Well, I told you I would try to get this done by the time you were off the grid in Alaska and I did it. I want you to know that I truly appreciate you support through this. I want to teach and having a situation that threatens to take me away from teaching makes me realize so much more how important to me it is.
I enjoyed this whole experience. Yes, sometimes I would work until 5:30 p.m at school and then come home and work on this class until 10:30 p.m until I could not keep my eyes open and had to crawl into bed only to rinse and repeat the next day but, as I said earlier, I started to realize that this class was impacting me when I found myself taking the things I was looking at or creating and discussing them with my principal or my coworkers.
I did find that I am very experienced with technology but there are still areas that I am unsure how to incorporate and so I found that this demanded time of evaluating technology helped me wrap my mind around areas I felt insecure about.
I have already naturally created a teaching community outside of where I work. I have now worked at 4 different schools and sadly enough I know that I have not work where best practices are being held. I have always felt more inspired by teaching blogs and pinterest projects that I can find. I have emailed a couple women from the blogs that I follow to get advice and the really neat part is they will respond and really want to help. Understanding that that we are trying to bring the best into the classroom is really a bonding factor that spreads beyond the fact that we don't know each other.
One of the other joys I found in these was also bouncing ideas off of you. It was fun to go back and forth with ideas or findings...even when I would send so many emails at a time that you could not respond to one.
There are some classes that have to be taken that make you wonder how and when you are going to use the information that you are spending so many hours on. This class is done correctly because every project I had to complete was something very relevant to todays classroom. You can quote me on that if you need to reassure this incoming class.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
# 10 - Final Project
For my final project I created a wiki page that will be used in class for reader's response. The students will have to post their responses and there is a chance for classmates and I to respond. I am even thinking of opening it up to family members and my principal as well.
I wanted to create something that fits into what I am doing in the classroom and if I was going to spend hours creating or investigating something I didn't want it to go to waste. I am excited to see how this is used in the coming school year.
You can find the link to the wiki here.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
# 10 WebQuest
Grow School Greens?
The Efficiency Expert: Great focused structure of the WebQuest. Very simply laid out steps to follow without much confusion. It takes the concept and dives deep into it with well defined steps along the way.
The Affiliator: There is a collaborated effort that is needed to reach the final product. Every team member must do their part which teaches the students individual effort within the team context. The rubric asks kids to discuss strength and weakness of the team leading to a richer assessment of the process.
The Altitudinist: Within this project each end result will look the same without much room for creative expression. While there are some good concepts being taught the students might be more focused on perfecting each step without lending itself to higher level thinking.
The Technophile: While the gifs where cute the WebQuest itself does not harness the full power of the web. There is potential for other formats that could help students understand the planting and growing process.
Where is My Hero?
The Efficiency Expert: The scope of this assignment is too broad and needs to provide more focused guidance. For example, the local hero part of the assignment is left up to the students which could lead to a wide array of definitions and responses. There should a stronger tie to the mastery of a concept.
The Affiliator: While in the rubric there was a space for accountability that judged the individual effort as well as the groups much of this project lends itself to individual work that does not need much collaboration.
The Altitudinist: Having students learn about other peoples perception of hero and then find a common definition requires higher level thinking skills. There is a lot of room for creative expression in creating the poster.
The Technophile: While I liked the links to relevant resources they could be more effectively used if interspersed throughout the WebQuest to focus thinking and provided examples along the way of the process instead of the after thought at the end.
Unraveling the Underground Railroad
The Efficiency Expert: Students will walk away from this WebQuest with a deep understanding of the Underground Railroad from many points of view.
The Affiliator: The talk show involved a lot of collaborative creativity and a process that forces students to engage with their team members in the design of the activity.
The Altitudinist: This WebQuest involves synthesizing the same historical information through different view points. This engages higher levels of thinking and the expected output leaves a lot of room for creativity. It does not just expect one type of project but pushes the group to demonstrate their expertise of the subject in a variety of ways.
The Technophile: This gives relavent links to multimedia within each component of the activity. Each link meaningfully advances the students knowledge within that area.
We All Scream for Ice Cream
The Efficiency Expert: The activity is well designed to teach kids about ice cream but I wonder about the worth of the learnings from the lesson.
The Affiliator: The group has to come up with one product which necessitates collaborative discussion.
