Interviewers:​ Kayla Billard, Gabby Redpath, Jaclyn Davis

Interviewee:​ Kati Holmes

School: ​Montgomery Blair High School
Role:​ Classroom teacher- 11 Inclusion & 12 Honors

What are the most frequently used devices in your (class/school)?

Chromebooks (in every classroom), Promethean board (older models), and phones (not always
intentionally)

Can you share the funding source for the devices or suggestions on how I can acquire
resources or devices when I begin teaching?
MCPS provides them for each school, but in other districts she has filled out a lot of grants
(Microsoft, Apple, Google, and tablet grants) which she recommends.

How did you learn about using technology and implementing technology in your
class/school?
Undergrad/graduate courses at UMD, a summer class to become a “Google Certified Educator,”
a “Google Certified Trainer” class.

What best practices have you observed for the implementation of technology with
children?
Blended and Personalized Learning (meaningful integration, choice, and voice), not just
digitizing paper materials but using technology meaningfully.

What technology would you suggest as a resource for communication with families?
Email is helpful and the new CIS gradebook will help efficiently email parents. Parents can also
be added to Google Classrooms so they view the expectations and their child’s work.

I know you use technology to allow for student choice and self-pacing in your classroom.
Could you share the tools and strategies you use for this and the results you’ve seen in your
classes?
A totally self-paced classroom takes a long time to introduce and should be done gradually. The
first semester, literature circles introduce the idea of student choice. After that, students complete
the January project, which is totally choice-based. Students choose their text, select which
assignments they want to complete, create and submit their own calendar. Students self-assess on
how productive they were and if they met deadlines. Although it’s a lot of teacher work on the
front end, the payoff is worthwhile.
Do you have any recommendations of helpful online tools for students with specific needs
(IEPs/ ELLs?)
PearDeck has immersive reading functions, translations into foreign languages, and a picture
dictionary. Google Read and Write is a more accessible tool because every student has access to
its basic functions on the Chromebook. This resource has a picture dictionary, and the option to
change the reading voice and speaking speed.

What did the process to become a Google Certified teacher look like? Were you
approached to do this or was it something you sought out on your own?
Sought out on her own. Completed over the Summer while teacher at Fairfax, even though they
didn’t have the same technological resources as Blair. Coursework is available online and all
lessons are free. It’s about 80 hours of work. Certified as a level 1, level 2, and trainer. She also
works with other places teaching people how to use Google technology.

Have you ever introduced a new technology or tool that ended up being terrible? What was
it?
Yes, all the time. Flipgrid, in particular, (an app which has kids record themselves answering
questions) didn’t work out. It was too time consuming. Her recommendation is not to to
introduce any technology that makes kids log into or sign up for a new program

Do you believe that teacher prep programs are doing enough to prepare future teachers to
effectively use technology in the classroom? Were you prepared?
Not at all. Her education program at UMD did not prepare her adequately. She had to complete a
new tech portfolio at Fairfax schools because UMD’s didn’t count.
The technology standards are still very low, but we’re moving towards paperless classrooms.
Access is still a big issue with lower income students but Blair has Chromebooks in the media
center for students to sign out, tablets that can be borrowed for four years, and basic wifi access,
but most students don’t know the resources are available. Furthermore, undocumented students
may be afraid to fill out all the necesary forms.
Kayla Billard

TLPL300

3/12/20

Speaking to Ms. Holmes was an incredibly enlightening experience. I knew I wanted to

speak with Kati for this assignment because she is the only teacher in the Blair English

Department with a full Google Certification and the only educator that I know of who

runs an entirely paperless class. As such, I rightly assumed that she would be an excellent

resource to learn about technology available in Blair and free online tools that any teacher

can access. In my current placement, my classes are run through Google Classroom and

most writing assignments and surveys are typed and submitted electronically. However,

as a first time user of the platform, I am only comfortable with its most basic functions. I

took this assignment as an opportunity to further my own exposure to educational

technology.

One aspect of the interview that most interested me was Kati’s explanation of an

assignment that she has deemed the “January Project.” Last year was the first time that

she introduced the project in its current form, but she is a huge advocate for its success in

the classroom. With her 12th grade honors students, the entire month of January is

devoted to a self-paced, choice-centered unit. Students are offered an option between

three novels, personally select which assignments they want to complete (and how many)
from a curated list, create a calendar to pace their own deadlines, and work individually

to self-assess their progress and time on task throughout the month. Kati explained that

the goal is to make students feel empowered in their own learning and prepare them for

their job or college career after graduation. Even students who didn’t like having so much

freedom in the classroom reported that it helped them prepare for their future endeavors.

Kati uses Google Slides and adds hyperlinks into presentations so that students are able to

follow through a guided presentation at their own pace and use the links to access all the

assignments they need to complete. The entire project is housed within the Google Suite.

Another aspect of the interview that I thought was very interesting was Kati’s

insistence that, even though there is a much stronger push towards technological literacy

in teacher education, she believes that the majority of teachers are unprepared to fully

integrate technology into the classroom in a truly beneficial and innovative manner. As

someone who is often skeptical about a fully paperless classroom (I definitely see the

merit in a good, old fashioned paper, pencil, and book) I would also be the first to admit

that my own technological knowledge is often lacking. For as much as I’ve learned about

theory and pedagogy, I don’t feel that many of my earlier classes have encouraged me to

play around with technology. For the most part, I have not been introduced to helpful

technological resources and find the sheer amount of online tools overwhelming to sift

through in my own free time. Even when I was crafting my own Google Classroom page

this semester, I was learning on the fly. This is part of the reason that having such an

experienced resource as Kati available is so helpful. In just a short interview

conversation, she introduced me to numerous resources I had never heard of, such as
PearDeck and Google Read and Write. I already have a lot of ideas of how I can

incorporate this into my own classroom for my students with IEPs and one student who

reads severely below grade level, cannot function without personalized attention, and has

a suspected learning disability.