Chapter 6 -Power up for Connected Learning
Thursday, June 29, 2017
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Friday, June 23, 2017
Chapter 5
Chapter 5 - Reflection and Assessment
I created a digital survey last year for my students to take at the beginning of the school year and then gave it to them at the end. It was interesting to see how much they had learned about technology over the course of the year working with me. This chapter brought to light how many other ways I can assess my students specifically throughout their technology feedback and reflection of their own work. Just like us, students need to be able to reflect on their learning and use that reflection to help them make improvements. While reading I came up with a strategy I want to incorporate into my own classroom. My students take AR test and blog about books (also getting an overhaul after this class) but I want to have them create a digital log of all the books they read over the course of the school year and not through a written log. I think this will also allow the students to reflect on their reading and increase their awareness of how often they read and what types of books they read. Finally, I will be incorporating more exit tickets into my ELA block with technology. I think that I have missed the opportunity to collect some valuable feedback from my students within this area of my day and want to improve upon that in the future. However, I think this like all other things we teach I will need to model it for it to be worth anything in the classroom.
I created a digital survey last year for my students to take at the beginning of the school year and then gave it to them at the end. It was interesting to see how much they had learned about technology over the course of the year working with me. This chapter brought to light how many other ways I can assess my students specifically throughout their technology feedback and reflection of their own work. Just like us, students need to be able to reflect on their learning and use that reflection to help them make improvements. While reading I came up with a strategy I want to incorporate into my own classroom. My students take AR test and blog about books (also getting an overhaul after this class) but I want to have them create a digital log of all the books they read over the course of the school year and not through a written log. I think this will also allow the students to reflect on their reading and increase their awareness of how often they read and what types of books they read. Finally, I will be incorporating more exit tickets into my ELA block with technology. I think that I have missed the opportunity to collect some valuable feedback from my students within this area of my day and want to improve upon that in the future. However, I think this like all other things we teach I will need to model it for it to be worth anything in the classroom.
Thursday, June 22, 2017
Chapter 4 & Article
Chapter 4 - Foundational Lessons for Independence
This chapter is a great way to get started on how to prepare your students for using technology appropriately in the classroom. After being in a classroom that has ipads or laptops for years, most of these are second nature. However, it is always a good idea to have a refresher because we sometimes forget what the kids know or don't know. Taking time at the beginning of the year and creating and establishing these SOP's are important. It is equally important to revise them when necessary and revisit them as needed. I will be the first to admit that teaching digital citizenship has taken a back seat due to the number of expectations put on us. I still incoroprate it periodically but not nearly as much as it needs to be done for children at the elementary level. All the same, if I would remember the value of teaching more digital citizenship I wouldn't be having discussions with my students after the fact when there has been an issue of cyberbullying or inappropriate use of technology outside of the classroom. For a teacher entering a classroom setting with technology, I think this chapter or something along the same guidelines should be read for them to have a good foundation on how to teach these things. Personally, I was glad to see that the "tech help" chart in my room included most of what was noted in Fig. 4.3 but I have it set up so as that it indicates the problem and the possible solution. I love the idea of students as a specialist and while I have utilised this in my classroom setting I haven't provided those students with the credit they deserve by giving them a lanyard or identifying them directly to the entire class as a specialist and therefore I will be incorporating this into my classroom next year. Moreover, the priority hierarchy is a great lesson that I fully intend to use because student have a difficult time managing work time when using the ipad and this is a great visual way for them to see they need to spend a proportional amount of time creating, polishing and presenting their work. Finally, I was shocked to see there wasn't a page at the end of this chapter similar to the rest, "Three Things to Try Tomorrow".
Article Formative Assessments in the Digital Age
This past year was the first time I tried something along the lines of blogging with the my students. A fellow teacher and myself created a Google Classroom where students could blog about books they had read and respond to other bloggers. We created some pretty simple guidelines for this activity and introduced it slowly from our higher readers down. After reading this article, I have signed up for KidBlog and plan on paying for it for my students next school year. Unlike the article suggest, we had students blogging about books they had read rather than blogging throughout their reading which we could have been using as formative assessments which this article explains. Unlike the article, we had established times our students could book blog, almost within the reading rotation schedule as a station. This article discusses having the students have the freedom to do it when they choose to encourage them to record their thinking. The most valuable part of this article for me was the rubric that I can use with my bloggers next year! I am anxious to approach my book blogging and be able to take grades and assess my students thinking!
This chapter is a great way to get started on how to prepare your students for using technology appropriately in the classroom. After being in a classroom that has ipads or laptops for years, most of these are second nature. However, it is always a good idea to have a refresher because we sometimes forget what the kids know or don't know. Taking time at the beginning of the year and creating and establishing these SOP's are important. It is equally important to revise them when necessary and revisit them as needed. I will be the first to admit that teaching digital citizenship has taken a back seat due to the number of expectations put on us. I still incoroprate it periodically but not nearly as much as it needs to be done for children at the elementary level. All the same, if I would remember the value of teaching more digital citizenship I wouldn't be having discussions with my students after the fact when there has been an issue of cyberbullying or inappropriate use of technology outside of the classroom. For a teacher entering a classroom setting with technology, I think this chapter or something along the same guidelines should be read for them to have a good foundation on how to teach these things. Personally, I was glad to see that the "tech help" chart in my room included most of what was noted in Fig. 4.3 but I have it set up so as that it indicates the problem and the possible solution. I love the idea of students as a specialist and while I have utilised this in my classroom setting I haven't provided those students with the credit they deserve by giving them a lanyard or identifying them directly to the entire class as a specialist and therefore I will be incorporating this into my classroom next year. Moreover, the priority hierarchy is a great lesson that I fully intend to use because student have a difficult time managing work time when using the ipad and this is a great visual way for them to see they need to spend a proportional amount of time creating, polishing and presenting their work. Finally, I was shocked to see there wasn't a page at the end of this chapter similar to the rest, "Three Things to Try Tomorrow".