The Altitudinist: I am left disappointed. There is an opportunity to have higher level thinking. There is the opportunity to dive into deeper skills, such as math and science. Instead, the WebQuest is one dimensional.
The Technophile: All the links I was sent to were no longer working. That alone leads me to be disappointed. Technology could had been the link used to bring it back to math or science instead of just a fun group activity about ice cream.
Ancient Egypt WebQuest
The Efficiency Expert: This activity asks students to focus on a narrow topic and develop a deep understanding of it.
The Affiliator: It is good that it is designed as a group activity but the way the accountability, or lack there of, is set up lends the opportunity for one person to do all the work.
The Altitudinist: After looking at past WebQuest it is obvious that this pushes students less because they are only expected to understand and report historical fact instead of analyzing and evaluating various view points.
The Technophile: The links where to resources that would have been just as effective in a worksheet.
The Efficiency Expert: Great focused structure of the WebQuest. Very simply laid out steps to follow without much confusion. It takes the concept and dives deep into it with well defined steps along the way.
The Affiliator: There is a collaborated effort that is needed to reach the final product. Every team member must do their part which teaches the students individual effort within the team context. The rubric asks kids to discuss strength and weakness of the team leading to a richer assessment of the process.
The Altitudinist: Within this project each end result will look the same without much room for creative expression. While there are some good concepts being taught the students might be more focused on perfecting each step without lending itself to higher level thinking.
The Technophile: While the gifs where cute the WebQuest itself does not harness the full power of the web. There is potential for other formats that could help students understand the planting and growing process.
Where is My Hero?
The Efficiency Expert: The scope of this assignment is too broad and needs to provide more focused guidance. For example, the local hero part of the assignment is left up to the students which could lead to a wide array of definitions and responses. There should a stronger tie to the mastery of a concept.
The Affiliator: While in the rubric there was a space for accountability that judged the individual effort as well as the groups much of this project lends itself to individual work that does not need much collaboration.
The Altitudinist: Having students learn about other peoples perception of hero and then find a common definition requires higher level thinking skills. There is a lot of room for creative expression in creating the poster.
The Technophile: While I liked the links to relevant resources they could be more effectively used if interspersed throughout the WebQuest to focus thinking and provided examples along the way of the process instead of the after thought at the end.
Unraveling the Underground Railroad
The Efficiency Expert: Students will walk away from this WebQuest with a deep understanding of the Underground Railroad from many points of view.
The Affiliator: The talk show involved a lot of collaborative creativity and a process that forces students to engage with their team members in the design of the activity.
The Altitudinist: This WebQuest involves synthesizing the same historical information through different view points. This engages higher levels of thinking and the expected output leaves a lot of room for creativity. It does not just expect one type of project but pushes the group to demonstrate their expertise of the subject in a variety of ways.
The Technophile: This gives relavent links to multimedia within each component of the activity. Each link meaningfully advances the students knowledge within that area.
We All Scream for Ice Cream
The Efficiency Expert: The activity is well designed to teach kids about ice cream but I wonder about the worth of the learnings from the lesson.
The Affiliator: The group has to come up with one product which necessitates collaborative discussion.
The Altitudinist: I am left disappointed. There is an opportunity to have higher level thinking. There is the opportunity to dive into deeper skills, such as math and science. Instead, the WebQuest is one dimensional.
The Technophile: All the links I was sent to were no longer working. That alone leads me to be disappointed. Technology could had been the link used to bring it back to math or science instead of just a fun group activity about ice cream.
Ancient Egypt WebQuest
The Efficiency Expert: This activity asks students to focus on a narrow topic and develop a deep understanding of it.
The Affiliator: It is good that it is designed as a group activity but the way the accountability, or lack there of, is set up lends the opportunity for one person to do all the work.
The Altitudinist: After looking at past WebQuest it is obvious that this pushes students less because they are only expected to understand and report historical fact instead of analyzing and evaluating various view points.
The Technophile: The links where to resources that would have been just as effective in a worksheet.
#8 Technology Gadgets
I love my document camera. I find that it has been the easiest and quickest way to bring technology in my classroom. My visual learners love it because it lets them see small items, text, and demonstrations in a much a bigger way. My hands – on learners love it because they can be the ones placing objects or items under the document camera and talk about what they are showing. All students love to be the teacher and explain their learning to others. I also am able to use it as a station during my literacy block.
