I feel that I have grown as an educator since first entering into my first Educational Technology class six weeks ago. I entered knowing a little bit about technology and I left with so much knowledge on how to engage and interact with my students within the classroom. I learned more than just Google, Twitter and Facebook. I learned how to blog and post one live. I had always wanted to write a blog, not just read one, and now I can!
It had been a few years since I had tweeted on Twitter and now I can do more than just tweet. I participated in a twitterchat for the first time during class and created a personal twitter account that I can use to communicate with and follow other educators around the world.
I really enjoyed learning about Flipgrid during our 6 weeks together. I can see myself utilizing this really cool tool in my classroom. I can post a video or a picture and have students respond to my post. I can use it as an assessment tool or as a great classroom opener.
I really enjoyed how the class was always interactive and hands-on! I really felt calm and not at all rushed when working on assignments or in-class activities. I really feel that this was due to the calm demeanor of the instructor, Kim Darche. She was always patient with me and her other students in the class. She is very knowledgeable and shared her insights and experiences with us. She showed us things that work and don't work. She really put us on the right path for continuing our education and shared how we can use each tool and each activity inside and outside of the classroom. I'm so glad that I had this class and I can't wait to put everything into practice!
Thursday, March 21, 2019
Feeling Better About Technology
I will admit that I was a little nervous to take a class covering Educational Technology because I did not know a lot about the subject matter and I often get a little nervous learning something new. I was feeling more at ease as the first night went on because the instructor was very welcoming and made the class time interesting and not at all overwhelming.
I am no longer feeling nervous about Educational Technology and feel more confident in utilizing the tools I practiced in class someday in my own classroom. I really enjoyed learning how technology can help students of all learning abilities become successful inside and outside of the classroom. I learned that technology, when used in the right way, can be fun and shared in a responsible way. One does not have to shy away from it. Technology is a great way to keep the lines of communication open between the teacher and student and the teacher and the parent; as well. Parents are always looking for better communication with their child's teacher so that they may know what exactly their child is learning in the classroom. Apps like Seesaw and Edmodo help them keep in touch and see through text, video, or picture what learning is actually taking place.
I know that as an educator, it is my responsibility to keep up with the different learning trends in the classroom in order to better help my students become successful. I know that as technology evolves, it will be my responsibility to keep up in order to be ahead of my students. I can only imagine how far technology will go in the future.
It is a big responsibility in schools today, to be able to supply students with the technology tools (iPads, chrome books, laptops, etc.) and it’s quite costly too. 1:1 classrooms are emerging more and more and some students are able to take their devices home and not just leave them at school. Some schools feel that a lot of screen time is necessary, but others feel it does need to be limited to a degree. My fifth grader brings her iPad home every day and loves to watch videos and play games on it. My Kindergartener keeps her iPad at school because it is shared among the grade classes. She has a tablet to use at home. They both love their devices and often don’t like playing with other things if they are allowed on their devices. I think it will be good to find a healthy balance in order to not be so attached to their devices. I love how my kids and I can grow in our learning together.
I am no longer feeling nervous about Educational Technology and feel more confident in utilizing the tools I practiced in class someday in my own classroom. I really enjoyed learning how technology can help students of all learning abilities become successful inside and outside of the classroom. I learned that technology, when used in the right way, can be fun and shared in a responsible way. One does not have to shy away from it. Technology is a great way to keep the lines of communication open between the teacher and student and the teacher and the parent; as well. Parents are always looking for better communication with their child's teacher so that they may know what exactly their child is learning in the classroom. Apps like Seesaw and Edmodo help them keep in touch and see through text, video, or picture what learning is actually taking place.
I know that as an educator, it is my responsibility to keep up with the different learning trends in the classroom in order to better help my students become successful. I know that as technology evolves, it will be my responsibility to keep up in order to be ahead of my students. I can only imagine how far technology will go in the future.
It is a big responsibility in schools today, to be able to supply students with the technology tools (iPads, chrome books, laptops, etc.) and it’s quite costly too. 1:1 classrooms are emerging more and more and some students are able to take their devices home and not just leave them at school. Some schools feel that a lot of screen time is necessary, but others feel it does need to be limited to a degree. My fifth grader brings her iPad home every day and loves to watch videos and play games on it. My Kindergartener keeps her iPad at school because it is shared among the grade classes. She has a tablet to use at home. They both love their devices and often don’t like playing with other things if they are allowed on their devices. I think it will be good to find a healthy balance in order to not be so attached to their devices. I love how my kids and I can grow in our learning together.
