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Final Reflection

As I sit to begin my reflection on this course, the reading I've done, the scenario project, new uses of technology, and even the video of my final presentation I feel proud of myself.  Time goes by so quickly and it is often easy to lose track of just how much has been accomplished in a short amount of time. Personally, I have two large take-aways from this course.  The first is about my personal style and learning.  As excited as I get about new technology and uses for students I need to remember to be thoughtful in what I choose to use.  Now, thoughtful doesn't have to mean delaying implementation (in the past this would have been tempting for me), but it does mean choosing a few specific pieces to bring to my students that match the purpose and are developmentally appropriate.  I can easily be caught up in how impressive or engaging certain tools are, but if I jump in to everything most things will not go well and I'll end up stopping rather than increasin...
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Amplify! (chapters 5 and 6)

So, I'm going to go out on a limb and make myself a little vulnerable.  I'll start by saying that I love the idea of using technology to help monitor student progress (a formal or informal assessment depending on how you use it).  However, I am not at a place where I have yet figured out how to make this work for me.  Already, we have first grade students using Dreambox (a math site), Lexia Core 5 (structured phonics), Reading A-Z, and the the SeeSaw app.  All of the sites/apps allow me to go in to student accounts and verify how much time they are spending on certain skills, how they are progressing, and where students are still experiencing difficulty.  I am embarrassed to say, but I rarely go in and check these things.  I am not saying that I find these tools to be just a 'filler'.  In fact, as a district we have chosen to use them and spend money on them because they are research-based sites. However, I still rely more on student math journals, wri...
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Self-Directed Module

To be perfectly honest, I was not sure where I wanted to begin with this assignment.  I thought that maybe exploring Google Hangout would meet the requirement, but it did not take a full three hours (for the record, though - I explored, tried a ‘hangout’ within my own school, and then set up a ‘Mystery Number Hangout’ with a colleague across town, and it was very easy and really fun!).  Next, I considered spending more time with coding, but I am concerned that I will not embed this into my curriculum enough to make it worth the time (currently, students have Kodable as an option during ‘fun Friday math’).  So, I finally just used the link What Innovation Looks Like in an Elementary School . that we were provided in the syllabus.  I am so glad that I did!  I ended up in a place that was totally unexpected. The link referenced above provides brief synaposes from various educators about things that they are doing in their classrooms.  The reason the articl...
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Weekend 2

There are so many things that I could talk about after our second weekend of class, but for the purpose of this blog and reflection I want to focus on what it was like to take the role of 'student' rather than 'teacher'.  On Friday evening we were introduced to 'quizlet live' and then on Saturday morning we were able to participate in a mystery location skype.  Quizlet live was a brand new tool to me and even though I have led mystery number skypes in my classroom before I have not had the chance to do a location skype.  Although both activities would probably not be an activity I would do with first grade students (I want to try quizlet - but not the live version) my take away was still large. First, both activities were FUN!  As often I as I try to make learning fun (and I try a lot) I still think that I miss the mark quite frequently.  For me, I knew these were fun because I wanted to keep going.  At no point did I ask myself, 'when will we be done?...
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Consumer versus Creator

There are many, many benefits to students becoming creators rather than simply consumers of technology.  Personally, the largest benefit was how truly fun and engaging writing code was!  This was an activity where I watched the clock - not because I was trying to fill time, but rather I had to make sure I didn't spend too much time in front of a screen.  Each 'sprite' that I worked on could have had multiple, multiple effects.  I wanted to keep recreating what the final product would look like.  For students who struggle with stamina or perseverance in the classroom this activity could help not only build skills, but a sense of success! Another benefit to this particular activity is how easily you can change and update the final product.  As teachers we try to have students focus not only on a finished product, but the process as well.  When the process can't be edited easily (i.e. students creating a poster) students quickly become frustrated a...
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Weekend 1

My thoughts... It is Sunday afternoon and I just opened up my blog to finish my thoughts on the reflections I began yesterday.  Yesterday morning I had just typed some quick notes to remind myself of different tools in technology and the way they were being used in elementary classrooms.  You can see my initial notes below (I have left them on purpose to highlight today's thought).  After reading my notes I found myself feeling a bit frantic and realized that my goal with this course (and technology in general) needs to shift.  Rather than be caught up by every single thing I read or see I really want to focus my energy on using technology well (in a sustainable manner) with my students.  After rereading Amplify! it really struck me how the authors made it very clear (multiple times) that technology does not replace good teaching.  It is easy to be caught up in the newest 'best' thing, but I feel like trying to use too much too soon is simply creating digit...
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