One thing new I also want to use them for next year is an app called K-12 Timed Reading Practice. I think it will be a great way to have documentation of my students wpm and this is a way that seems to fit a way for me to accomplish this.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/k12-timed-reading-practice/id374985358?mt=8
I use them to take attendance in the morning. I use them a lot during math because it provides another thing that my students can move and touch and it helps make the concept more concrete.
Monday, June 17, 2013
# 7 Common Core
Common Core is on everyones mind right now. For a long time I felt like I kept hearing the words Common Core but no one could actually tell me what that meant in my classroom. I have not had to jump right into it. I have been allowed to hang out in the shallow end and get a feeling for it.
I think that the new Common Core Standards are great for a number of reasons. I like how our country will now be unified under standards that all students should be learning. I like that teachers will have to know the standard they are supposed to be teaching instead of just knowing what unit they are on. I like how there is a concrete understanding of what needs to be taught during the year.
I have talked to a lot of people about this and what I try to express is to not be scared of Common Core if you are already doing what you are supposed to be doing in your classroom. My experience is that my teaching already fits with the Common Core. It's just that now I have these standards that I have to assign to the learning that is happening.
I love checklists. I love knowing that I am doing all that I need to be doing. I like looking over the standards and thinking about how the learning that is already happening fits into these standards. I also like the challenge of figuring out what is learning is missing and finding a way to fit that into our year.
I am also taking Contemporary Education with John Jimo. One of the books I chose was How to Teach Thinking Skills Within the Common Core: 7 Key Student Proficiencies of the New National Standards. I am excited to educate myself more because I know this is our hot topic and as much as the words Common Core are thrown around I want to be able to have an educated conversation about what that means in our education system.
Nine Ways the Common Core Will Change Classroom Practice
I think that the new Common Core Standards are great for a number of reasons. I like how our country will now be unified under standards that all students should be learning. I like that teachers will have to know the standard they are supposed to be teaching instead of just knowing what unit they are on. I like how there is a concrete understanding of what needs to be taught during the year.
I have talked to a lot of people about this and what I try to express is to not be scared of Common Core if you are already doing what you are supposed to be doing in your classroom. My experience is that my teaching already fits with the Common Core. It's just that now I have these standards that I have to assign to the learning that is happening.
I love checklists. I love knowing that I am doing all that I need to be doing. I like looking over the standards and thinking about how the learning that is already happening fits into these standards. I also like the challenge of figuring out what is learning is missing and finding a way to fit that into our year.
I am also taking Contemporary Education with John Jimo. One of the books I chose was How to Teach Thinking Skills Within the Common Core: 7 Key Student Proficiencies of the New National Standards. I am excited to educate myself more because I know this is our hot topic and as much as the words Common Core are thrown around I want to be able to have an educated conversation about what that means in our education system.
Nine Ways the Common Core Will Change Classroom Practice
# 5 - Content Area Exploring
I want to research websites that have resources and
interviews different authors for an authors study, these document these in my
Evernote.
I focused on the Author Kevin Henkes. He is a great author to start with as I think of the beginning of next year because in each book he deals with feelings and different personalities that can lead to really strong connections and observations while reading.
I picked a couple different resources having to do with the
author or some of the stories that he has writing. I have realized that there
is an importance in students rereading the story because it causes them to take ownership of the story once they visit it again.
There are a couple sources that have a video of two
different stories being read and there is also a link to a Reading Rainbow
episode having to do with the story Owen. There is a link to Teacher Tube where
a second grade class creates a Ven Diagram about two of Henkes characters and a
link to information about the author and link that leads you to a meet the
author video.
I would use these resources to stretch the students
understanding of the characters. I would show the video of the ven diagram to
lead to work on our own comparisons and I would use the video of meet the
author to give a face to the man who work all the books that we would study.
These resources would lead the students to make richer connections to the
stories that they are studying and cement the characters and plots in their
minds so that they can relate future readings to them.
I want to research websites my students can use to practice
their reading skills, and I will document these in Pinterest.
I found so many rich resources for practicing reading
skills. Students love different opportunities to read and they are
especially motivated when they see they can use the computer or the IPad.
