Navigating the Journey: Caroline Amberson's Transformation Through Instructional Design

Welcome & Guest Reintroduction

Jackie Pelegrin 0:01

Hello and welcome to the Designing with Love podcast. I am your host, Jackie Pellegrin, where my goal is to bring you information, tips, and tricks as an instructional designer. Hello, instructional designers and educators. Welcome to episode 118 of the Designing with Love Podcast. I'm excited to welcome back a familiar voice, Caroline Amerson. The last time Caroline joined me, she was just getting started in the Master of Science and Instructional Design program at Grand Canyon University. Today she's back as a graduate and K-12 educator who's actively putting her instructional design skills to work in the classroom. And this episode will reflect on her journey from those early days in the program to graduation, talk about what she's learned along the way, and explore how her new instructional design toolkit is shaping both her teaching and future career path. Welcome back to the show, Caroline.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

Hi, Jackie. Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be back as a graduate.

Jackie Pelegrin 0:59

Yes, absolutely. That was something we talked about when you were in my one of my classes, is let's have you back on after because I think it's really great to kind of see that journey and that trajectory. So that's great. So to start, for some of my listeners who may not have heard your earlier episode, which I think most of them have because it's on the top five, but just in case, can you briefly reintroduce yourself and share what has changed in your instructional design journey since you first started in the master's program at GCU?

SPEAKER_01 1:29

Sure. So my name is Caroline Amberson, and uh I'm currently a sixth grade teacher for San Bernardino City Unified School District. But I'm not just a sixth grade teacher, I am a demonstration teacher program specialist, which means that I sort of wear a lot of hats. Uh I'm a demonstration teacher, so people can come from all over California to observe lessons in my class. Um I record videos of instructional strategies and have a YouTube channel for them. And then I'm also a program specialist for my district, which means that I'm creating

From Accidental To Intentional Instructional Design

SPEAKER_01 2:00

and presenting program or excuse me, professional development modules and workshops and that sort of thing as well. Um ask me that second part of the question one more time.

Jackie Pelegrin 2:10

Oh, uh so what's uh what's changed like in your journey since you first started the program? There you go.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Okay. So I will say that um while my instructional design journey sort of began actually about 13 years ago when I became a program specialist, initially that wasn't really the job description, but as the program has evolved over time, demonstration teachers have taken a lot more ID. So I've kind of had to learn in the field and fly by the seat of my pants. And now with this degree behind me and a lot more information under my belt, I've really gained a lot of confidence. There are things where I go, oh, that's exactly why I do this. Now I have a now I have a name to put towards the strategy that's sort of been this half-formed idea in my mind, or like um I have an understanding that has come sort of through years of experience, but I it was never really something that I was able to specify or clarify when explaining to somebody else. And now I'm really able to come to the table uh with confidence and with a toolkit that says, hey, I know that these things work, these are research back strategies, and I'm ready to put them to use and to combine things in a way I've never been able to do before.

Jackie Pelegrin 3:29

Wow. So it's really deepened what you do now. And yeah, it's it's it's really given you that confidence, like you said, and that ability to be able to say, now I know exactly what this is, and it's I'm not just doing a hodgepodge or something, but I'm actually able to make sense of it now. And uh and it's so many, it's interesting because so many individuals that I talk to when I mention what instructional design is, because so many people still don't fully understand what it is until you explain it to them, and then they have that light bulb moment where they're like, Oh, that's what that is. And I said, Yes, once you know what it is and you can put the name to it, then you start to understand it. And some people just realize they've been instructional designers without even really knowing it. Exactly. Yeah, it's that's where that accidental instructional design term comes from, right? So yeah, you just stumble into it or you're you're doing it and you just don't realize it. So it's really neat.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

Being purposeful about learning about it also has sort of like ignited a passion for me that now I'm able to pursue threads. Whereas before I looked at sort of the braid of the entire instructional design overview of what I was providing for my district. Now I can tease apart those threads and go, oh, this is really interesting and I can understand what's happening here. And I have a much more passionate perspective for that aspect of my job than I did before.

Jackie Pelegrin 4:52

Wow, that's great. So, for example, like taking the Kirkpatrick model, you know, a lot of instructional designers, when they're or teachers or anybody within education before they enter a program in instructional design, they probably don't know about Kirkpatrick's model of evaluation. And then once you know about it, you're like, wow, now I have a powerful tool where I can truly evaluate the learning, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:15

And I can apply it across working spectra too. It's not just like it only applies to my sixth

Kirkpatrick & Making Theory Click

SPEAKER_01 5:20

grade classroom or it only applies to my adult learners. I can sort of apply it to just about anything that I'm designing.

