Sara Kraus

I have been teaching at West Holt Public Schools in Atkinson, Nebraska for the past 4 years.  Currently I teach Algebra 1A and 1B, which is Algebra broken into 2 years which allows for more time and hands-on activities for each topic, Women's Fitness and Nutrition, Yearbook, and I am the high school Media Specialist.  My extra duties include being the assistant coach for high school cross country, assistant coach for high school track, and head coach of junior high track.

My bachelor's degree is from Wayne State College in Secondary Mathematics Education.  I am working toward my master's degree in Instructional Technology at the University of Nebraska Kearney.

The biggest change in my teaching has been my patience and attitude with my students who are struggling with technology.  If I show frustration with a student who can't figure out that the "enter" key means "=" on the TI-83 graphing calculators (even after I've made that point) he or she will not want to try more difficult applications with it.  My professors and classmates have been paitent and helpful and I want my students to have that atmosphere.

Through this program I've learned that it is easiest for me to learn about new technology by just sitting down and "playing" with it.  I've applied that to my classroom.  The most successful lesson I've had getting students to graph using the calculators is to give them a class period with the directions, "work together to figure out how you could use this calculator to create a graph of y=3x+2."  Some of them sat down with the calculators and started pushing buttons, some got out the manuals, and others got on the Internet to try to find the solution.  I've learned that students need to approach technology in different ways, but they also need to be pushed outside of their comfort zone.

Communication is a key to success and technology can make that easier.  I have developed projects that help me to communicate with my administrators, students, parents, co-workers, the community, and the track coaches that attend the meets I direct. I need to be confident in my policies, decisions, and

One of the most beneficial skills I have acquired is seeking the opinions an dadvice of others in the same profession.  The discussion board in my online classes has provided a wealth of knowledge and a platform I will miss wen I complete the program.

Since I started this program I have gone from part-time employment to full-time in the West Holt School District and I have gone from sharing the high school Media Specialist position to being the only one. 

Learning to seek the advice and opinions of others in my profession has been a skill that will be used throughout my career. I've learned that it's not a sign of weakness to ask for help, but rather a way to make more informed decisions.  After completing this degree I will miss the convenience of the online discussion board to get several almost instant answers to inquiries about how other schools do things or what opinions about a given situation may be. 

I've also learned that I'm not the only one who struggles with technology.  Even classmates that I reqarded as highly knowledgeable would struggle with technology at times.  This gave me more confidence to ask questions without hesitating.