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Mackenna Bush - Teacher, Pikesville High School
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Mackenna Bush has been teaching at Pikesville High school for 5 years, following her experience at Towson University where she earned a Bachelor’s in History with a concentration in Secondary Education. She hopes to continue her own academic career by pursuing her Master’s degree here in Maryland. She currently teaches 9th grade College and Career which serves as a freshman seminar class, closely aligned with AVID. She has experience teaching multiple subjects in the Social Studies Department. She also coaches field hockey and softball for Pikesville. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her friends and family, and exploring the outdoors with her pup!
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March 2018
As the year progresses, so does our student’s set of skills and tools. It has been wonderful to watch my students utilize their Lighthouse advantages and allow them to enhance their overall learning experience. Currently my classes in College and Career are learning the power of speech. We have been evaluating historic speeches for weeks, and also critiquing them in various areas such as volume, tone, pacing, word choice and organization. They have had several weeks’ worth of exposure to different kinds of speeches, as well as identifying purpose, audience and impact.
The time finally came for them to construct their own. I was so excited to see what they came up with and how their confidence had developed over time. Finally a chance to see them give a proper speech, as opposed to the daunting task of reading- back to the class- straight off a power point, and calling that a “presentation”. We’ve exercised in the art of perfecting pitch, volume, and wait for it….the power of the pause. In class I had the students use Voice Thread- an app on BCPS One that allows them to post various media onto slides and then comment and view upon those posts. I set up a page for each group, in each class. In each group were about 5-6 students. They used their device to record their speech, via Voice Thread, and upload it onto their group’s page. Afterwards, we came back together as a collective whole and critiqued each other’s speeches using a rubric and criteria they had created on their own to give feedback before the big day. Not only was this a good opportunity for their peers to hear what everyone was working on, but to gain some self-awareness on the flaws they too possess in their own speech. Using Voice Thread was incredibly easy and super user-friendly. It’s a great way to break out from the normal “class discussions” and pen and paper, to voice their feedback, views and opinions using the technology that has the ability to instantly bind one another.
As the year progresses, so does our student’s set of skills and tools. It has been wonderful to watch my students utilize their Lighthouse advantages and allow them to enhance their overall learning experience. Currently my classes in College and Career are learning the power of speech. We have been evaluating historic speeches for weeks, and also critiquing them in various areas such as volume, tone, pacing, word choice and organization. They have had several weeks’ worth of exposure to different kinds of speeches, as well as identifying purpose, audience and impact.
The time finally came for them to construct their own. I was so excited to see what they came up with and how their confidence had developed over time. Finally a chance to see them give a proper speech, as opposed to the daunting task of reading- back to the class- straight off a power point, and calling that a “presentation”. We’ve exercised in the art of perfecting pitch, volume, and wait for it….the power of the pause. In class I had the students use Voice Thread- an app on BCPS One that allows them to post various media onto slides and then comment and view upon those posts. I set up a page for each group, in each class. In each group were about 5-6 students. They used their device to record their speech, via Voice Thread, and upload it onto their group’s page. Afterwards, we came back together as a collective whole and critiqued each other’s speeches using a rubric and criteria they had created on their own to give feedback before the big day. Not only was this a good opportunity for their peers to hear what everyone was working on, but to gain some self-awareness on the flaws they too possess in their own speech. Using Voice Thread was incredibly easy and super user-friendly. It’s a great way to break out from the normal “class discussions” and pen and paper, to voice their feedback, views and opinions using the technology that has the ability to instantly bind one another.
September 2017
As we embark on yet another Lighthouse school year, we have prepared ourselves for new innovative ways to engage our students, all with more confidence and assurance than last year. My nerves were more relaxed this September for I had my very own manual on how to navigate the essentials. Setting up their E-Binders on OneNote, utilizing BCPS One tools such as lesson tiles, turn-ins, and the discussion board. Not to mention the easy access to students AND parents alike in regards to reminders and updates for the class and gradebook.
I found that with this new found confidence the students hit the ground running, saving tons of time on the teacher’s end. Utilizing the discussion board enabled me to see their responses, reactions and comprehension of many lessons in an informal manner. Using the discussion board to pose a controversial question or even addressing the objective in “Exit Ticket” fashion allows the students to not only showcase their understanding, but further it by building off one another’s responses.
One of the many highlights of the first quarter however was the composition of their personal narratives. We introduced the fundamentals of writing by exploring narratives in all media forms. The students responded the best to listening to audio narratives through various Podcasts recorded by strangers from all over the country, of all different ages. The Moth is an underground organization that hosts these “open mic night” style gatherings encouraging listeners to share their personal stories. Some are funny, some are sad, while others are super moving and life changing. Some narratives are only a few minutes, while other reached close to fifteen. Regardless my students found themselves enthralled in the magic of sharing a story, an experience. At times while individually working I’d find my students listening to other stories on TheMoth.org to cultivate ideas and tactics to construct a significant piece of writing. Within two weeks they turned in beautiful personal narratives chronicling an experience from their lives, with extreme detail, fluency, tension, and suspense.
As we embark on yet another Lighthouse school year, we have prepared ourselves for new innovative ways to engage our students, all with more confidence and assurance than last year. My nerves were more relaxed this September for I had my very own manual on how to navigate the essentials. Setting up their E-Binders on OneNote, utilizing BCPS One tools such as lesson tiles, turn-ins, and the discussion board. Not to mention the easy access to students AND parents alike in regards to reminders and updates for the class and gradebook.
I found that with this new found confidence the students hit the ground running, saving tons of time on the teacher’s end. Utilizing the discussion board enabled me to see their responses, reactions and comprehension of many lessons in an informal manner. Using the discussion board to pose a controversial question or even addressing the objective in “Exit Ticket” fashion allows the students to not only showcase their understanding, but further it by building off one another’s responses.
One of the many highlights of the first quarter however was the composition of their personal narratives. We introduced the fundamentals of writing by exploring narratives in all media forms. The students responded the best to listening to audio narratives through various Podcasts recorded by strangers from all over the country, of all different ages. The Moth is an underground organization that hosts these “open mic night” style gatherings encouraging listeners to share their personal stories. Some are funny, some are sad, while others are super moving and life changing. Some narratives are only a few minutes, while other reached close to fifteen. Regardless my students found themselves enthralled in the magic of sharing a story, an experience. At times while individually working I’d find my students listening to other stories on TheMoth.org to cultivate ideas and tactics to construct a significant piece of writing. Within two weeks they turned in beautiful personal narratives chronicling an experience from their lives, with extreme detail, fluency, tension, and suspense.
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