Jackie Pelegrin 5:26

So that is, yes, it's a very helpful tool. Right, exactly. And it's interesting to kind of hear when novice instructional designers are like they really understand those types of models and theories and principles. And so it's it's great. It's it's it's wonderful to see that light bulb moment for them, like, oh, I make the connection now. I get to see it, especially when it's in real context in real life, and it's not just them learning it, but they actually get to apply it, see it in action. That's when that's when it really changes. So yeah, I love that. So when you think back to your journey from that very first class to the capstone, which you just finished not too long ago as of this recording, was there a particular course, project, or moment in the program that became that real turning point for you and how you think about designing learning experiences, not just for your kids, but like you said, for the adult learners?

SPEAKER_01 6:18

You know, I think um there were a few that were pretty pivotal, but one that really stands out is um first learning about Mayor's principles of multimedia. I had been looking at, you know, modules that I created or workshops that I designed for my district. And I've always been able to sort of say there's this ineffable quality of this is too busy, or that doesn't have enough text, or this doesn't have enough, you know, to counterbalance the amount of text. But I never really understood the particulars of why or how. And learning about Mayor's principles gave me a very clear lexicon to be able to discuss it, in addition to like an organizational structure that I could say, here's a checklist of exactly what I'm looking for and exactly what I don't want to see. So not only has that really helped me with instructional design from a professional perspective, like when I'm working with adults, to also what I create for kids, being able to say, ah, this is this is this, but toned down to what I need for sixth graders. And this is going to be applicable to the teacher who I'm working with who teaches kindergarten and sort of apply that across all pedagogy and andragogy because human beings react to multimedia in really similar ways. And I think being

Mayer’s Principles As A Turning Point

SPEAKER_01 7:40

able to speak intelligently about it instead of just sort of having these like nebulous ideas of, ah, this doesn't really work, and I can't quite put my finger on why it doesn't work, or I think it's a little something, or you know, we we use those phrases when we don't have the right vocabulary where we say, this is a little too much, or that's not quite enough, but we're not really clarifying what we're talking about. So it's given me a mental structure to be able to attack problems of practice within my field and also to communicate with other designers. So if I'm working with another demonstration teacher on a workshop, or if I'm working with another teacher in elementary school to create a lesson that's going to be taught across our grade levels, this gives me a way to work with them and bring some expertise to the table. And it was also really eye-opening to go, hey, it does bother me when somebody's just saying the exact same thing. And I always sort of unconsciously avoided doing that, but I had no idea why. And now that I'm aware of what's happening, I say, Oh, I'm not gonna just read the slides. Or when they go, okay, let's all read the slides together. And I realize, wait, that's actually poor practice. Instead, you can do X, Y, or Z. So I really just being able to learn more about those. And we hit upon them in several of my courses, but that was my oh, this is amazing.

Jackie Pelegrin 9:04

This is why I'm here, sort of. Right, exactly. When you, yeah, you're like, oh, redundancy principle. Now I know there's a name for it, right? Or coherence principle. Yeah, it's it's great. Yeah. And then it as you use them more and more, you you start to see those elements come to life, and you're like, okay, yeah, this is great. Yeah, so I love that. That's wonderful. Yeah, I've been noticing too, like uh a lot of my students have been discussing that and they've been discussing universal design for learning quite a bit lately, especially with the different types of learners, like neurodivergent learners. That's been coming up in a lot of my conversations and my podcast episodes and the alpha um learner, you know, gen alpha and all of that, because that's the newest generation coming up and how we need to pivot and account for those learners coming up. So even though I'm in higher education, I'm hearing all those discussions and yeah, and reading them. So I'm like, ooh, this is this is amazing. So that's been happening a lot in my the class I just finished that I'm teaching now, it's the theories class, and we're talking a lot about accessibility and UDL, and I'm like, this is great. I love it.

unknown 10:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

And you know, I actually feel like all of those things that you just mentioned go hand in hand. So to me, Mayor's principles and UDL are running parallel paths. If you are genuinely implementing Mayor's principles of multimedia, then you're making things accessible to your learners because you're not overwhelming them visually, you're not overstimulating them with too much audio, you're not leaving them behind with no audio. You're providing all these multiple pathways toward understanding. So I think that they're not the same thing, but they sure are best friends.

