We are thrilled to present our February Teacher of the Month, Maria Sohns! Maria is an exceptional middle school language arts teacher in Indiana who uses Edcite daily. Read on to learn more about Maria and how she uses Edcite.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I currently teach at Sunman Dearborn Middle School. This is my second year at SDMS; prior to that, I taught at South Ripley Junior High School. I am originally from Pennsylvania, but my family and I moved to Indiana 6 years ago for my husband’s job. I earned my Bachelor’s degree from Lycoming College and my Master’s degree from East Stroudsburg University. I have 2 sons who are 12 and 5 years old.
What do you teach?
I currently teach 7th grade Language Arts.
Why did you become a teacher?
I had been in the corporate world for some time, working as a sales manager. Part of my role as a manager was to train my employees on products and services that our company offered. I really, really enjoyed that part of my job. I had often thought about going back to school to get my teaching certification, but one day, I finally did it!
How did you hear about Edcite?
The Indiana Department of Education actually had Edcite listed as one of their recommended websites for teachers to use in their classrooms. I checked out several of the ones listed, but I was impressed with what Edcite had to offer. I’ve been using it ever since.
How do you use Edcite in the classroom?
What aspects make you most “Edcited” about Edcite?
I really like that I am able to create technology-enhanced questions using Edcite. Sometimes it is really difficult to find questions like this, and students really need to practice these before state testing. I also love the fact that it closely resembles the appearance of the state test; my students get a ton of practice so that they are very comfortable with the format by the time state testing rolls around. I also love the fact that most of the grading is done for me, and I can track data and drill it down to the standard.
Final Words of Wisdom for other Edcite Users? 
I would say to just have patience. Some of the more difficult question formats can be kind of tricky, but there is always someone there to help. I remember that I had some questions when I first started using Edcite, and I got a very quick response. I also had some “bugginess” with a question, and they responded quickly and fixed the issue on their side. It’s nice to know that there is someone there to help.
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