Episode 28: Spotlight on Mariana Athayde
Lowell has so many talented and dedicated educators working with our students and families. Today we are privileged to chat with STEM Academy Newcomer teacher, Mariana Athayde.
Mariana Athayde is a newcomer teacher for Grades 3-5 at the Rogers STEM Academy in Lowell, MA. Born and raised in Brazil, Mariana has experienced first hand the challenges newcomers face during their first years of education in a second language. Mariana holds a Master’s of Education in Curriculum and Teaching from Fitchburg State University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences from University College Roosevelt in the Netherlands. She has been selected as one of the WGBH Educator Ambassadors for two consecutive years. During her ambassadorship she has collaborated with teachers from other districts, presented a workshop on diversifying English language instruction with digital media at the Massachusetts Computer Using Educators ( MassCUE) 2018 conference, and is scheduled to present again at the International Society for Technology Education (ISTE) 2019 conference. She has creatively implemented technology in her classroom to empower English language learners in expressing content knowledge in an authentic and student-driven manner. She has modeled the implementation of learning stations in multileveled classrooms to teachers and administrators across the district. Mariana is dedicated to differentiated and diversified instruction that engages and empowers immigrant students.
Here with Mariana for today’s podcast are Kara Wilkins, one of Lowell’s outstanding Technology Integration Specialists. Kara, you may remember, was part of our Tech Team podcast, Episode 12 in the Fall of 2018. Recently Kara was also selected to be part of the WGBH Educator Ambassador program for 2019.
And also with us today is Carolyn Jacobs, WGBH’s Senior Manager Training and Educator Engagement. Carolyn fills us in on WGBH’s commitment to educators through the Education Ambassador program and she shares some of WGBH’s many resources for educators.
We are delighted - and excited - to share the spotlight on Mariana Athayde.
For More Information:
The WGBH Educator Ambassador program is, as we heard, by invitation. Click here to learn more about the program.
Visit WGBH/PBS’s LearningMedia website to see some of the outstanding resources available for FREE.
Mariana and Carolyn both mentioned some professional organizations that may be of interest to listeners.
The STEM Academy at the Rogers School website is found here.
The Podcast Twins thank Mariana Athayde, Kara Wilkins, and Carolyn Jacobs for joining us today. We are especially grateful to Carolyn and Kara for helping us kick the tires on our remote recording capability - and we are grateful to the tech gurus for helping make it all work!
We also thank you, our listeners and especially to UTL members for tuning in to this Episode. We welcome your general comments and feedback. If you have suggestions for future podcasts or if you are aware of a UTL member who might be willing to share expertise and experiences, please email us at utl-straighttalk@gmail.com.
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