INFOhio ICoach

Hello,

My name is Megan Leighty. I teach English in grades 9-12 at Symmes Valley High School in rural Lawrence County. I primarily teach 10th grade.

I chose to pursue the ICoach training program after reviewing various options for some professional development that I could work through during the summer. This program stood out in that it is ongoing and also actually useful to both the work I do in my classroom and as a teacher based team leader. Since our school is very small, rural, and lacking a librarian or media specialist, it is important for classroom teachers to understand how to access high quality materials and to be able to teach students to access and use these resources in their own education. 

My strength is that I have used various infohio resources extensively in the past and am generally knowledgeable about how to use the resources. An area of need I identified was the ability to lead discussion and professional development with others. I would like teachers in my school or team to find what I present as meaningful and useful; however, most teachers approach professional development and teacher based teams with apathy.

Welcome Megan! I love that you chose this training because it is ongoing and useful for the work you do! I hope you will find what you need to build your skills and continue to develop your strengths!

Hello,

I'm Trina Carter.  I am presently a media paraprofessional in Princeton in Cincinnati.  I work in 2 elementary libraries.

I am interested in becoming an iCoach because I am always amazed at how teachers and students are not aware of the resources they would love.  I have had the opportunity to show students some of the resources of Infohio while they were in the library.  That time is very limited, however.  I've found that most students don't use those resources outside of the library because their teachers don't realize or remember that they are available.

One of my strengths is being aware of many resources.  I need to grow in sharing my knowledge in a way that is not overwhelming to others so that they actually feel empowered to use what I give them.

Hi Trina! Welcome to ICoach! I am glad to hear that you are eager to help other educators learn more about INFOhio!

Hello, my name is Rebecca Thomas and I am the Digital Learning Commons Specialist at AIM Academy, a K-6 school in Canton City Schools. I am interested in becoming an ICoach because I have used several of the Infohio resources in the past and have seen the success in our students and would love to be able to help other teachers in our building build that same success for their students.

One of my strengths is built from working with each grade in our building and seeing every single student each week. I get a snapshot of what each grade/group of students are working on, and get to collaborate and communicate with their teachers to ensure some cohesion between what students are working on in the classroom and what they see while in the library.

An area that I would like to build my skills is in developing engaging lessons for all our students while in the library. I am confident in my ability to teach students who to use these infohio resources, but would love to work on taking the resources that are available to them and applying them to projects and activities within the library.

Welcome Rebecca!

I agree that is a strength to see what is happening across grades and subject areas! This will help you help your peers!

My name is Tara Smith, I am a third-grade teacher at Morgan Elementary. I am interested in becoming an ICoach because I utilize many tools offered through InfOhio and I set a goal through my ISTE certification course to become an ICoach. Some of my strengths is that I am knowledgable about ISTE standards and using technology in education as well as I utilize many tools on InfOhio in my classroom on a regular basis. I would like to build my knowledge of the tools on InfOhio and share what I learned with my colleagues. I assume the training will give me more in depth instruction about the different tools available on InfOHio. 

Hi Tara,

We are excited to have you in the program! I do think you will get an in-depth look a the resources, tools, and serices INFOhio provides!

My name is Courtney Gaines. I am a library media specialist/paraprofessional for Ross Local Schools and serve two of our schools; grades 4-8. I am interested in becoming an ICoach to build on my current basic knowledge and become comfortable sharing information, training, and resources with students and classroom teachers. 

I am new at my position and see that as part of my strengths. I am open-minded and eager to find quality resources for myself, our teachers and our students. I see a wide variety of age groups and capabilities and love to find ways to provide support for each of those groups in the topics they are learning. I also completed a research-based degree and have that experience to use and build on. 

Being new at this, I have many areas to build skills and confidence. Although I currently use InfoOhio, I would love to develop richer lessons for our students during their time with me in the library, as well as provide more specific support for teachers to use in their classrooms. I believe the ICoach training is a great place to start and I am excited to learn in detail about the many useful tools InfoOhio provides. 

