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Hello EduMagicians ,
I am so excited to introduce you to Jordyn Pistilli, a junior social studies major at Grove City College. Jordyn takes advantage of many learning opportunities on and off campus. She is a lead learner on the Edcamp GCC team, involved in professional development workshops, and an active member of Kappa Delta Pi. I can't wait for you to learn more about Jordyn. Without further ado, here we go!
Share with our listeners a little bit about your teaching story
Well, if I’m being 100% honest, I wanted to be a teacher during by day and the next version of Hannah Montana by night. As I went through high school and started enjoying my classes more and more (especially my Social Studies classes), I began to envision myself as someone who could bring lessons to life the same way my teachers were doing for me.
I started having conversations with and being encouraged by own teachers and that really moved me. Every class I’ve taken in college has affirmed for me that education is my calling. What an incredible and unique time it is to be getting into this field right now. I’m excited to make my classroom at 21st Century classroom and incorporate all that that entails.
Share more about why you want to be an educator of excellence.
Our students deserve teachers who are passionate about seeing students succeed in all areas and develop into life-long learners and productive citizens of this world.
What is your favorite educational quote and why?
“The true aim of everyone who aspires to be a teacher should be, not to impart his own opinions, but to kindle minds.” -FW Robertson
This quote especially applies to social studies educators considering the unique opportunity we have to discuss potentially controversial topics. Teachers who find themselves teaching about these issues have a responsibility to make sure students feel safe and heard, provide multiple perspectives, and equip students with the necessary skills to come to their own conclusions.
Teachers should cultivate a classroom environment where students are encouraged to think for themselves and teachers can provide the supports necessary for students to do so while taking care to never impress their own beliefs on impressionable minds.
Share a favorite teaching moment.
Last month, as part of a field experience, I taught in a local high school. I went with another education major so we took turns teaching every other period. During one of the periods my colleague was teaching, a student came in late during the lecture portion of the lesson. Knowing that the student would be unable to participate in the fun class activity coming up without the lecture info, I sat with this student in the back of the classroom and went through a more condensed version of the lecture with her.
I had to move through it pretty fast so the student wouldn’t miss out on the activity but by the end of our mini-lecture session, the student turned to me and said “I love your energy!” and in all honesty, I’d been feeling really low on that very thing that day so hearing that from a student was definitely a pick-me-up.
What is the best advice about teaching you received and how did you incorporate it into your teaching?
I once observed in a classroom in a diverse setting where many of the students had difficult home lives. The teacher that I observed told me to always be real with older students. Because of the tough things they’ve been through and seen, they’ve had to grow up faster than you might think and can detect when you aren’t being real with them. This is something I’ll take with me to every classroom I’m in. Students want and deserve to be respected and treating students younger than they are doesn’t demonstrate respect.
Who do you recommend preservice teachers to follow on Twitter or Instagram and why?
Follow people from other content areas. For the first couple months of having a professional Twitter, I mainly focused on following other social students teachers thinking I didn’t have much to learn from teachers who taught different subjects or grade levels. Boy, was I wrong!
Teachers on Twitter are looking to support fellow teachers regardless of whether they teach the same subject or in a similar type of school. Follow these amazing educators:
What is one tech tool that you can’t wait to use in your next field, student teaching, or in your classroom?
Google Tour Creator. Creating immersive and engaging virtual reality tours for students that allow them to visit places around the world that connect to your lessons. I made one recently for Great Falls Nat’l Park.
What song gets you pumped to teach?
“Mr. Blue Sky” by ELO
Favorite teaching accessory – what is one item that you can’t teach without?
Index cards. I don’t know if I’ve ever taught a lesson where I haven’t had students use index cards to jot down answers to a bell ringer question or exit ticket or list things that jump out at them from an image or video. Quickly collecting the cards and going over them provides me with the opportunity to check in with my students.
What are you currently binging on NetFlix or Hulu?
New Girl. Best show ever. Also, the main character herself was a teacher!
Connect with Jordyn Pistilli
There you have it folks the OG Jordyn Pistilli connect with Jordyn on her social media accounts to learn more about her teaching journey and inner EduMagic.
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