Hello! My name is Katlin Snodgrass, but I have always gone by Katie. I graduated with my Batchelors in May of 2020, amid the covid pandemic. I student taught in a title 1 STEM school for 3rd grade math and science, as well as a week in Kindergarten. I always knew that I wanted to go back for my Masters at some point, and with the looming uncertainty of my first year during a pandemic, I decided now was the most opportune time. During this year that I have been completing my M.Ed program, I have worked a few weeks as a learning coach for 2 virtual students, spent a lot of time pulling my hair out, and I completed a long term substitute position for another district in 3rd grade math and science. During this year, I have taught both face to face students and virtual students, and then transitioned a class from virtual to in person for the first time after a year of virtual learning.
Through the courses necessary for achieving my master’s degree, I think it is important to note that I focused on three main content areas that sometimes blended but I also feel like they did not in some ways. When selecting my degree field, I honestly was torn between mathematics and instructional technology for two different reasons. I love math, and I love teaching it, but with a focus in elementary students I did not feel that the programs offered at UNT really reflected mathematics education in elementary classrooms. Therefore, I decided to take my electives in math, and through the C&I coursework, I tried to focus on the mathematics aspects as much as I could bringing in technology when applicable. Ultimately, I decided to pursue instructional technology because I do not want to live the rest of my career in the classroom. I want to start in the classroom to get a feel of what the next steps in education are, but I eventually want to transition into designing and writing virtual curriculum or supplemental tools for teachers in the classrooms. This is why I pursued my specialization in instructional technology, with my hallmark course being web authoring. For this portfolio, my courses in web authoring and photoshop were not structured in a way that makes them applicable to the C&I framework goals because they were not designed for COE students, and did not allow any repeated or similar topics to be used in assignments.