Hi Courtney!

I love your enthusiasm - it makes me miss being in a school library! I think you will find some great inspiration to help students and staff through your ICoach training!

Hi,

I am Diana Francis. I am the Media Manager at Elda Elementary school in the Ross Local Schools District. I am interested in completing the iCoach program to futher my knowledge of the great resources that are availble through INFOhio. I have a passion for discovering and sharing quality resouorces with students, teachers and families. I believe becoming an iCoach will provide me the opportnity to support that passion.

One area that I need to build skills in is delving deeper into the tools offered within the different resources. While I have/and do, introduce students and teacher to some of the resources availble through INFOhio, I feel I've presented more of an overview of the resorces but not provided in depth training in best practices/uses for the sites.

Hi Diana,

I love that you are searching for ways to provide in-depth training on INFOhio. As a tip, I encourage you to examine the Trainer Guides available for the two Learning Pathway Classes you will choose to take and think about how to use these classes to train others!

Reposting this comment in the Reply thread....:-) My name is Jennifer Eubanks.  I am currently a 5th-grade ELA Intervention Specialist at Cambridge City Schools.  I am interested in becoming an INFOhio ICoach because I believe INFOhio has high-quality resources to offer teachers to advance their productivity, as well as, reach students that need differentiation.

One of my strengths is using INFOhio resources such as BookFlix and Storia to differentiate instruction and to bridge the gap in specific content areas.  My below-grade level readers have been able to read Science content area books, developing key vocabulary words and concepts through BookFlix before tackling the 5th-grade standard in their Science curriculum.  Becoming an ICoach will be valuable in showing other teachers how they can use INFOhio Resources to their advantage.  It's also important to me to show teachers the support is here in Ohio with INFOhio!!

An area that I want to build in my portfolio is sharing and organizing this knowledge in an easy to find area, Blog, or website specific to our needs at Cambridge City Schools.

I am excited to finally have the experience of officially being trained as an ICoach!

Hi,

My name is Kim, I work at Holy Family School in Parma as a school librarian. I became interested in becoming an ICoach after Covid-19 changed the way the students used the library and I had to find other ways to engage students and started using digital library resources. I have dabbled in the INFOhio resources but as a former teacher I was hoping that the training would help me not only to reach out to students but to help teachers with using these great resources in meaningful ways. I need to work on my technology skills. Before Covid-19, I only read a physical book and now I read ebooks and I am hoping that the ICoach training will help me to grow in my technology skills as I demonstrate to students, teachers and parents digital informational technology. 

Hi Kim - it is interesting to see how much the pandemic has changed our lives! Consdier taking the Reading on the Screen class when you choose a web tool/initiative class. I think it will have some interesting ways you can incorporate digital text for your students and staff. 

Emily,

Thank you, I will definitely look into it.

Hello, 

My name is Shelley Bowers and I am the Media Manager at Morgan Elementary in Ross Local School District.  I am insterested in becoming an ICoach because I'd like to learn more about the resources that InfOhio offers.  I am new to this position and rediscovered InfOhio after having been out of the classroom for 13 years.  I am excited to share my new found knowledge with teachers and students to help support their current lessons.  

During my InfOhio lessons this year, students showed geniune interest and excitement when I introduced BookFlix, World Book Early Learning and World Book Kids!  I am interested in building on that excitement by building on my limited knowledge of all InfOhio has to offer.

Since I am new to my position, last year felt like everything was a learning experience.  I know I still have a lot to discover regarding everything InfOhio has to offer and I believe becomimg an ICoach will only build on that knowledge.  I'm looking forward to sharing quality resources with my collegues and students.

Welcome Shelley! I am happy you are here in the program. 

