Klager 4th Grade Teacher Joanna Van Raden Named PK-12 Technology Using Teacher of the Year

Joanna Van Raden and her 4th graders.

Klager 4th Grade Teacher Joanna Van Raden has been named PK-12 Technology Using Teacher of the Year by the Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL). Drawing from a pool of thousands of outstanding teachers from across the state, and with our school competing against much better financed districts in larger metro-areas, the MACUL awards are a statewide measure of excellence in the use of technology in our schools. MACUL was founded in 1975, and has been giving out the awards since 1995.

The moment Matt Cook told Mrs. Van Raden that she had won.

Mrs. Van Raden was nominated by Matthew Cook, a Manchester Community Schools parent who also happens to be a former winner of MACUL’s Technology Coordinator of the Year. “I have had the honor of working with some truly marvelous teachers in the past and Mrs. Van Raden is the cream of the crop when it comes to teaching,” Mr. Cook said in his nomination letter.

Here is how Mr. Cook described what was special about Mrs. Van Raden’s use of technology: “One of the biggest complaints among teachers is the lack of time they have to work in small groups or individually with students. Mrs. Van Raden has provided a model which shows others how to have the time to work with each child on an individual basis and help them meet their needs.”

Sarah, one of her students, described it this way: “Mrs. V records lessons so that we can watch them anywhere, anytime, anyplace, even on the go. My brother even was watching [her] lessons [when we were at the] Grand Canyon. Mrs. V is so efficient that she does them at home.”

By spending her time at home recording all of her lessons as videos, Mrs. Van Raden is able to work with the students one on one in the classroom, at their own pace. As each student watches the recorded material, and works through the exercises in a variety of digital apps, Mrs. Van Raden can dedicate her time in the classroom to helping each student. This is a new teaching method called a “flipped” classroom. The lectures are done at home, and the homework is done in the classroom where the teacher is there to help.

Joanna Van Raden embraces Klager Principal Jennifer Mayes

The benefits of this teaching style are twofold. First, of course, it means that each student can get a more individualized education from the teacher. But probably more importantly, the extra time spent at home preparing lessons, and the time students spend at home consuming the raw information of the class work, frees up time in class for more experimental explorations. One such exploration is a time in class she calls Genius Hour. The students are free to research topics of their own choosing, and can get help from Mrs. Van Raden in producing a project that captures what they learn. They can make digital books, videos, drawings, and along the way learn to use apps like Book Creator, iMovie, and similar software that will make them more digitally literate for the future.

Student directed learning is very hard. The students get to choose their own paths, and the teacher has to race out ahead of each student and clear the way for them, helping them constantly so they can discover what they are passionate about. Surely the old model of education where one teacher takes all 30 students on a single journey at a single pace is easier to picture. But by spending a little extra time, and leveraging the new technology provided by the district, Mrs. Van Raden is showing everyone how much more can be done in the classroom.

Sarah D. who wrote the longest of the 7 recommendation letters in support of Mrs. Van Raden’s candidacy, noted, “In Mrs. V’s 4th grade class room we can set our own goals. For example we get to pick how many seconds we have on fact master. By doing this we get to challenge ourselves. We also get to pick what level we want to be at and push ourselves to the limit. Mrs. V always reminds us the sky is the limit.”

For more information about Mrs. Van Raden’s classroom, check out the full application for the award.

Students Immediately jumped up to document Mrs. Van Raden’s joy when she learned she had won the award!

For as little as $1 a month, you can keep Manchester-focused news coverage alive.

by Fritz Swanson

Fritz Swanson has written for The Believer, the Christian Science Monitor, Print Magazine, McSweeney's, Esopus, LSA Magazine, and The Mid-American Review. He serves as a trustee on the Manchester District Library Board. He's the designer and publisher of The Manchester Mirror.

Website