Immediately proceeding graduation/student teaching, I was offered a couple of full time Special Ed. positions and decided on Bloomfield Hills, considering that was where I did my student teaching! I taught in Bloomfield Hills as a high school special education teacher for 4 years. During my 4th year, I made the very difficult decision to resign from teaching and go full time as a student to get my Master's in Instructional Technology. I recently decided to follow my lifelong dream of living out west and made the drive out to Denver, CO...I arrived here YESTERDAY!
While student teaching, I became good friends with our media technician/program/software manager and our District's IT guru for our building; needless to say, I ended up with a few programs/software updates none of our Sp. Ed. or Gen Ed teachers even knew we had. I wanted to use as much technology as our district had to offer, so I immersed myself in that setting. My last year, I had 6 iPads in my classroom which were used everyday by either myself or my students! My students and I learned (with each other) how they could access the curriculum in a way which best suited them.
Besides technology as a hobby, I am a big runner, love yoga, enjoy biking, swimming, photography/scrapbooking, reading-when/if time permits-, hanging out with my 4 brothers, my parents and keeping in close touch with my 20 cousins!
What brought me to the IT masters program? Well, one of my main goals as a Special Education teacher is to teach my students skills, techniques and strategies, they can use in their everyday school setting to show their 'true' knowledge, instead of their knowledge impeded by their disability. My other goal is to find them access to the general ed curriculum, just as their fellow students can easily access. As our world of education is rapidly transforming into a technology friendly environment, not only is knowing how to implement, integrate and utilize the tools technology has to offer, but being on the brink of instructional technology could be life-altering for my Visually Impaired, Reading Disabled, Writing Disabled, etc. students.
The program/path I am beginning is to obtain my Masters of Instructional Technology with an emphasis in K-12 technology integration. I hope to gain a more thorough understanding of what Instructional Technology really means, what it can look like in the K-12 setting and make a thorough conclusion on how to EFFECTIVELY implement and EFFICIENTLY utilize the tool-if and when appropriate.
Additionally, I believe that with a degree in science and technology, I will be very marketable and highly sought-out.
Wayne State's reputation in IT brought me to choose WSU.
As far as a favorite website, it would have to be either TED or Pinterest, as there are a plethora of topics to choose from within the age category needed.
I would like to apologize for my late response as I did not have access to my blackboard account until last night. (Unfortunately, as a result of recently moving, some of my mail was lost in the 'forwarding' process.).
Either way, I look forward to working with each of you and learn from all, as much as possible!
Katie~
"If a child doesn't learn the way you teach, then teach the way they learn." ~Unknown
Hi Katie,
ReplyDeleteI'm also a special education teacher. I'm finding there a quite a few of us in the IT program. Looking forward to working with you!
Colorado is a beautiful state! My family and I have vacationed all over the state, we went for a week long family reunion every other year for the past 18 years. But that was in the summer, I don't like the winter months any more, hence my move to TN 2 1/2 years ago.
ReplyDeleteKatie
ReplyDeleteWell I have to commend you on being brave enough to follow your dreams and move out of state. I hear Denver is beautiful, moving has always been a dream on mine, though I must say that weather is the biggest motivator for me, and of course job opportunities. Perhaps one day I'll be brave enough to do as you've done.