< Previous30 • Allegheny West Magazine • Fall 2023 Cornell was recently awarded the News Literacy District Fellowship from the News Literacy Project. The News Literacy Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization with the mission of fostering engaged, empowered and informed citizens. As today’s students face increasing sources of news and media, they also face increasing challenges in navigating that media. The News Literacy District Fellowship provides funding over two years to districts for designing and implementing news and media literacy programs throughout the district. Teams of teachers and administrators were invited to apply, and this summer Miriam Klein, Amy Palo and Kris Hupp were notified of the award. Cornell’s unique size is helpful as the team works closely with multiple grades, and the district’s professional development pathways provide the time needed for addressing this challenge. This is the second year of the fellowship, and Cornell’s cohort will join districts from five different states who began this work last year. The team will spend the first year gathering information and attending relevant professional development to learn more about media literacy and identify the resources that will work best for Cornell students. In the second year, they will use their time to create resources and help teachers implement media literacy throughout the school year. This is a great opportunity for Cornell to create a sustainable program for students to help them navigate the modern world. Cornell looks forward to working with the News Literacy Project and will continue to update the progress of the fellowship! News Literacy District Fellowship Grant McVeagh presents at international tech conference Cornell educator Rachel McVeagh was invited to present at the International Society for Technology in Education Conference in Philadelphia this past June. She was among 17,000 educators in attendance at the conference, which was also live streamed. In a pair of presentations, McVeagh drew on a mountain of experience and data she’s been assembling over the past six years in her role as technology coach at Cornell. Her first presentation provided educators with 30 tips for starting a technology coaching role at their own school while the second dove more into specific success stories of how Cornell teachers have been implementing technology tools in the classroom. “Our Cornell stories emphasized that the work done in coaching is meaningful to teaching and learning, empowers teachers, and is sustainable beyond the coaching cycle,” she says. Her presentations drew rave reviews from attendees. “Great session full packed and digestible…” one attendee wrote in response. “Pace and content was relevant. I feel more prepared to launch my coaching program on my 2 campuses.” The appearance was just the latest for McVeagh, who has represented Cornell at a number of conferences focused on the use of technology in the classroom over the years. She pioneered the technology coaching role at Cornell in 2017, when the district was one of just 50 to join the Dynamic Learning Project. That has since evolved into the Google Certified Coaching Program. In her role, McVeagh has helped empower teachers with a variety of technology tools and sponsored Cornell’s tech squad club. She has even coordinated visits to Google headquarters in Pittsburgh for Cornell computer science students and tech squad members. McVeagh says that the way teachers at Cornell view the use of technology in an education setting has evolved over the years. She says teachers no longer view devices as a replacement for traditional school supplies but rather a means to achieve different goals. “Cornell teachers have said that technology coaching now feels like it is part of our school culture, it improves their technology skills, and that participating in coaching has an impact on teaching and learning,” she says. “Teachers no longer use the devices we have as a mere replacement for paper/pencil tasks. Instead, they use devices with intention, asking themselves: ‘If we would use technology with intention for this lesson, how might it change the learning outcomes for the students?’” she says. All surveyed teachers, she says, have said that their work in coaching is sustainable in their teaching practice. This coming school year, McVeagh’s role will shift to teaching ESL students in grades seven through 12. She’s looking forward, though, to implementing technology tools in her own classroom and even picked up some ideas while at the ISTE conference. “I look forward to exploring the idea of identity using some things I learned at ISTE, including StickTogether pixel art, ways to use personal photography to promote expression, and the Microsoft Flip Global Cultural Exchange Group,” she says. “In addition, a site called JohnnieMax looks really promising for building English language vocabulary and fluency for students in these classes.” She says other popular topics covered at the conference by speakers included artificial intelligence, equity in schools and instructional technology coaching. “This was my first time attending ISTE, and it was an honor to present there, representing Cornell at such a large event,” she says. “The conference was incredible - to be among 17,000+ passionate educators, learning with them and from them, was inspiring. ISTE as an organization showed that they truly are at the forefront of technology innovation in education.” Cornell’s technology coach of six years, Rachel McVeagh, delivers a presentation at the ISTE Conference in Philadelphia in June. There, she provided tips and shared success stories from Cornell to thousands of attendees. Hughey Publications, LLC P.O. Box 220 McDonald, PA 15057 Allegheny West Magazine PITTSBURGH PA PERMIT NO. 5605Next >