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Social Media
In this day and age, people should come to realize that somewhere, someone, has a phone and may just video record what is going on around them. That video may also then be uploaded to social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, or even Twitter.
That was the case, this week, when I saw a post on Facebook, where a mother of a Junior High girl living in California, was told to hit another student. Police are now investigating the incident. The mom gave her daughter permission to do it because "It's after school. You can't get in trouble." What rationale the mother had. The mother even got into the confrontation and was seen holding back the victim of the fight with the mother's daughter.
The daughter of the mother responsible, was seen in the video not wanting to participate in the fight. She was feeling pressured by her mother to hit the other student. The mother of the victim told local news outlets that the girl hit her daughter and that the girl had been bullying her daughter on the bus. Her daughter was defending herself.
The school is looking into disciplining the student who hit the victim. The victim's mother is even looking at pressing charges on the mother of the girl who hit her daughter. She feels that she is responsible for what took place that day.
This story impacted me because it surprised me that a mother would be asking her daughter to be violent toward another student and would also actively participate in the event. It doesn't surprise me that this was posted on Facebook. In today's world, online social media posts are almost instantaneous and almost anything can be viewed today. I really feel for the victim and I feel for the daughter of the mother who was encouraging her to hit the victim. The mother should definitely be punished for her actions and held accountable to the victim. The mother used poor judgement and should have handled things differently.
I think we all need to be held accountable for our actions. Someone, somewhere, has a camera and can videotape or take pictures and post them for the world to see. It's too bad that the girl did not walk away from her mother or the situation. I think that if she had, the mother would have stopped encouraging her and maybe others would have come to her aid to defend her. Given the location of the incident, I'm surprised that students hadn't tried to get the attention of another adult to help diffuse the situation. It's a good lesson to share with children of how to handle this type of situation in the future.
That was the case, this week, when I saw a post on Facebook, where a mother of a Junior High girl living in California, was told to hit another student. Police are now investigating the incident. The mom gave her daughter permission to do it because "It's after school. You can't get in trouble." What rationale the mother had. The mother even got into the confrontation and was seen holding back the victim of the fight with the mother's daughter.
The daughter of the mother responsible, was seen in the video not wanting to participate in the fight. She was feeling pressured by her mother to hit the other student. The mother of the victim told local news outlets that the girl hit her daughter and that the girl had been bullying her daughter on the bus. Her daughter was defending herself.
The school is looking into disciplining the student who hit the victim. The victim's mother is even looking at pressing charges on the mother of the girl who hit her daughter. She feels that she is responsible for what took place that day.
This story impacted me because it surprised me that a mother would be asking her daughter to be violent toward another student and would also actively participate in the event. It doesn't surprise me that this was posted on Facebook. In today's world, online social media posts are almost instantaneous and almost anything can be viewed today. I really feel for the victim and I feel for the daughter of the mother who was encouraging her to hit the victim. The mother should definitely be punished for her actions and held accountable to the victim. The mother used poor judgement and should have handled things differently.
I think we all need to be held accountable for our actions. Someone, somewhere, has a camera and can videotape or take pictures and post them for the world to see. It's too bad that the girl did not walk away from her mother or the situation. I think that if she had, the mother would have stopped encouraging her and maybe others would have come to her aid to defend her. Given the location of the incident, I'm surprised that students hadn't tried to get the attention of another adult to help diffuse the situation. It's a good lesson to share with children of how to handle this type of situation in the future.
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Learning Style
I kinda had an idea of what type of learner I am. I really thought that I was more tactile (hands-on) and less auditory. I wanted to know for sure, what type of learner I was; so, I went to www.educationplanner.org and took a short assessment. The results shocked me!
My results were 45% Auditory, 40 % Visual, and 15% Tactile. Being an auditory learner means that I learn by hearing and listening. I can remember and understand things that I have heard. I even have an easier time understanding spoken instructions than written ones. I read out loud because I have to hear it or speak it in order to know it. As I read out loud, I also try and visualize the story or the concept being explained to me.