Jackie Pelegrin 10:47

They are. And cognitive load theory too. Yeah, it really, really plays into it. Uh, because it's interesting. I did a whole series on my podcast. Uh I think the last episode of it was, I think it just came out and it was uh so I started with the top 10 models and theories, and then I went through, I was like, oh, actually, I should add some additional ones. So I think it ended up being 18 models, but I did the top 10, and then I ended with like, okay, now you know all these, now put it into practice. And that's kind of where the idea of the book came from. And so it was like, wow, this is amazing. But as I was doing all those, it was neat, Carolyn, because I realized, okay, I can reference back to this earlier episode on this, because this relates to all those different. So some of my some of those episodes have a callback to three or four episodes before that. So I was like, wow. So I didn't even realize it, but I was creating like a library of different things and referencing back to those. So it's pretty neat to see the connections and how they're interwoven. Like you said, they're different in ways, different ways for a reason, but there's so much that they're interwoven together in different ways, too. So that's great.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

Well, this let me change my answer to taking a macroscopic view of the program and seeing the interconnectedness. Because you're right, it really is. It's not just one, it's almost like there's one first step onto a road, and then once you're on the road, you realize, oh, I've been on this road for a while. I just didn't understand the signs that I was on or that I was looking at. So it's pretty amazing.

Jackie Pelegrin 12:19

Yes,

UDL & Cognitive Load Connections

Jackie Pelegrin 12:20

I love that. That's great. Yeah. And I did an episode like that. It was about um subject matter experts because so many go into the field and they're they don't know how to work with subject matter experts. So I did like this uh this road theme through all throughout, and I was like, mile marker one is this, mile marker two. So when you mentioned that, I was like, oh, that made me think of my the one about the SME connection. So yeah, that's neat. Yeah, I love it because then you can kind of help people go, oh, this okay. I I I even had like a little glove box thing. So I was like, here's your little glove box guide, you know, put it in your glove box, and then when you need it, you pull it out. And so, yeah, here's your little rest stop, you know, if you need to rest along the way, make sure you do that.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

So is there like a-with adult learners, that sounds adorable to me.

Jackie Pelegrin 13:09

Yes, exactly. I love it. Yeah, I'm sure your kids would be like, oh, this is great. Yeah, exactly. And then as adults, we kind of go, Oh, yeah, I I know that's akin to you know, the road trip and driving. So yeah, it's kind of neat. I love it. That's that's awesome. I love that that you're able to kind of kind of see that big picture too. So yeah, that's great. So I wanted to talk about um just being able to balance everything uh because as we know, going back to school full-time is just it's not easy. And even online too. I've I've done I've been there and done that too myself, so I can empathize with all those that go back to school online. So, how did your approach to balancing the teaching grad school and life evolve from the beginning of the program to the end? And what ultimately helped you stay grounded through all of that?

SPEAKER_01 14:36

You know, I feel like I had a pretty good start. Um, first of all, I'm I am now solidly into my career. So this is my 23rd year of teaching. Uh, so I have a set of organizational tools that have served me well for many years. And I just made sure to really adhere to them. So making sure that everything that I have for my classroom, I set aside time for those things to happen, making sure that everything I needed for my demonstration teacher position, I set aside time for those things to happen. So being sure to block off specific schedule areas and say, this is the time that I'm gonna do X, Y, and Z, and I will not waver from that. That really helps to make sure that you start structured and you end structured. Life happens, you know, some definite life situations happen along the way, and there are gonna be things that sort of try to pull your focus. But if you have, if you're driven and you understand that you're gonna have to go back into it as soon as you could possibly can and get, you know, okay, let me handle this situation. Uh, you know, I had a car breakdown in the middle of all of this and some other things. So let me handle that situation. I also bought an entire new house and moved in the middle of all of it as well. So you know, some things that I had to say, let me devote some time to that, but I still have my sort of inviolable blocks of no matter what, I'm going to make sure that I have my DQs ready to go so that I can hit submit the day that they're due and I can have, you know, my assignments done on Saturdays and sort of create a schedule that I respect myself enough to follow very closely. And just making sure that any sort of executive dysfunctions to which I'm prone, we all have some, you know, that I had planned

Balancing Teaching Grad School & Life

SPEAKER_01 16:30

for those in advance. Uh, I also did the entire thing in a pretty short span because I did a course overload and had a couple of overlapping classes a few times. So I did it all in 10 months, which was definitely a very quick pace to try to get it done. Um something that helped me is actually something that I work with my elementary students. Uh, I teach sixth grade this year, but I've been every grade except for third at some point in my career. Uh, and I've always worked with them to sort of create a mantra that would work for you. Or it's just something you say to yourself if you're having a really hard time. And uh my personal one is I can do hard things. And I told my kids, you know, like I say I can do hard things, and I they say to me too, because I tell them, like, never, never forget, you can do hard things. Like it might be challenging, but you're gonna persevere because you're capable of doing hard things. So I to I made a joke, like I've had to say I can do hard things to myself so much in this past year that my dog is probably going to start speaking English. And if she does, her first words are I can do her things. I can do her things.

