Tech Reflections

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?...

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...