My name is Sarah Kiefer. I am a Technology Integration Specialist for the Ross Local School District neare Hamilton, OH. I am interested in iCoach as a means to support the teachers, media specialists, and students in our district. It is important to me to find valuable resources for our teachers to rely on so provide quality learning for our students. INFOhio is an underutilized resource in our district so my hope is we can encourage the use of it.

One of my strengths is knowing how to work with teachers - I spent 14 years in the classroom and the past 5 years as a Tech Integration person so I know how important conversations and relationships are. I also know you can't show a tool once & walk away. As an iCoach I can add additional quality tools and resources to my PD that teachers can rely on.

An area I need to build skills is mathcing grade appropriate tools with the grade. DIgging in deeper with iCoach will help me better understand what is offered and who is the target audience. Being able to point a teacher in the direction of a couple of appropriate tools will go a long way in encouraging the use of INFOhio in my district.

Welcome Sarah! I think you will find a deeper understanding of what resources are best for learners at different levels as you complete the Pathway. If you have any questions, please let us know!

Good morning, 

My name is Allan Brown. I am the Disciplinary Literacy Coach, grades 9-12, at Canton McKinley High School. 

Through discussion with our very talented librarian, Mindy Engler, she recommended I look into the ICoach program. As I collaborate with all teachers in every content, I felt this professional learning experience would provide me with more tools to best support our instructional staff. 

My strength is that I have background with instructional design, professional development and staff support. This will balance out my lack of knowledge of the InfOhio platform and resources it has to offer. I hope to combine by strengths with the learning from the ICoach program to become a more valuable resource to our classroom teachers. 

Hi Allan! 

I think you will find the INFOhio ICoach program is a great fit for your role. I am looking forward to the insight you can share as you work through the classes!

Hello,

I'm Paul McIntyre.  I am one of the Technology Resources Teachers in Canton City Schools.  I am assigned to Early College @ Lehman which includes grades 7-12.  My responsibilities include supporting all things related to technology integration to assist students, teachers and staff.   INFOhio is a fabulous tool teachers may use in their instruciton.   I wanted to become an ICoach to support teacher use of INFOhio.

One of my strengths is using technology in instruction providing students with access to learning digitally as well as in a traditional setting.  INFOhio provides a wealth of resources and communication tools assisting teachers along the path of integrating technology as well as best practices in classroom instruction.

Although I recognize the breadth and depth of resources INFOhio provides, I need to immerse myself in these resources so I can lead my teachers to another resource.

Welcome, Paul! 

We are glad to have you here! Going through the online classes in the Learning Pathways will be a great way to immerse yourself in the resources. These training classes are also a wonderful thing to share with educators when introducing new resources. 

Greetings! 

My name is Anne Hribar and I am currently at Incarnate Word Academy in Parma Heights. I think INFOhio is a much-underutilized resource. I wish to gain deeper proficiency in my use and application of it to recruit more educators to employ it with their students and families. A strength from the learning questionnaire is an understanding of high-quality instructional materials. This will help me as an ICoach because I will be able to bridge that understanding with the resources within INFOhio that I already use as well as will learn more about and equip me to provide more comprehensive support to the educators with whom I work. In terms of building and developing skills, I have admittedly not utilized INFOhio as much as I would have loved to as I feel the last two years other educational needs jumped to the forefront. I am committed to digging deeper and embracing this opportunity moving forward.

Hi Anne,

Excited to hear your renewed commitment to bringing INFOhio's resources to your peers. These classes have been designed you get what you need to be successful. Feel free to reach out with any questions!

Good Monday Morning, 

I am (finally) hopping on this training--as I've just cleared the (district) deck of last year's clutter and have space now for moving forward.  It is a privilege to participate in the iCoach endeavor, as at present this district cannot see its way clear to filling an opening for Library/Media Specialist 6-12.  While it is unrealistic to consider filling this void myself--I do believe networking through INFOHIO can keep us somewhat enfranchised. 