This description is mostly true for me. I certainly had an easier time in certain subjects; like Reading and History because I could hear things out loud and recall dates, people, places, etc. due to my auditory and visual responses to learning various concepts. I had a more difficult time in subjects like Science or Math because I could not always practice with hands-on materials what was being taught or explained to me. I suppose I need to hear, see, and manually practice things in order to learn well.
I had to perform different tasks in order to learn various concepts at home and at school. I practiced using flashcards in Math or Reading, I read stories out loud and sometimes liked to record myself reading or practicing speeches. I also liked to sit up front or near the front of the class so that I could listen better to the teacher. If I took notes, I often repeated the words as I wrote them down. This practice helped me to memorize my notes better and recall the important things I needed to know for tests and other assessments. In Science or Math class, I did better on assignments that were hands-on; as opposed to, taught audibly. It made it easier for me to grasp the material when I could physically experiment with solutions and chemicals; rather than, study the Periodic Table. When class was made fun and interesting, I was more apt to participate and learn better.
This knowledge of myself did not surprise me as much as the fact that I always considered myself a tactile learner more than an auditory learner. I always liked hearing stories, listening to the teacher talk, participate in classroom discussions, but I also need to practice things on my own in order to better understand certain concepts. I thought that I would have scored higher than 15% in this area.
This type of knowledge about myself, certainly can help me inside of my own classroom. I can better plan lessons around the various types of learners that I have. I can "change things up" for those that need more hands-on learning, I can bring in more auditory materials for those who like to learn by listening, and I can add more visual tools to the classroom for those who are more visual learners. I want each student to be successful, but I realize that in order for this to happen, I need to be flexible, creative, and more understanding of the students that I am teaching. Maybe I can take a short inventory of my students at the beginning of the year, to better assess the learning styles of my students. This may help make my planning go easier and create a more successful learning environment.
My results were 45% Auditory, 40 % Visual, and 15% Tactile. Being an auditory learner means that I learn by hearing and listening. I can remember and understand things that I have heard. I even have an easier time understanding spoken instructions than written ones. I read out loud because I have to hear it or speak it in order to know it. As I read out loud, I also try and visualize the story or the concept being explained to me.
This description is mostly true for me. I certainly had an easier time in certain subjects; like Reading and History because I could hear things out loud and recall dates, people, places, etc. due to my auditory and visual responses to learning various concepts. I had a more difficult time in subjects like Science or Math because I could not always practice with hands-on materials what was being taught or explained to me. I suppose I need to hear, see, and manually practice things in order to learn well.
I had to perform different tasks in order to learn various concepts at home and at school. I practiced using flashcards in Math or Reading, I read stories out loud and sometimes liked to record myself reading or practicing speeches. I also liked to sit up front or near the front of the class so that I could listen better to the teacher. If I took notes, I often repeated the words as I wrote them down. This practice helped me to memorize my notes better and recall the important things I needed to know for tests and other assessments. In Science or Math class, I did better on assignments that were hands-on; as opposed to, taught audibly. It made it easier for me to grasp the material when I could physically experiment with solutions and chemicals; rather than, study the Periodic Table. When class was made fun and interesting, I was more apt to participate and learn better.
This knowledge of myself did not surprise me as much as the fact that I always considered myself a tactile learner more than an auditory learner. I always liked hearing stories, listening to the teacher talk, participate in classroom discussions, but I also need to practice things on my own in order to better understand certain concepts. I thought that I would have scored higher than 15% in this area.
This type of knowledge about myself, certainly can help me inside of my own classroom. I can better plan lessons around the various types of learners that I have. I can "change things up" for those that need more hands-on learning, I can bring in more auditory materials for those who like to learn by listening, and I can add more visual tools to the classroom for those who are more visual learners. I want each student to be successful, but I realize that in order for this to happen, I need to be flexible, creative, and more understanding of the students that I am teaching. Maybe I can take a short inventory of my students at the beginning of the year, to better assess the learning styles of my students. This may help make my planning go easier and create a more successful learning environment.
Thursday, February 28, 2019
Evaluation Time
This week, many of the teachers and aides were being evaluated during our Math and Reading MTSS programs. MTSS, for those not familiar with the terminology, stands for Multi-tiered System of Support. We use this system to help give differentiated learning for all of our student levels. Some need more support than others and some need more challenges to meet their educational abilities.