Jackie Pelegrin 17:37

I love that. That's great.

SPEAKER_01 17:42

Yeah.

Jackie Pelegrin 17:46

Absolutely. I love that. And taking that proactive approach is so important, especially in graduate school. And you're and if you're going online, I did the same thing that you did. I would, I would have all my DQs done. I would, I would our our weeks were a little bit different at Walden, but uh they would start on Sunday and on Saturday. So we had that traditional week, you know, of the way it would start. But every Sunday I'm like, okay, this is the new week, and let me put all the let me put the DQs in a Word document, start typing them out, get my references, okay, start working, see what I'm gonna, how I'm how am I gonna approach the assignment, you know? So that way it wasn't like always a last minute digital of trying to do things and that uh staying organized and yeah, because you just never know. Life can just throw you a curveball. And if you're not prepared, sometimes you have to buy any cops halfway through, you never know. Right, exactly. Yep. Um, you know, sometimes you can end up in the hospital or something like that, and you're just like, oh no, and then you gotta have your computer with you, and and but then the nurse is like, nope, can't do that. I have to, I need to, you know, you don't understand. I have to be in in class, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

Well, you actually have a couple things just now that really struck me. Um, the traditional Sunday to Saturday week, I didn't realize it until about halfway through the program, but I really valued the the Thursday to Wednesday approach because that gives me sort of some light duty tasks at the beginning of the week where I'm able to say, okay, it's Thursday, I'm gonna make sure that my DQs are ready to go, that they're turned in, and that I'm able to start looking at what other people are saying so I can formulate some responses. But then I was able to dedicate a full weekend block, Saturday and Sunday, so I could do part-time towards the large assignments. Whereas I think if it were a traditional Saturday through Sunday, gosh, that means you're doing your large block assignments after work. So that sounds really challenging. I don't know how you manage that.

Jackie Pelegrin 19:44

Yeah, that's true, you know, and I think about it as an instructor too with grading. It's really nice because Thursday is that lighter, you know, time because it's just the start of the week. Nobody's really posting DQs on Thursday. Some are, but it's rare. And so I can grade participation and then I can start getting, you know, the grading done. And then usually by Friday or early Saturday, I'm all done with the grading. So I'm like, great, I can have the weekend, and then I can respond to DQs. And so your whole weekend isn't eaten up. So it's like, yeah, it's kind of nice. At first, I wasn't sure if I liked it either with the teaching, and I was like, I'm just not used to this because I was used to the way the walden had it. But I I agree with you. Once I got used to it, I was like, whoo, I really like this. I see why they they did it this way. That approach.

SPEAKER_01 20:32

I'm considering moving forward with a doctorate, actually. I'm looking at a few different programs, and now I think I'm gonna. To ask them, wait a second, what day of the week do you count as your day one?

Jackie Pelegrin 20:41

Because now that is going to make a difference to me. Right, exactly. Because you found a model that really works with GCU. So yeah, that's important. Wow. That's exciting. If you decide to do that, come back on. I'd like to hear about that. Because I think you and I talked about that earlier about the uh the I think it's the EDD, right? And instructional design that you're looking at. Yeah, because I've looked at that too, and I'm like, ooh, this is really good because no residency requirement. I'm all for that. That's great.

SPEAKER_01 21:12

I also looked into one. I've got a couple on on my back burner right now that I'm thinking about that are PhD programs that are also don't require residency, but they're going to be a little bit of a separate focus from my professional career. So I sort of want to think about, you know, um, I guess my long-term goals, because I've been a teacher for a very long time now, but I still have, you know, 20 years before retirement and I really love my job, but I do want to plan for future Caroline as well. So while present Caroline is excited to go to class every day and still is really happy in my position, I do have to account for the possibility that maybe someday I would want to shift to focus. And in that case, I have to sort of weigh the options of which would be better for me in the long run, the EDD or the PhD. And I'm still on

Microlearning & Scenario-Based Learning In Class

SPEAKER_01 22:00

the fence doing my research.

Jackie Pelegrin 22:01

Yeah. It sounds like there's no rush and you want to make sure you you do the right thing so that way you're not, you know, a few classes in and you realize, oh no, I'm I'm doing the wrong thing, I'm in the wrong path. Because it's hard to transfer credits at the doc doctoral level. Yeah, so that's good. It's important. So now that you've completed the program, which is very exciting, I love this. Can you share a specific example of how you use concepts, maybe like microlearning, because that's really popular, scenario-based learning, or maybe in another strategy in your classroom, and what impact you noticed on student engagement or learning as you were using those tools?

