Stephanie Platko

Part One      Until this week, I had never heard of the Magic School AI site and upon accessing it for the first time, I was quite overwhelmed with all the tools available. In the Lesson Plan generator, I was able to create a lesson for my English 3 class focusing on narrative writing. In conjunction with the class' reading of Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild , I wanted my students to write a narrative in the form of a blog post from the perspective of Christopher McCandless on the night before he embarked on his journey along The Stampede Trail. In addition to the narrative writing piece, they would be using what they have read thus far to create a digital map of his journey prior to April 27, 1992 after he graduated from Emory University in May of 1990. While the lesson is well aligned with the objectives and ELA standards I inserted into the generator, it is highly vague and while I enjoy the openendedness of the structure, I think I would have appreciated a bit more detai...

This week, we were tasked with creating an infographic utilizing our technology skills to the fullest in order to summarize Chapter 5 of How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures . Through this assignment, I was able to explore not only how prior knowledge affects the learning process as well as reasoning skills, but the list of learning strategies was enlightening. It was exciting for me as an educator to find that I used 3 of the 5 in my lesson today alone! Exploring the articles written by Mark Gura and Victor Rivero allowed me to make a list of creative tools that I am excited to incorporate into my lessons allowing my students to not only become Knowledge Constructors but also find their unlimited creativity while doing so.   References: Gura, M. (2020). Fostering Student Creativity. EdTech Digest the State of the Arts, Creativity, and Technology 2020: A Guide for Educators and Parents. p. 7. Gura (2020).pdf ISTE Standards for Educators (2017). Retrieved from: http...

Part One       Authentic Intellectual Work stems from the idea that traditional rote teaching and learning practices are antiquated and while they serve a purpose in developing a necessary "prior knowledge base," (Newmann et al., 2007) it's important to recognize that educators who prefer the traditional might be losing their students. Through formulating a curriculum using AIW, these educators could very well be encouraging the critical thinking and problem-solving skills so important to our society. Newmann et al. (2007) states that there are three major criteria involved in lessons designed under an Authentic Intellectual Work model; these criteria are the construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and value beyond school. One thing to note is that all three must exist concurrently because if one of the three criteria is missing, you run the risk of having superficiality ruining the learning process. In differentiating between AIW and the traditional educatio...

          My name is Stephanie Platko, and I grew up in Matawan, NJ. I am a graduate of the Theatre Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign with a BFA in Theatre. After graduating, I moved back to New Jersey and completed the Alternate Route Training program through the NJ Department of Education to receive my teaching certifications in both Theatre and English. I began teaching Theatre and English at Manalapan High School in Manalapan, NJ, where I stayed for two years. I spent one year teaching English at Colonia Middle School in Colonia, NJ, until I was transferred to Colonia High School to restructure their Theatre program. I have been teaching Theatre, Public Speaking, and English at Colonia High School for the last 23 years. I am also the director of their theatre program, which produces two mainstage shows per year plus one student-directed, cabaret-style fundraiser.            I live in Matawan, NJ...