From Studio Manager to Educator

Ever wondered how a career in television and film can shape a unique approach to education? Charlotte Holmes, a dynamic force from Paulding County Schools, shares her incredible journey from live studio manager in Massachusetts to innovative educator in Georgia. In our engaging conversation at the Georgia Educational Technology Conference, Charlotte reveals her passion for technology in the classroom and provides a fascinating look at how her creative background fuels her teaching methods. With her firsthand experience in harnessing cutting-edge tools, Charlotte discusses the transformative potential of AI, like Copilot, in revolutionizing teacher workloads and enhancing learning experiences.

Transcript

Devin Pintozzi 0:02

Welcome to Spotlight for Success brought to you by American Book Company. We are here at the Georgia Educational Technology Conference with Charlotte Holmes from Paulding County Schools.

Charlotte Holmes 0:14

Hello.

Devin Pintozzi 0:14

Hi.

Charlotte Holmes 0:14

Hi how're you doing.

Devin Pintozzi 0:14

Very good, and tell us a little bit about yourself, Charlotte.

Charlotte Holmes 0:18

Well, I've been teaching since 2014,. And teaching was actually a second career for me. I am from the television and film world. I was a director in Massachusetts and then started teaching in Massachusetts once I had kids and moved out to Georgia, so I've been doing that. I'm very, very, very, a very big advocate of technology and integrating technology and using it in schools. So that's why I'm here, because I love where we're going with this.

Devin Pintozzi 0:47

Gosh, that is awesome. So tell us a little bit about your work. That's amazing. So you were doing filming in Massachusetts?

Charlotte Holmes 0:55

Yes, I worked for a network. I was a live studio manager

Devin Pintozzi 0:57

Cool.

Charlotte Holmes 0:58

Very young, fresh out of college and I did that for a couple of years until I transitioned into studio.

Devin Pintozzi 1:04

Holy smokes, so you were able to bring those experiences to life for your students?

Charlotte Holmes 1:09

Yeah, that was when I left industry. One of my favorite parts I had to reflect on okay, what am I going to do now? And one of my favorite things was teaching the students because we were a teaching network. A lot of places in Massachusetts really believe in teaching, like even the teaching hospitals and things like that so a lot of our organizations have students come in and that was one of my favorite parts. So that's why I decided to go ahead and pursue a degree in teaching and kind of start all over. And here I am today.

Devin Pintozzi 1:37

That is awesome, and so you're here at the Georgia State Educational Technology Conference. So let me know what are some of the things that you're learning here that you want to bring back.

Charlotte Holmes 1:48

Well, last year was my first time here.

Charlotte Holmes 1:52

I was picked for a technology program out of my county where they were kind of training teachers to use technology to lighten their workload.

Charlotte Holmes 2:01

When I came last year I was like this was one of the best conferences I've ever gone to, because it's really about the cutting edge and moving forward and not just taking what we're doing now but kind of modifying it into the way of the future to make sure students are getting what they need on a technology level.

Charlotte Holmes 2:17

One of the conferences I went to this morning was for Copilot, because our district does have Copilot, and so I was very excited to see some of the things that Copilot because our district does have Copilot and not just for myself but for our English teachers who are struggling with using AI in the classroom and other teachers who are trying to stay on top of grading and, you know, having these things and how we can use Copilot to benefit and help us with our students. One of the other features she was showing was about the subtitles in PowerPoint and how you can literally have a recording everything you're saying while your PowerPoint is up, how you can use Copilot to make a PowerPoint presentation for you, and all these wonderful features. And that's just the first one I went to today, so I'm excited about the next couple of days.

Devin Pintozzi 3:02

That is wonderful, Charlotte, and so you mentioned AI a few times, so what are some other things you're seeing in the AI realm that you hope to bring in?

Charlotte Holmes 3:12

Well, you know, ai is really changing the way that we do things, especially in television and film. Now you're able to do so many special effects just by using AI. You're able to edit videos very quickly. We were just talking about creating reels through these apps and so it's really changing the way that we look at television and film. So we have to change the way that we look at curriculum, to kind of change things so that we're making sure that we're not teaching kids skills that they're not going to be able to use in the future. So, um, one of the things that I'm definitely focused on is more of the writing portion of it, that creativity part, because that's one thing that ai can't do, and so, you know, that's what we're just trying to see like this, the things that we can use to increase our students' skills so that they'll always have usable skills.

Devin Pintozzi 4:00

Gosh, that was wonderful. Let me ask you is there anything else that you'd like to share with the Georgia Educational Technology community today?

Charlotte Holmes 4:10

Nothing specifically. I just really love this conference and I think a lot of people do so. I think it's just definitely something to get out there and get people in who are even scared to use technology, because I think we have this kind of weird gap right now where we have the teachers who are super excited about it and the teachers who are like no, never, I can't, you know, and they're like I don't know what to do with it. But we have to look at it the same way the students do, because the students are going to use it anyway. So we have to go ahead and harness how we can also use it, you know, and kind of have access to it as well, instead of being scared of it because it's like any other thing social media, cell phones, it's the same thing, it's here.

Charlotte Holmes 4:49

It's here.

Devin Pintozzi 4:50

That's awesome and you know it's like springboarding into success. You know, with all of this technology and being able to harness the potential of that for the community and what you're doing is so great. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for coming with us today to share your story and I hope this conference is fantastic for you.

Charlotte Holmes 5:10

Thank you. Thank you for having me.