SPEAKER_01 22:40

Um, I actually would say both microlearning and scenario learning. So I have I attended a project-based learning institute years and years and years ago. And I had at the beginning of my career been told by administrators, you know, when you're doing project-based learning, you're gonna have to pull in something from every subject to fit what you're teaching. So if, you know, you are using a simulator where the kids are pretending to be realtors, you have to have a reading comprehension component, a writing component, a science, a social studies, a math. And it often felt like I was sort of like squaring the circle to make things fit. And it just, you know, I'd end up going, okay, well, I guess um, here's the science component of it, but I was forcing puzzle pieces that didn't really belong together. And then when I went to the project-based learning training, they said, wait a second, no, you can do project-based learning in a single subject area and just expand and really go deep into what you're doing. So I've really used project-based learning quite a bit, but then being able to see what that looked like for this program, particularly in sort of a digital landscape, has changed my approach so much in that I've I've always done project-based learning as like a culminating activity or an overarching unit. Whereas now I throw micro learning PBL at them all the time because I can do it so much more easily and quickly if I create a digital thing. And my scholars just absolutely love it. They they love to be able, in fact, if I don't offer it, they sort of give me the well, I mean, what are we gonna do that's that's an activity for this? And it's like, oh no, this is no, that's not the activity. Oh, okay, let me create something for you. Wow.

Jackie Pelegrin 24:29

My goodness.

SPEAKER_01 24:32

And it actually was um shout out to you because you gave me a heads up about um the Genially platform. Yes. That is such a such a broadly applicable platform that I've been able to do so much with. I've really created so many different microlearning experiences for my class where, you know, I can have them take branching pathways through scenarios and be able to self-select. And, you know, if you were gonna do this, what would you choose? And being able to move forward on that. And it's also highly interactive. And they really love the interactivity of the program and being able to sort of discover and figure out what they're being asked to do and to think around corners in a lot of ways. And for me, I love it because it's also very, really intuitive to create. Like it doesn't take me, I don't have to go open up some how-to video on it every time I want to try something new. I sort of play with the tools for a couple minutes, and there you go, I've got exactly what I've needed.

Jackie Pelegrin 25:35

Yes, I love it too. It's great. I've been utilizing it for all my solo episodes

Genially vs Canva For Interactivity

Jackie Pelegrin 25:40

now. I'll either use Canva if I want to create like a template, you know, or like a quick shick tip sheet or something like that. But a lot of times I'll I'll go to Genially and I'm like, ooh, I can create an interactive diagram or you know, a mini course or something like that. Exactly. You know, and and I like that too with the branching as well. It's really neat. And then you can add audio to it and add videos, and it's just so great without overwhelming. I think it's great because it really follows those principles of Mayor's multimedia and cognitive load theory. And I'm like, oh, these whoever created this, I mean, they're from Brazil. So I'm like, hats off to them because they've done a great job. And then they keep adding templates to it. So I'm always fascinated by it. Like the courses one, I'm I go into that category and I'm like, they added more templates. This is great. So I'm I'm always excited when I see new templates in those different categories. I'm like, oh, this is great. I love this.

SPEAKER_01 26:35

So it's you know what's funny to me is um my my district actually provides us with um premium access to uh Adobe Express. And I love it. I think that it's great. And my scholars create presentations and do all kinds of things with Adobe Express. But then they've started to ask me, but can we can we have access to that one? And we'll create a genially too. So that's sort of our next steps. I think I would really like to have them. And you know, we talked about uh Mayor's principles of multimedia. I and I think when I was in your class, as a matter of fact, one of the things that I said is this gives me the language to be able to explain to students why their projects work or why they don't, and to be able to create a rubric for them that really clearly illustrates what I'm looking for. So giving them, I think, a 21st century understanding of what other people are looking for and having them be able to put that into practice so that it becomes second nature for them to create those presentations and those projects. I think that's really going to give them a leg up as they move forward into high school, college, and beyond.

Jackie Pelegrin 27:38

Right. That is so true. It's it goes beyond information literacy, it's tech literacy, it's there's so much, you know, part of it that they need to be lit literate in so many areas now. It's not just the information and trying to grasp it, but it's being able to analyze it, right? And be able to put it into something that's meaningful and that you can tell that they are actually not just it's not just rote memorization anymore, right? It's actually yeah, it's active learning in so many ways. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 28:09

Well, and I think we we often forget about the cognitive load of what it takes to learn a new platform, and we sort of expect people to hop in and just begin, like, oh, take what you've learned and apply it to this. But they don't necessarily cross over. So I think that the more experiences we give kids or new educators or even veteran educators who are wanting to be a little more involved in the ID portion of their job, more chances to practice on a variety of platforms means that their toolkit is a little broader. So then they're not devoting as much of that cognitive energy towards how the heck do I embed a video or what do I have to do to make audio be here? Right. Speaking of the audio, that something that just occurred to me is one of the things that my scholars have told me is they actually like to be able to do them at home because I embed audio of myself explaining something, and then they can take it home, sit in their room, concentrate, and really put things together, or because it's mobile, it can go with them anywhere. Or oh, I did it in the car on the way to Vegas this weekend. Okay, great. I love it. That means that you're able to get it done in a way that works for you. So I'm happy to see.