Article Formative Assessments in the Digital Age
This past year was the first time I tried something along the lines of blogging with the my students. A fellow teacher and myself created a Google Classroom where students could blog about books they had read and respond to other bloggers. We created some pretty simple guidelines for this activity and introduced it slowly from our higher readers down. After reading this article, I have signed up for KidBlog and plan on paying for it for my students next school year. Unlike the article suggest, we had students blogging about books they had read rather than blogging throughout their reading which we could have been using as formative assessments which this article explains. Unlike the article, we had established times our students could book blog, almost within the reading rotation schedule as a station. This article discusses having the students have the freedom to do it when they choose to encourage them to record their thinking. The most valuable part of this article for me was the rubric that I can use with my bloggers next year! I am anxious to approach my book blogging and be able to take grades and assess my students thinking!
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Article
COMBINING TRADITIONAL AND NEW LITERACIES IN A 21ST-CENTURY WRITING WORKSHOP ARTICLE
Using technology to enhance learning in the literacy environment will benefit our students and prepare them for future careers. I love how the students discussed in this article documented their learning instead of just writing and illustrating a story or digitally recording their stories. The methods mentioned in this article are fantastic and a great way to blend writing workshop with technology. I love the idea of putting pictures or things from magazines in their notebooks to write about. I have never done anything like that in their notebooks. I found it interesting to know that planning is somewhat of a lost art in the writing process at least in the lower grades. Perhaps it is because they still have so much imagination that creating a plan isn't as necessary as going with their ideas. However, the story mapping as a means of planning is something I could totally incorporate into my writing. I was blown away regarding the concept of using oral story telling to plan and work as their rough drafts to their stories. It is impressive to think that this works better but not surprising. Kids are great story tellers and this is probably more natural than writing a story. I know I am going to have all these "kernels" appear in my writing workshop and make some "popping" with these ideas.
Using technology to enhance learning in the literacy environment will benefit our students and prepare them for future careers. I love how the students discussed in this article documented their learning instead of just writing and illustrating a story or digitally recording their stories. The methods mentioned in this article are fantastic and a great way to blend writing workshop with technology. I love the idea of putting pictures or things from magazines in their notebooks to write about. I have never done anything like that in their notebooks. I found it interesting to know that planning is somewhat of a lost art in the writing process at least in the lower grades. Perhaps it is because they still have so much imagination that creating a plan isn't as necessary as going with their ideas. However, the story mapping as a means of planning is something I could totally incorporate into my writing. I was blown away regarding the concept of using oral story telling to plan and work as their rough drafts to their stories. It is impressive to think that this works better but not surprising. Kids are great story tellers and this is probably more natural than writing a story. I know I am going to have all these "kernels" appear in my writing workshop and make some "popping" with these ideas.
Thursday, June 15, 2017
Chapter 3
Book Chapter 3 - Connecting Technology to Existing Classroom Practice
How engaging this chapter was for me! I loved all the reinforcement of how to use and implement using technology in the classroom, specifically in ELA. There were so many examples and ideas that I felt like I highlighted most of the chapter. For example, the weekly detailed plan that is included helped me see how I could organise my week differently. I also liked the section on the beginning a unit of study with a text and pairing media with the text so the students can analyse them. It was also nice to hear the author mention the need to use respectful language in all settings; this is something I have always made a priority in my class. I additionally, appreciate the reminding throughout about modelling and providing scaffolding as well as anchor charts to help. Often we get so caught up in teaching content we can forget about the need to do these things for all students in the beginning. More than anything I appreciated how the author explains that reading information online properly has to be explicitly taught. I have never considered this before and have run into issues that I overlook because I assume they know how to navigate the web since they do it so often.
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Chapter 2 and Article
Book Chapter 2 - Journey of Discovery
This chapter really helped me reconsider some ways in which I can help enhance my technology skills by reaching out to others or setting aside time specifically for trying new things I strongly agree with the authors that the students need time to explore because it helps them learn and technology is something they are eager to learn on their own how to use. I am always trying to help colleagues do more with technology and sometimes I am met with teachers that are willing to try and love it or some that are so against trying something new. Recently I led a TCT group for a couple of weeks on using new tools and it was amazing to see how it spread through the building. I would love a job where I could just help teachers incorporate technology in their rooms or help them make things using technology.
Article - Reading Workshop 2.0
This article couldn’t be more on point. In fact, I hated reading as a child and young adult. However, when I first downloaded a book on my phone I was engaged. I don’t know what made the difference for me, but since that day I have read more books in that first year that I had probably read my entire life till that point. Even now, I would rather read a book in my phone or ipad and be able to interact with it. Being able to have immediate downloads, interactions, review and etc on books helps me decide on books I want to read and using a bookshelf in the cloud is great! Having this opportunity in the classroom is a great way to open the world of books to students. I love that when I don’t know a word I can open the online dictionary and highlight areas in the book. My favorite part of this article was using technology to book smash instead of app smash or creating sequels (Knuffle Bunny already has one and I love it). I wish our students had the ability to include the outside world in their reading using things like GoodReads, but I will settle now for the blogging area on a Google Classroom site for my students.
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