Annual Educator of the Year Awards are
Nominated by Fellow Educators, Administrators and Students
SALT
LAKE CITY, July 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Instructure,
the maker of Canvas, today announced the winners of its 2022
Educator of the Year Awards in connection with today's
InstructureCon 2022 edtech conference. The program recognizes
outstanding educators in North
America working to embrace remote learning, prepare students
for the workforce and support student success and achievement in an
evolving education landscape.
"Over the past few years, educators everywhere have taken on
unprecedented challenges with patience, grace and skill," said
Melissa Loble, Chief Customer
Experience Officer at Instructure. "We were overwhelmed by the
number of impressive nominations this year, but have selected six
inspirational educators that demonstrate an uncommon level of
dedication, love for their students and passion for education.
Congratulations to all of our 2022 winners!"
The 2022 Educator of the Year Award winners for North America are:
Elementary
Nicole
Morton - Third Grade Teacher, Lake Ridge Elementary School
(Woodbridge, VA)
Having
worked as an elementary educator for the past 16 years, Nicole
truly knows how to spark intrinsic curiosity and create a culture
of lifelong learning within all her students. Every year she
inspires her students in a special way by setting high goals and
expectations, making those expectations clear and holding the
students accountable for meeting those goals. Her main objective is
to spark intrinsic curiosity among all students and create a
culture of lifelong learning. Nicole takes learning beyond the
classroom and makes connections so the content she teaches is
relevant in everyday situations.
Nicole has cleverly incorporated The Class Pet Store to
manage student positive behavior, establish a class community, and
reward positive behavior, creating an inviting classroom
experience.
Middle School
Isidro
Legara, Jr. - Eighth Grade Teacher, Westridge Middle School
(Orange County,
Florida)
Isidro teaches at a Title-1 school composed
of students with various cultural backgrounds. Being born and
raised in the Philippines, Isidro
understands how challenging it is to be in a new academic
atmosphere. An advocate of social-emotional learning and culturally
responsive standards-based teaching, Isidro wants all his students
to feel safe, welcomed, loved and accepted in his classroom.
Isidro utilized technology to more effectively reach students at
all learning levels during the pandemic and after. His courses on
Canvas help students learn both in the classroom and at their own
pace. Three days before the start of the '21-'22 academic year,
Isidro deftly pivoted from teaching 7th grade to fill an unexpected
teaching vacancy in the 8th grade.
High School
Ashley
Jackson - Ninth Grade Teacher, Garland ISD (Garland, TX)
As an instructional
technology coach, Ashley works with teachers from all departments
at her campus, helping them use MasterPaths to personalize learning
and utilize New Quiz data to inform remediation and extension.
A champion for accessibility, Ashley's strength lies in the
relationships she builds with educators and students alike. She
supports teachers as they try new things and innovate in their
classrooms. This willingness to experiment and walk with teachers
as a servant leader extends beyond her initial campus and expands
further into the district. She has been working for the past few
years to ensure that teachers understand how to leverage Canvas to
meet the needs of all their students.
Adjunct Instructor
Chrystal
Trapani - Old Dominion
University (Norfolk,
VA)
As an instructional technologist with the Center
for Learning and Teaching, an adjunct instructor for the Department
of English at Old Dominion University
and a doctoral graduate student, Chrystal works with students from
every background including first-generation, veteran and disabled
students. She works tirelessly to ensure that all of her course
content exceeds accessibility standards, carefully scaffolding
every major assignment into small goals she knows will work best
based on her students' needs.
For example, she spent weeks building an interactive Pac
Man-like activity, in her Visual Argument module, where the
students work through the module to learn the course material while
escaping ghosts. Also, she knows that students do their best work
when examining their passions, so she requires them to work on
projects that will further their intended major or career field in
all of their work.
Assistant/Associate Professor
Dr. Yunlong Shao - New York
Institute of Technology (New York,
NY)
As an assistant professor at the New York
Institute of Technology Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada, Yunlong long ago
stepped away from the "sage on the stage" approach to teaching and
has been offering students real-world and hands-on learning
experiences that are underpinned by top-notch teaching instincts.
He has built many courses with a blend of genuine collaboration
among students, authentic assessments, tireless availability and
presence and a sincere and admirable devotion to their continued
success.
Yunlong offers students assignments in written format and uses
Canvas tools to record short explanatory videos, creates
demonstrations of successful work and strives to make his materials
as accessible as possible using Canvas' accessibility checker and
captioning tools. Showing vulnerability and a growth mindset is a
key factor in engaging at-risk populations and his students are
more successful because of his willingness to do so. His
indefatigable work ethic, poise and consistency make him a teacher
students can rely on well after the class has ended.
Professor
Dr. Ronald
Miller - Utah Valley University (Orem, Utah)
As a professor in the
Strategic Management and Operations Department of the Woodbury
School of Business at Utah Valley University, Ronald is a visiting
scholar with Harris Manchester
College, Oxford University,
bringing with him a vast resume of international work in countries
such as Ghana, Mexico, India, the
Philippines, Fiji,
China, Tonga and more.
Ronald is known to customize and modify his course instruction
so that every student can not only grasp the concept but can also
apply the principles in a real context. Potentially at-risk
students regularly seek out Ronald due to his reputation as an
instructor that accommodates all students as they work toward
academic excellence. Hoping to guide his students to fulfilling
careers or even graduate school, Ronald always wants to know each
student's trajectory and then works to give them the boost they
need for long-term success.
Selecting the 2022 Winners
The Educator of the Year
Awards were judged on the following criteria, with specific
emphasis on adapting to hybrid and remote teaching and making
learning more accessible for at-risk students:
- How does this teacher redefine classroom activities based on
evidence to help students meet their academic goals? Share examples
of how they went above and beyond by adapting to reach students
and/or embraced technology in the classroom in new and exciting
ways. (50%)
- How does this educator's classroom experience support inclusion
and improve achievement for at-risk populations? (25%)
- How does this educator inspire students, spark curiosity, and
support student growth and achievement? Provide specific examples
of results. (25%)
InstructureCon 2022 takes place on Thursday, July 14th in North America. This is the first year that
Instructure is holding regional events in Latin America, Europe/Middle
East/Africa and the
Asia Pacific regions. This year's
free virtual events can be seen for up to a year online. To
register visit
https://www.instructure.com/events/instructurecon.
ABOUT INSTRUCTURE
Instructure (NYSE: INST) is an
education technology company dedicated to elevating student
success, amplifying the power of teaching, and inspiring everyone
to learn together. Today the Instructure Learning Platform supports
tens of millions of educators and learners around the world. Learn
more at www.instructure.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
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provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
including statements regarding the potential, timing, and examples
of any strategic alternatives. These statements are not guarantees
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differ materially from those expressed or implied by these
forward-looking statements include the risk factors described in
the Company's annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 22, 2022, and other documents filed with
the SEC and could cause actual results to vary from expectations.
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hereof and Instructure undertakes no duty to update this
information except as required by law.
CONTACT:
Brian
Watkins
Corporate Communications
Instructure
801-610-9722
brian.watkins@instructure.com
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SOURCE Instructure