Jackie Pelegrin 29:24

I love that because they're invested in their learning, so that's that's great. I love that. Wow. It's wonderful because yeah, I I've noticed you know, a lot of educators want to just they want to go to Canva all the time. And there's nothing wrong with that. Canva's great, Canva has a lot of great features and tools, but Canva's not gonna always be the thing that you're going to want to use all the time because each one has its own you know benefits and it also has drawbacks too, where I'm like, yeah, Canva, I mean it does have some interactivity, but it's harder for me to add interactivity to Canva. It's hard for me too.

SPEAKER_01 29:59

I think it's a little more

Career Horizons & Museum Outreach

SPEAKER_01 30:00

intuitive. Because I think Canva, I I really do love Canva also, um, but more for things that are are unidirectional or very streamlined. If I know that things need to head in one direction, then Canva is like if I just want to do a linear progression through some slides, then Canva's the way to go. But if I really want to be able to branch my designs for scholars to differentiate what they need and which type of assistance they receive, then that's when I head over to Genially.

Jackie Pelegrin 30:28

Wow, that's great. I am so happy that you're using it for not only your kids, but you're using it for the adult learners that you're doing the professional development with too. And that they crave it now and they they really love it. So you know that you've hit the nail on the head when you're like, they're wanting it more and more. So that's a great sign when they're asking for it. So that's that's great. So now you've seen instructional design from both the K through 12 lens and that graduate program lens as well. So how do you see your instructional design degree shaping your career going forward? Whether that's staying in the classroom, you've talked about that before, maybe moving into an ID role or exploring new opportunities you maybe hadn't considered before, as you talked about a little bit earlier.

SPEAKER_01 31:12

You know, within the framework of my district, I think that this degree has given me, like I said, the confidence and the ability to speak more clearly about things. Uh I genuinely love working with kids. Like that's the joy of my day. It makes me, it makes me happy to, you know, be able to see that light turn on and see them really figure something out. Uh, I also really love working with new educators. So being able to support them in the way that I create professional development or present workshops, that sort of thing is pretty fun. Um, but like I said, being able to plan long term for my future, uh, I actually am thinking eventually, if I ever felt like I had finished what I needed to do in education, um, something that I'm considering is I would love to be able to design and manage an educational outreach program for a museum. So I'm thinking still a public museum so that I'm working with, you know, public education, just in a really different sphere. And I live in Southern California, so I have access to just hundreds of museums around me that are like world-class museums, several dozen of them in my area that are just amazing. And I look at what they're able to accomplish with their educational outreach. And I've taken my scholars to several different museums and just been in awe of what they create. And with this degree, and hopefully my next one, I can really see myself being able to participate on that field in such a way.

Jackie Pelegrin 32:47

Wow. And still stay connected to the kids. Yeah, and then and the adults as well, because you love that both of those spectrums. Um, that would be great. And just kind of seeing

One Sentence Advice For Grad Starters

Jackie Pelegrin 33:00

all of that learning come to life in a different way for those uh those learners. So that's great.

SPEAKER_01 33:06

And I think that's something that the program really helped nurture and foster in me is I I'm lucky that I've been working for some years now with both children and adults. Uh, but typically educators are in one field or the other. They're not usually in both. Sometimes you'll have elementary educators who are also college professors and vice versa. But it's usually you pick one and you stick with that field. Whereas this program really gave us the tools to work with both adult learners and in fact had had assignments designed to say, you are working with adults in this field, you are working with children at this stage, and gave me a very well-rounded approach because if I do eventually decide to go down a museum educational outreach path or something similar, I'm gonna have to be able to find something that is accessible or find avenues that are accessible for learners across the spectrum of age, across the spectrum of abilities, of language access, of everything else. So I I really am excited to put some of the things that I learned into practice.

Jackie Pelegrin 34:19

Wow, that's amazing. I love that. So I wanted to do a quick bonus question because I think this was fun when I was putting the questions together and utilizing a little bit of AI to kind of help finesse them a little bit. But then I, of course, I always finalize that it's never what the output is. But I thought this was such a good bonus question. I'm like, ooh, this is great. I love this one. So for listeners who might be on the fence about going back to school, if you could go back to the first day of your master's program and give yourself one sentence of advice, what would you say and why?

