Get to know a CBE

Summative Assessment with CBE of the Month Patti Elfers

Posted by cemignano on

We’re excited to introduce you to October’s Certified BrainPOP Educator of the Month, Patti Elfers. Patti teaches grades 6-9 in Queens, NY and is also the school’s Mouse Squad coordinator. Read on to learn about her use of technology with students and love of BrainPOP’s resources.

What grade(s) do you teach? Subject area?
I teach grades 6-9th in a Junior High School setting.

How long have you been teaching?
I have been teaching Special Education for 15 years however, this year I am teaching general education Computer Science/Computer Courses.

What inspired you to go into education?
I was inspired to go into the education field, in part, because I love working with children. I decided to specialize in the special education field due to the fact that my own daughter had some learning difficulties that were not identified early enough and led to a lot of academic difficulties until high school.

Which CBE class were you a part of? What do you like about being a CBE?
I participated in the CBE class of 2014-15. We had a fabulous cohort and I enjoyed the feedback we were able to share with each other. I love being able to share information with other teachers about the benefits of using BrainPOP, BrainPOP Jr., etc. with students. You are able to create classes and can monitor student progress in various assignments. I understand that BrainPOP is also now able to integrated into Google Classroom or vice versa, which is a fantastic add on. Whenever, I find something new with BrainPOP, I offer to share it with colleagues that use it with their students. BrainPOP is very motivating and often helps clarify lessons that might not otherwise have been understood in the classroom.

What is one of the most memorable projects you’ve done with your class using BrainPOP resources? How has BrainPOP impacted a specific student (or group of students)?
I used the BrainPOP Digital Citizenship lessons including cyberbullying with a group of my students that had emotional disabilities. After using several of the film clips/quizzes/activities, I had the students create a Public Service Announcement on the impact of Cyberbullying. These students were very excited to work with digital materials to make a mini movie using Movie Maker in Windows. What they learned was clearly demonstrated in their end product—project. These students may have difficulty sitting still to read or have difficulty reading in general. The videos presented the content at their grade level but was still easier for them to grasp than reading text.

How has becoming a CBE impacted you?
I think becoming a CBE has given me more confidence in teaching other teachers and colleagues in how to use various technologies. I have presented at several local conferences always referencing BrainPOP as something one can use as content or to springboard lessons from.

What are you most passionate about when it comes to education, technology, and your approaches to teaching?
In terms of what I am most passionate about when it comes to education, technology and my approaches to teaching, I would have to say that I am very excited about using technology and believe that every student should have access to some type of device on a daily basis, whether it be a computer, tablet or phone. The Internet is there at the tip of our fingers and anything we want to know is just seconds away from our grasp. I am very passionate about teaching children the safe way to use the Internet and about how to keep their information private yet still be able to use the Internet for study, communication, research, etc.

What’s on your BrainPOP wish list?
I would also like to have the option to have the questions and answers read to the students on BrainPOP as they are in BrainPOP Jr. For some students, they need to hear while they read in order either to stay focused or to understand the text.