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I'm Dawn Berkeley, an educator with the Prince George's County Public Schools. I graduated from the University of Maryland College Park, with a degree in biology. After graduation, I decided to accept a position at my high school alma mater, Parkdale High School, located in Riverdale, Maryland. I have been teaching at Parkdale for the last 9 years within the school's Science Department. Currently, I teach Advanced Placement Biology and the Academic Validation Program in Biology.  Here, you see me with my two of my children. I love children and I am very passionate about education. Areas that I am particularly interested in include biology, computer technology, ecology and environmental studies. My educational philosophy is to not only communicate my passion to students but to also inspire this passion in my students. Participating in professional development programs such as the Sharing Technology with Educators Program (STEP) equips me to do this. Other professional development opportunities I have been involved with include Bridging the Watershed. Two summers ago, I participated in an institute sponsored by the Alice Ferguson Foundation's Bridging the Watershed. During the workshop, I had the awesome opportunity of completing field studies at local National Parks in order to bring my students out to the field to work on various scientific modules. In addition to my work with Bridging the Watershed, I have also participated in the Seminar for Teachers Program sponsored by the University of Maryland College Park, which allows teachers to become "students" for the day and engage in fascinating topics such as Geographic Information Systems, Immigration in the Maryland Landscape, Science and Technology in Film and Literature and Imagining the Exotic in European Art and Artifacts, to name a few. This spring, I will complete a courses in "Religions in America", "Teaching Scientific Inquiry" and "Scientific Visualization". In addition to these opportunities, I am working on a graduate certificate in Earth and Space Sciences offered through a collaborative effort between the Maryland Space Grant Consortium and Johns Hopkins University.

When the opportunity for participating in STEP presented itself, I immediately responded because my fascination with technology is ever growing. The STEP program will enable me to do several things: I am very excited about the opportunity to work with the STEP Team as there are many benefits that I seek to gain from this program. It is my hope that with these benefits, I will be able to better empower our students for the 21st century and beyond.
 * discover new ways of infusing technology into my curriculum
 * develop and implement new strategies of training students in the Biology High School Assessments with the use of technology
 * become more technology literate and proficient
 * inspire other teachers to become more invested in their own technological command
 * become a leader and point of contact for technology users within the school community
 * become an advocate for technology accessibility within the school community

This year, I have the following goals in STEP Year 2 2009 - 2010:


 * continue building my technological capacity
 * develop and implement best practices in my field
 * continue to foster interdisciplinary relationships with my colleagues
 * make myself aware of cutting edge educational technology