Under this Pinterest board you will find links that include:
- nonfiction passages and comprehension questions to go with them. Excellent resource to use when creating mini lessons for informational text. Common Core aligned
- free websites of children's poetry and interactive poem builders
- award-winning videos teach reading skills, life lessons, and creativity in a fun and safe environment
- read by introducing phonics principles painlessly and systematically, while teaching new vocabulary
I use math boxes in my classroom which is the idea of center based math practice while I am working with small groups. The following resources are going to going into my center rotation and build on the students number sense and mathematical reasoning. I found a way to lock the IPad so it can not leave the desired app which will help in the management. I find that presenting a math game on the IPad is engaging enough and creates great motivation for practicing skills.
Monday, June 10, 2013
#4 Three Learning Goals
I want to research websites that have resources and interviews different authors for an authors study, these document these in my Evernote.
I want to research websites my students can use to practice their math skills. These will also be documented in Pinterest.
I want to research websites my students can use to practice their reading skills, and I will document these in Pinterest.
I want to research websites my students can use to practice their math skills. These will also be documented in Pinterest.
I want to research websites my students can use to practice their reading skills, and I will document these in Pinterest.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Personal Reflections/Applications about Digital Citzenship
Digital Citizenship is something that we all can learn from. It seems like kids are getting younger and younger when they first get cell phones, start their Facebook accounts or talk online.
It's easy to think that the things that we do via Facebook will not come back to haunt us but the reality is that our online life is more accesible the we realize. Others are viewing information with little to no background and the our character can be judged very quickly.
I think that we are taught and made to practice citizenship daily. For some reason it seems like the politeness we are expected to have in every day life is at times lost once we pick up our phones or log on to Facebook.
Learning about the ideas of Digital Citizenship made me reflect on the fact that people think that they can hide behind technology at times. It seems to me that we think that some of our behavior can be excusable because it was just a picture on Facebook or just a quick text...Don't even get me start on Snapchat.
I choose to go with a presentation that would be presented to youth. I think that reminders are needed in the fact that we are responsible for our actions in all areas.
PLN
I got a little lost in the business of a PLN because I think that I have already created it in a copy of areas but I am not sure how to place them all together. Right now all of my blogs are in google reader. Unfortunetly, come July 1st there will no longer be a Google Reader so again I am a little up the creek about what to do.
Livebinder is what I have been researching and what has put a hold on my continuing to the next steps of this class. I signed up for Livebinder and started playing around with it. As I explored it my first question is what is the difference between this and Evernote? Is there one?
I began to research that online and it seemed like the information I was getting was that people seem to use both. That didn't help. If I had to choose on interface alone I am more drawn to Evernote. But I don't want the interface of Evernote make me loose my distraction on using the best tool for my PLN.
At this point I think I am going to start putting resources into both and seeing which one is a more natural fit for me.
I don't want my PLN to be Instagram but I will use that as a resource. I am still thinking about having a PLN board on my Pinterest.
Regardless of all the questions of what is to come with the PLN I do want to share something fun that is happening on Instagram.
Livebinder is what I have been researching and what has put a hold on my continuing to the next steps of this class. I signed up for Livebinder and started playing around with it. As I explored it my first question is what is the difference between this and Evernote? Is there one?
I began to research that online and it seemed like the information I was getting was that people seem to use both. That didn't help. If I had to choose on interface alone I am more drawn to Evernote. But I don't want the interface of Evernote make me loose my distraction on using the best tool for my PLN.
At this point I think I am going to start putting resources into both and seeing which one is a more natural fit for me.
I don't want my PLN to be Instagram but I will use that as a resource. I am still thinking about having a PLN board on my Pinterest.
Regardless of all the questions of what is to come with the PLN I do want to share something fun that is happening on Instagram.
I am such a visual person. I need to see what a activity looks to get the whole idea in my head. This has been a really fun project on Instagram and I a way that I am inspired by teachers all over the country.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Blooms Taxonomy connect with technology
I find that I get wrapped up in all that the district is asking of me and I fight to find a creative way to present what my students need to be learning but still have them value all that they are learning.
I think that the last three levels of the Bloom's Taxonomy can really be where the students take ownership of their learning and I am constantly amazed at ways they can demonstrate it once I am looking for their synthesis and in their evaluation take it a step further to ask what would they change about how the demonstrated it and if they still have questions or there are missing pieces in their understanding.
In my own learning I need visuals. My mind wonders quickly so keeping engaged is something that is a bit of a battle for me. I look forward to being able to take what I am learning and applying it because it makes me realize what I need to know more about or what I am ready to take and make my own.