SPEAKER_01 34:51

Reach out to your professors. So at first I felt like this is my first fully online program. Um I felt like maybe the instructors would be put out if I message them or well, I don't really want to bother this person. Or, you know, I I sort of had that mentality of, well, in class, I would just go up to them after the after the lecture and talk to them. And I don't have that here. So I think it was actually your class where I finally was like, all right, I gotta message this person. I have some questions for her that I'm not getting answered in other ways. And I thought, oh gosh, I know she's gonna be so frustrated to hear from me. So I messaged you and you were so warm and so open and really just excited to work with me and to give me positive, you know, reinforcement on, oh yeah, you're doing it right now, add in this piece, or oh, maybe you never heard about this program. And I never would have had that experience if I hadn't broken through that barrier of anxiety about maybe this person is busy, they don't really want to hear from me. So after your class, I think I messaged every professor I had, like, hey, instructor so-and-so, I just had a question about this. And

Planning Ahead Syllabi & Group Work

SPEAKER_01 36:00

I kept waiting for them to be like, okay, that's not my problem. But no, every single time they'd message back, oh, that's a really good question. Here's you know what I was thinking, and just for clarification or for extra support or for anything that really you would normally ask a person if you had an instructor in person, how would you deal with that? And it should be dealt with the same, even though even though you're doing an online program.

Jackie Pelegrin 36:23

Right. Yeah, you shouldn't feel like you're in a silo and all out by yourself, right? Yeah. You should be able to have that support. And, you know, even if you find someone in the class that you connect with, uh, trying to find a way to connect with that other student and maybe go through the program with them if you can. And um, I mentioned that before we hit record that I had a couple of students that did that throughout, and I had them, I think, in four classes. So it was really great. Even though they were on opposite sides of the country, they found a way to connect and they found something that they had in common. So, yeah, so anytime you can have that human connection, it's so important across the distance, right? And in an online setting. So that's great. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 37:05

I actually had a couple people from my last few classes who I sort of saw the same names in the courses over and over. And in our capstone class, when we were talking about our next steps, a few of us were mentioning doctoral programs and we were mentioning the same. And I was like, I bet I'm gonna see you in class sometime. So that would be really fun to see somebody from here in our next class wherever we end up.

Jackie Pelegrin 37:29

Wow, that's amazing. And who knows? I mean, I I never take anything off the table, right? Because I always thought, well, no, I I probably won't ever teach, you know, it's a pipe dream. And here I am teaching. I didn't think I would do a podcast, right? And here I am doing a podcast. So there's just so many I didn't think I would be writing a book. And I I mean, just that's the the great thing is we always need to be open to this possibility. So who knows, you know, that may be a possibility down the road. I don't think we're ever too old to stop learning and lifelong learners. Yeah, it's continuous learning, and you know, if we stop, then something's wrong, right? If we're, you know, it may not have to be formal education, but you know, learning is always so important.

unknown 38:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 38:11

I also think it's really important not to shut the door in your own face. So when you say, Well, I never thought I would be the person who wrote a book, well, don't close the door in your own face, you know. Right. At least leave your door open to maybe I am the person who writes a book, maybe I am the person who starts a podcast or who goes and get another gets another master's degree or whatever it is that just leave that door open. And then if you decide to walk through it, you do. And if you don't, that's also your choice, too. But at least you haven't closed your door in your own face.

Jackie Pelegrin 38:39

Right. That's such good advice. I love that. So as we wrap up, Caroline, what are some practical tips or piece of advice you'd share with K through 12 educators like yourself or aspiring instructional designers who are thinking about completing a master's program in instructional design?

SPEAKER_01 38:57

Uh I I would definitely say go for it. And I would say, like I mentioned earlier, block off a piece of a block of time that you are going to consider sacred for just class. Uh, it does take you being purposeful to make it happen. And then I really found it valuable to spend some time with the syllabus at the beginning of each class because I found that there were several assignments that, oh, week four, I'm only on week one, but week four is going to ask me to, you know, build an e-learning module about X, Y, and Z. I can at least put some of the skeleton of that in place right now so that once I get there, it's going to be a little bit faster. And then I found myself more and more rapidly as I took each class, completing assignments from the end of the course because I had begun them early on and was just adding small elements to them. So then by the time I hit the end, I had no stress because oh, I already have more than half of this done, and it's only going to take me a couple of hours to close

Closing Reflections & Listener CTA

SPEAKER_01 40:00

it off. So spend the time with the syllabus each month or each six weeks, and really I think that you'll do yourself a service. But don't give up, it's definitely worth it. Uh I'm excited to move on to the next step for this as well. And I couldn't have done it without this program.

