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Shad Wachter is a veteran teacher of twenty years.  With a start in music education, he has evolved into a technology leader within his school, district, and region.  In his early career, Shad taught band and general music to middle school students at Fallston Middle School in Fallston, Maryland.  A Master of Education degree in the field of technology education opened the door for a position at South Fayette School District in McDonald, Pennsylvania.  As a technology literacy teacher at South Fayette Intermediate School, Shad prepares his 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students with technology skills to be successful in a global society.  He teaches digital citizenship, multimedia production, desktop publishing, robotics, and computer programming.  With the understanding that computational thinking is the new literacy, he uses technology to facilitate student creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking.  Shad sponsors after school activities including a Scratch programming club, a performing arts club, and a media club.  In 2017, he partnered with Pepperdine University, the New York Hall of Science, and educational sites in five other countries to become a teacher leader for IC4 (International Community For Collaborative Content Creation).  IC4 explores the intersection of learning, culture, and collaboration. Supported by NSF’s AISL Program, the project provides an international, collaborative, and digital makerspace that seeks to understand how student learning changes when collaborating teams identify themselves as teachers seeking to help peers understand STEM topics.  Providing technology opportunities to students over the summer, he teaches workshops in media production and computer programming through district summer camps.  He has provided technology related staff development to teachers at South Fayette and surrounding school districts.  He has presented at regional, state, and international conferences such as the Three Rivers Educational Technology Conference, Pennsylvania Educational Technology Exposition and Conference and the Scratch@ MIT Conference.  With the support of the South Fayette School District and a grant from the Grable Foundation, he participates and provides support and outreach to the Western Pennsylvania region and beyond through summer STEAM institutes.  

 

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS 

FabLearn 2019: What Role Does Maker Education Play in a World with Growing Social and Environmental Challenges?

  • International Community for Collaborative Content Creation

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ISTE 2015

  • Campfires in Cyberspace

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PETE&C 2015: Innovate -Collaborate -Educate 

  • STEAM Fusion: Innovation in Education

 

PA STEM VISION CONFERENCE: CONNECTING CLASSROOM TO CAREER

  • STEAM Innovations at South Fayette School District

 

TRETC 2014: Using Technology to Deepen Learning

  • STEAM Studio Model for Innovation: Building Robust Learning Pathways K-12

  • Uncovering and Embracing Teacher Creativity

 

SCRATCH@MIT 2014

  • Let the Magic Begin: Transform Your World

 

Western Pennsylvania Superintendent's Forum 2013

  • Pen-based Modality Flashcard App 

 

TRETC 2013

  • Computational Thinking Through Scratch Programming

 

REGIONAL OUTREACH & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

  • "Tough As Nails" Kentucky Summer STEAM Institute

    • 2020 - Scratch Programming and Sphero Robotics​

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  • South Fayette STEAM Innovation Summer Institute

    • 2013-2020 - Scratch Programming

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  • 2020 AIU STEAM Showcase

    • 2020 - Sphero Bolt​

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  • AIU STEAM Summit

    • 2019 - Using Extensions with Scratch 3.0​

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  • TransformEd West at Montour High School

    • 2018 - Scratch 3.0 - What's New with Scratch?​

 

  • Mars School District

    • Teaching Programming Through Scratch

 

  • South Fayette School District​

    • ​​Canvas Teacher Leader
    • Wonder Media Studio

    • Powerteacher Gradebook

    • Nimbus

    • New Teacher Induction Technology Training

 

  • South Fayette Elementary School Digital Playground Series

    • SMART Notebook, SMART Response, SMART Boards

    • iMovie

    • Voicethread

    • MacBook Basics

    • PowerPoint

    • Google Earth

    • Google Search

    • PhotoStory3

 

  • Fallston Middle School

    • Edline/GradeQuick Superuser

 

 

WHAT MY STUDENTS ARE DOING IN SCRATCH:

 

 

 

  • Twitter Round

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