I don't know if I can beat the creativity of the Bloom's Taxonomy According to Seinfeld. I actually sent the link to my principal and asked her to please use it in a future PD.
Here are a couple of creative sources I found.
what bias are you brining in???
The 21st learner is not the same learner that I was viewed as when I was a child. Today it takes much more to grasp the child's attention and engage them. They are use to fireworks all the time. Reading round robin is no longer something that can be done in the classroom and lead to excitement.
I love the video posted about Rethinking Learning - 21st Century Learner. Do you think I can get a job there?
I think that media must be used in the classroom these days. It opens up a much larger resource of learning and it also grasps the attention of the students in say that they are looking forward to.
I think all the time that I wish I knew how to use technology more in my classroom because I think that is a piece I am missing. I also think that falls under the fact of figuring out how to share one computer with 30 students but that's another story.
There are many types of learners and I think it is very crucial that you find our the learning style of your students but it seems to me that one way to jump start excitement is to give them a visual through media.
NOW let me that a second to reflect on a past reflection. Two post ago I read about how texting is limiting our ability to interact with others and creating a group of socially inapt people. This is where I take a stand and say NO to classrooms run by computers. I think there is much larger value in read alouds - let the students stare at a picture as their imagination helps create the story. And instead of sitting infront of a screen all the time there is also value is partnering with others to create opportunities to teach each other skills or build on the knowledge they know.
Technology is here - it's not on it's way to the classroom it's already in every student infront of you just waiting for the teacher to catch on. I think it's the teacher's responsibility to find the balance of providing learning through media while also provided an atmosphere of community in the classroom to teach the life skills.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Snippets for dialogue
Beginning my journey to get my transcripts reissued as led me to jump back into school after being gone for 9 years. I am sitting here studying a syllabus for the first time in such a long time and trying to remember how I did this all to begin with.
My first task is to reflect on how my time is managed and where technology fits into that. So here I sit infront of technology reflecting.
Teaching puts an interesting spin on technology throughout the day. On an average day I use my phone as an alarm to wake up. I turn on Pandora in the morning as I get ready and then it's off to work I go. I like to start my work days with time alone in the classroom. I don't feel good unless I know that I am prepared for my day. This also means that when I get to school at 7:00 a.m my phone is put away and I do not look at it again until after 3.
What struck me as I was reading through the selections for this entry was the fact that even though I have a not optional digital break each day I seem to make up for it as soon as I can get my phone back in my hands.
I know that I have the ability to be addicted to technology much more than I am. I am cautious because I am aware of that. In high school my parents went away for the weekend. My sister wanted to have people over. I wanted to watch t.v. ....and I did. I watched 16 hours straight of television and popped a blood vessel in my eye. I have taken that as a lesson learned and I try to remain really cautious of the time suck things can prove to be and how much I love that time suck. I have now lived without a television in my home for 5 years and I don't plan on getting one any time soon.
I enjoyed reading How to Cultivate the Habit of Focus...in an Age of Distraction. I found myself nodding along as I read about how though habits are hard to form they prove to make life much easier. This is a truth I see in the classroom. As the year winds down I can look around and see my students completely independent because they have practiced the skills and know the procedures of the classroom and now how to have a successful day. They have formed habits that make them a successful 1st grader. I then start to reflect on my own personal life and start to wonder if I have created that habits that make me a successful person. The writer quoted Michael Phelps as he said his way to success was to stay in the pool. A simply philosophy not so easy to obtain.
The words that I felt I need to repeat to myself even more was "He did each single thing, as if he did nothing else." This is not me but it is who I have always wanted to be. I do a million things at once. I multi task my multi tasking. I jump from conversation to conversation I talk on the phone while I'm checking my email between grading and watching Master Chef. But I know that I would be a better to myself, a better daughter, a better sister and a better friend if I gave priority to the one thing that I needed to get done.
I walk away from these snippets of dialogue with a couple of things I would like to commit myself to. I am guilty of choosing easy ways to communicate - text not calls. I believe 100% in the fact that this takes away personal contact. I might enjoy it more because it is on my terms. I don't have to get "stuck on the call" and responses can happen when I want them. But rarely do they impact relationships in the meaningful way that I would like. I also believe in a digital detox. I want to commit to one day a week of unplugging and plugging into reading, writing letters, picnics or coffee shop conversations.
....Maybe that once a week will just have to start right after I am done with Ed Tech.
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