Jackie Pelegrin 40:17

Wow, that's great. I love that. I love that proactive approach. That's really great because I did that too. I would look ahead because sometimes assignments build upon each other. There's scaffolding or there's a big project. And if you're just looking week to week and then you go, Yeah, that's a little bit of a surprise, like, oh, I have to do this now. And How am I going to have the time to do it? So a lot of it is you're building that learning. So I like that idea of looking ahead.

SPEAKER_01 40:44

You know, most of the instructors are trying to help you with that. Like the instructors are saying, by week five, you'll do this. By week three, you'll do that. So if if you just heed their advice and actually go look at those things and see, oh wait, I can actually start putting some pieces of this together. Maybe I can't create the entire thing, or maybe I haven't done the readings for it yet. So I'm not familiar with the ins and outs of it. But at least I have a framework in my head of where I'm going to go so that when I get there, I don't have to suddenly build something from the ground up.

Jackie Pelegrin 41:15

Right, exactly. So like that example with the e-learning module, you could decide, okay, what kind of platform do I want to use? Do I want to use genially or do I want to use Articulate Rise or something like that? So that way you can kind of get that idea in your head, and then it's not as much of a big leap of like, oh, now I've got to go do this or that. So and that's true with group projects too, because with the revision of the courses recently, they've incorporated the uh collaborative learning community assignments, which are the group assignments. So I've been in, I put announcements in early before that week, and I'm like, be prepared. This is coming. And then still some students in my classes are like, oh, I didn't know this was a group assignment. And I'm like, it says it right there that it's a group assignment. So it's really funny. I'm like, okay. But I just try to do what I can to prepare them. So definitely that that preparation, looking ahead is so important. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 42:13

And again, there weren't, if you if you read the syllabus, really there aren't going to be any surprises. I didn't have any moments where I thought, oh my gosh, I didn't know I was going to do this. Because I read ahead and really all of the instructors genuinely are there to help and are trying very hard to prepare you. And if you're not sure, reach out. If you have any questions of, I'm not sure how this is going to fit in with that. I've I've had a few of those questions myself. I reached out, got really rapid turnaround on responses, and every time everybody was perfectly open and ready to discuss things.

Jackie Pelegrin 42:46

Right. Yeah. It's great when you know that you have that support all around and you can reach out to your student services counselor or anything like that. But when it's curriculum related, you know, it's good to know that your instructor can be there to provide that help and support. So that's great. I love it. Great. Well, Caroline, thank you so much for coming back on the show and sharing your journey with us from those early days in the program to where you are now. It's exciting to see that growth and those aha moments and kind of hear about those. So I think it's also inspiring to hear how you're weaving in those instructional design principles and models into your K through 12 classroom and with the adults, right? Um, and how that program's opened up those new possibilities for your career. So to everyone listening, I wanted to give a call to action here. I hope Caroline's story encourages you to think about your own next step, whether that's exploring a degree, trying a new design strategy with your learners, or simply giving yourself permission to grow at your own pace. So, Caroline, is there anything else you wanted to mention, um, like um where people can find you or anything like that if they wanted to connect?

SPEAKER_01 43:52

Uh, you know what? Actually, I don't have a website or anything there, but and I don't, I don't have social media because I am a public school teacher. So I like to sort of keep my private life and my public life a little bit separate. But uh if you're interested, San Bernardino City Unified School District has YouTube that has amazing instructional videos from not just myself, but from dozens of other demonstration teachers that have helpful techniques for TK all the way through 12th grade.

Jackie Pelegrin 44:18

Wow, that's great. I love that. Wonderful. Well, thank you so much. We'll have to check that out. I'll have to go on YouTube and check that out, definitely. Um, it's great when you can build that wonderful library and share it with other educators as well. And like you said, before we started recording, you have those all around the world that are watching your videos. So that's great. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 44:39

So only they didn't get to see 13 years of my hairstyles showcased on that YouTube channel as well.

Jackie Pelegrin 44:47

All those changes throughout the years, right? Exactly. Yeah, great. Well, you're welcome to come back on the show anytime and share, you know, if you decide to go get your doctorate, feel free to come back on. And I'd love to hear how that journey is going too, because a master's and a doctorate they have different things that um that make them tick. So yeah, I'd love to hear that journey as well. All right, I can't wait to be back. Great. All right. Thank you for taking some time to listen to this podcast episode today. Your support means the world to me. If you'd like to help keep the podcast going, you can share it with a friend or colleague, leave a heartfelt review, or offer a monetary contribution. Every act of support, big or small, makes a difference, and I'm truly thankful for you.