This week’s Teacher of the Week is Heidi Pedersen of Helen Carr Castello Elementary School in the Elk Grove Unified School District. Ms. Pedersen found her way to media after a long career teaching 5th grade. She credits media and the SEVA Teacher Community with giving her a special boost of enthusiasm in her teaching. She uses media as an authentic way to teach her students that their voices have power. She has quickly learned how to help students express their thoughts through video and found that ideal balance of freedom to create what they want and the structure to keep them accountable. She was able to truly utilize the SEVA program as an inspiration and motivation for her students. Her students credit her with setting them up with all the skills necessary to be excellent student producers. In fact, students in her media program really thrived under her guidance and 8 of their videos made the SEVA 2020 finalist list their very first year out!
During distance learning, her students were able to take what they learned producing for the creative expression category and keep making fun videos. We’re sure that when schools starts back up, Ms. Pedersen will be able to harness their creativity and continuing inspiring students to do their best. Thank you, Ms. Pedersen, for showing how media education can bring a jolt of energy to your classroom.