The assets I bring to this role include 36 years of experience as an English teacher and instructinal coach, 7-12.  I have a Masters in Curriclum with an emphasis on Instructional Technology and several years of teaching in the graduate program at Baldwin-Wallace. I am a researcher--a doctoral student currently writing the Literature Review of my dissertation so EBSCO databases and Noodle Tools are in my wheelhouse along with Points of View. 

What I absolutely want to learn more about is the full range of tools and assets available for PK on up through high school.  I am particularly interested in enlisting teachers and students with the breadth and depth possible through resources like GO-ASK, ACT, ACHIEVE and OHIO MEANS JOBS. I think we are underutilizing these treasure!

Thank you for having me.  Excited to be here. 

Hi Melanie,

I am excited you are here! I think you will bring some great insight to this training and I am looking forward to hearing more about how your impressive experience frames the INFOhio resources!

Happy Fourth of July, 

The dust of 2021-22 has finally settled and the CCIP for FY 23 just went down to ODE.

So now, I am signing into this I-Coach training--so grateful for the opportunity.

My "WHY" is a direct result of the district where I am in the lead for Teaching and Learning not understanding the critical nature of Library/Media for grades 6-12.  We have now gone a year and are headed into another without filling the opening created by a retirement.  

My readiness for this work is a product 36 previous years as an English teacher and instructional coach.  Research was and is my thing so databases, Noodle Tools,  and Points of View are in my wheelhouse. 

However, I am very excited to learn more about the advantages offered by GO--Ask, Act, Achieve and to finally discover what is buried in OHIO MEANS JOBS. Also--While I am familiar with Book Flix, I am anxious to deep dive into CAPSTONE/PEBBLE GO, HIGHLIGHTS, and other new resources. AND--to figure out how best to introduce these to teachers. 

My name is Amy Gustin and I am the Instructional Technology Director at Miami Trace Local Schools in Fayette County, Ohio. I taught in the classroom for 20 years and I am starting my 5th year as the Technology Director. 

I am interested in becoming an ICoach because I think InfOhio has so many wonderful resources to offer our staff. I want to be able to share these resources and provide professional development so my staff can get excited and engage in this application. 

I have a variety of experiences in the classroom - elementary and middle school and English Language Arts and Math. I feel these experiences will help me as an ICoach because I know what is needed in the classroom to make learning fun and engaging for students.

I would like to build my professional development library with my staff. I have a huge supply of technology resources to share with my staff but organizing and showcasing these tools can be overwhelming at times. I hope the ICoach training course will help. 

You are bringing a wealth of information and experience with you to this training. I hope you can share how you present tech resources including INFOhio with other ICoaches!

Hello! My name is Kara Hemminger, and I'm a certified library media specialist in Olentangy Local Schools. I want to complete the ICoach program because I use and love a lot of INFOhio resources as a teacher-librarian and realized that not everyone is aware of all it has to offer. I want to be able to learn as much as I can about these resources to use with my students and to share with my colleagues so they can use them as well. 

I feel comfortable presenting professional development to colleagues as well as sharing resources with parents and have experience in doing so. This will help me in sharing what I've learned throughout the training with other stakeholders. 

I need the time dedicated to learning more about the resources offered through INFOhio. I have several that I've used consistently, but I realize I might not be using them to their fullest potential. I'm also interested in exploring the resources I haven't used yet to see how they can benefit my students' learning.  

Welcome, Kara! I am excited to see that you are eager to share INFOhio resources with your peers and parents.

Hello,

My name is Jessica Long and I am the Library Media Specialist at Chapelfield Elementaary in Gahanna Jefferson Schools. I just finished my first year in the library after 20 years in the elementary classroom in grades 2 - 5. I am interested in becoming an iCoach because I just started to explore the resources that are available through InfOhio and sharing them with students to guide their inquiry and research. I think these resources can be very helpful to classroom teachers, but I do not think that many know about them, so I want to change that.

