Staff Focus: Karen McVay, Technology Support Teacher, Lime Kiln Middle School

September 29th, 2015

Meet Karen McVay, the technology support teacher and reading team leader at Lime Kiln Middle School. As the technology leader of the building, she supports staff and students with all their technology needs, whether it’s co-planning a lesson, co-teaching or troubleshooting computer problems.

McVay loves that her job is different every day. “It’s exciting for me to constantly learn new things, which I can share with the other teachers,” McVay said.

This year, she’s focused on Canvas professional development, offering the Lime Kiln staff a variety of differentiated, personalized learning opportunities. “We are really focusing this year on supporting staff to make them comfortable with the new technology initiatives,” McVay said. “However, we are also trying to encourage staff who would like to ‘jump in’ and integrate Canvas more into their classroom instruction. We want our staff to see it as a powerful learning tool to meet the needs of all students.”

McVay said technology provides students more access to resources as well as a variety of learning methods to meet different abilities and learning styles. And she believes Canvas is designed for better communication with students and teachers, and for collaboration between students, even enabling students to lead the classroom with teachers facilitating.

McVay has been teaching in Howard County for 16 years, beginning her career at Bollman Bridge Elementary School teaching 2nd and 5th grades. She later moved over to Lime Kiln Middle School to teach Reading and English and is still currently the reading team leader, while taking on the technology support teacher and teacher development liaison roles as well.

Her reading and technology roles intertwine as both cross curriculum areas. And for McVay, working with a variety of teachers and content areas is one of her favorite aspects of the job, as well as “collaborating with others, and working with students and building those relationships,” McVay said.

Scott Conroy, principal of Lime Kiln Middle School, knows how much the staff appreciate McVay. “As one staff member put it perfectly, ‘Karen is brilliant.’” he said. “Karen McVay is highly respected by seasoned and new staff for her ability to support their various needs with patience, innovation, lesson planning and professional development–and always with a smile.”