Katie Collaborates with Colleagues without Sacrificing Planning Periods

Katie Volkmar teaches high school English in Erie, Colorado. She uses Edthena with coaches in the St. Vrain Valley School District.

Katie said she was initially nervous about recording and uploading videos of herself to Edthena. As soon as she got started, however, she found the platform to be dynamic and valuable.

“I was nervous about uploading because I’m an English teacher, and we aren’t always the most technologically advanced of all educators,” said Katie. “But lo and behold, it was actually very, very simple.”

Particularly valuable, she said, is the way Edthena allows her to see what’s happening inside colleagues’ classrooms. She can do this without sacrificing her students’ learning time or her own planning periods.

Katie added that the capacity for peer collaboration was particularly influential on her opinion of using Edthena.

“I thought the district just wants to see what I’m doing in my classroom, as a way of checking up on me. But the platform was far more valuable and dynamic that that,” Katie said.