I would say my strength is having explored and shared several of the resources with my students (World Book, Capstone, PebbleGo Next), but in a self-directed manner. I feel comfortable giving presentations to staff and parents.

I need to build skills with more formal learning about the resources, espcially the ones I have not explored yet. I also need to build my skills with how to present about InfOhio to staff without overhwleming them and helping them see the usefulness of the resources.

Sounds like you have some great skills coming into the training! I hope you find that the LP for ICoach gives you the support you need to help your staff!

Hello,

My name is Lisa Zeszotek and I'm a library technician for the Fairview Park City School district. This training was recommended to me by our Curriculum Director and I am excited to learn more about the INFOhio resources and how they can be utilized by our staff and students. While I'm not a teacher, I work in our high/middle school library/innovation center and feel I can be a valuable asset to our students.

One of my greatest strengths is the relationships I've been able to develop with our students and staff. We are a 6-12 building and I see every student almost daily, which gives me insight into what each grade level or different classes are learning and working on. Prior to this last school year, I was at our elementary building, so I even know many of the incoming 6th grade students and look forward to helping them transition to middle school life. 

I think a skill I need to work on developing is really just learning what kinds of INFOhio resources are available and how I can help implement them in my building. I have helped students use INFOhio databases for research, but would really like to learn about other resources and am grateful for this opportunity. 

Lisa, You may not have the "teacher title," but certainly do TEACH.  Students and colleagues who have the "teacher title" look to you for guidance and support--both technical and inspirational. 

So happy you are here and that TOGETHER we are RE-DISCOVERING today's INFOhio.  So much to learn and share! 

It is great to hear that you already have relationships built. That is so important for ICoaches when they are leading and training others!

Hello. My name is Beth Blaustein. I am the K-5 teacher-librarian at The Brecksville Broadview Heights Elementary School. I would like to become an iCoach in order to learn about and share the wonderful resources from INFOhio with staff and students.

I am quite proficient at introducing the INFOhio resources that I am familiar with (BookFlix, World Book) to the staff and students in my learning community. As an iCoach, I can continue to promote these tools.

There are many resources in the INFOhio K-5 Grades that I am not familiar with. My goal is to learn as much as possible through the iCoach training (and beyond) to be able to create useful trainings and lessons to share.

How exciting to have new resources to share with your staff!

Hello,

My name is Chad Hoffman, I am the technology resource teacher at Canton McKinley High School.  In my role, I provide teachers with support in technology integration and instructional planning.  I would like to become an iCoach to add another resource to share with teachers that they can use in instructional design.  Navigating educational technology resources is a strength for me, so I am looking forward to becoming familiar with all that InfOhio has to offer so that I might be able to better support teachers.

Welcome Chad! I am glad to hear you are lending a current strength to the desired outcome of this training!

Hello All! Sorry, I am late! 

My name is Amanda Whitmore. I am a Technology Integration Specialist at Youngstown City Schools. I would like to become an ICoach so that I can support the teachers in the district to use INFOhio in their classrooms. 

One of my strengths would be my use of INFOhio in my classroom. I have utilized it enough to be able to support the teachers in the classrooms. 

I need to build skills by gaining more knowledge with INFOhio. It will be to my benefit the more I understand all that it has to offer the teachers. 

Hello. My name is Delilah Williams and I'm a teacher with the Youngstown City School District. I'm seeking to become an ICoach because I am building my toolbox of technology resources. INFOhio has been around for a very long time and their connections between teaching and learning is priceless, and I want to be able to share this valuable resource. A strength that I possess is that I love learning about technology and helping others become familiar with using it, especially in the classroom. An area that I would need to build upon would be persuading or convincing my teaching peers that using technology isn't a scary or bad thing. By gaining the information from the ICoach program, I believe I will be able to present many of its facets to my colleagues, in hopes that they will in turn find it as useful as I will, in developing their lessons.