Published 42 minutes ago.
Submitted by Verizon
- Renee Dawson, coach at Verizon Innovative Learning Schools, waves her “magic wand of technology” to help 8th grader Jaden Swain learn math facts.
- Lisa Hills, principal of Long Middle School, says that thanks to the technology provided by Dawson and Verizon, “we now have a whole new way of teaching and learning.”
- Dawson leverages the knowledge gained from microcredential courses available on Verizon Innovative Learning HQ to help educators incorporate technology into their classrooms.
Renee Dawson’s colleagues describe her as a game changer, an expert and a rockstar thanks to the work she did as the Verizon Innovative Learning school coach at Long Middle School in Atlanta, GA.
and dawson? She says she gets to play the role of “tech fairy godmother,” helping teachers incorporate technology into their curriculum. “I wave my magic wand and help them do things they couldn’t do before,” she says.
Long Middle School teachers are now incorporating technology into their teaching in innovative ways with the help of Dawson, as well as taking advantage of free learning apps and lesson plans available at Verizon Innovative Learning Headquarters. “That’s why [lessons] The apps that come with it are very engaging,” she says. “And they’re very different from what we usually see in a classroom with science or social studies or any other subject. It really helps our students to engage and reach that creative mode, that depth of knowledge.
His colleagues say that Dawson’s influenceor is it magic?is transformative. “She brings both teaching and learning to life,” says Lisa Hill, principal of Long Middle School.
“Miss Dawson helped me incorporate technologyshe gave me so many resources,” says Paul Hopson, a special education teacher at the school. “She’s coming in with her passion and you want to learn from her.”
It’s this passion for continuous learning that drives Dawson to complete eight micro-credentials in a year, thanks to online offerings through Digital Promise and Verizon Innovative Learning HQ. Micro-credentials are digital certifications that verify an individual’s competence in a specific skill or set of skills. These free professional development courses can be implemented in some states as continuing education credits (CECs) or units (CEUs) that are required to renew a teaching license. “I think the best teachers I’ve worked with, the best leaders I’ve worked with never stop learning and growing,” she says. “And that’s important to me as I go through my career to never stop.”
True to her style, Dawson incorporates everything she learns into her work as a coach. For example, from a professional development course at the Verizon Innovative Learning Headquarters, she learned about growing up through coaching. Once I took that microcredential, I was able to apply it to my professional development for my teachers, says Dawson.
His colleagues have taken note. “We now have a whole new way of teaching and learning because of Miss Dawson,” says Hill.
Visit Verizon Innovative Learning HQ at www.verizon.com/learning to access free learning apps, lesson plans and professional development courses tied to micro-credentials.
“I get a chance to wave my magic wand and help them do things they weren’t able to do before.”
Renee Dawson, Coach at Verizon Innovative Learning School at Long Middle School
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