Our program is evaluated once in the Fall and once in the Winter time, with a follow-up after each evaluation. The feedback is then shared with parents during Parent-Teacher conferences and with the teachers involved. We can tweak or enhance each tier based on the results of the evaluation.
We have a director who oversees our MTSS program and she is the one who evaluates each of the teachers and aides. She looks at class sizes, classrooms where the instruction takes place, student/teacher interaction, student behavior, and use of materials for concept teaching. We generally get feedback in the form of an email from our director and its shared between the teams. She invites input and feedback from us as well.
I generally get a little nervous when I'm getting evaluated. I want to do a good job teaching and I hope that the students are learning from me and enjoying class with me. It sometimes gets a little nerve-wracking when a student misbehaves and I have to discipline him/her. I want to know that I disciplined the student in the right manner and don't want it to distract from the lesson I am teaching.
I have never had a "horrible" evaluation, but have always had things that I have heard are strengths and some areas in which I can improve upon. Overall, I think evaluations are good for teachers to have and I like that they are held a couple of times a year. I am glad that my evaluation is not tied to pay scale or that my evaluation is not tied in with student assessments. I could see where some schools may want this as a motivational tool to help retain excellent teachers, add bonus pay, and motivate those who need to improve themselves. I like the overall feedback it gives us as teachers and shows us where we can improve upon our classes to help our students succeed. Parents like the feedback; as well, so that they can see how their child is being taught in school and what concepts are being practiced. They can help their child at home with this type of feedback. It also creates more communication points with the parent(s) and teachers.
Our program is evaluated once in the Fall and once in the Winter time, with a follow-up after each evaluation. The feedback is then shared with parents during Parent-Teacher conferences and with the teachers involved. We can tweak or enhance each tier based on the results of the evaluation.
We have a director who oversees our MTSS program and she is the one who evaluates each of the teachers and aides. She looks at class sizes, classrooms where the instruction takes place, student/teacher interaction, student behavior, and use of materials for concept teaching. We generally get feedback in the form of an email from our director and its shared between the teams. She invites input and feedback from us as well.
I generally get a little nervous when I'm getting evaluated. I want to do a good job teaching and I hope that the students are learning from me and enjoying class with me. It sometimes gets a little nerve-wracking when a student misbehaves and I have to discipline him/her. I want to know that I disciplined the student in the right manner and don't want it to distract from the lesson I am teaching.
I have never had a "horrible" evaluation, but have always had things that I have heard are strengths and some areas in which I can improve upon. Overall, I think evaluations are good for teachers to have and I like that they are held a couple of times a year. I am glad that my evaluation is not tied to pay scale or that my evaluation is not tied in with student assessments. I could see where some schools may want this as a motivational tool to help retain excellent teachers, add bonus pay, and motivate those who need to improve themselves. I like the overall feedback it gives us as teachers and shows us where we can improve upon our classes to help our students succeed. Parents like the feedback; as well, so that they can see how their child is being taught in school and what concepts are being practiced. They can help their child at home with this type of feedback. It also creates more communication points with the parent(s) and teachers.
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Technology in the Classroom
In my opinion, technology, is not always "My Friend." Last Thursday, I actually had a positive experience with technology, when I gave I-pads to my Third grade Reading group and had them record themselves reading a short story. The students were instructed to record themselves reading the story, listen to the recording, and "grade" themselves on their rate, fluency, and expression. All of my students enjoyed recording and listening to themselves read. They asked me if they could do that each week. It was a great way for them to hear themselves read and for me to keep a record of their reading; so that, I could go back and hear their improvement over time. This idea made the class more enjoyable for the students and made them want to participate more.
I have had a negative experience with technology lately. Over the last couple of weeks of school, my document reader attached to my smart board, has been flaky. It does not work when I need it to work and it makes my classroom instruction plans to be adjusted. I often like to show documents for my younger classes on the smart board; in order, to help them better understand the lesson being taught. I now have to waste class time or planning time, trying to "fix" the document reader by turning the machine off/on; resetting my computer, or just foregoing its use all together. I have an older reader and the school does not have extra ones for swap out, nor does it have it in the budget to upgrade the older readers. Just plain frustrating!
I have had a negative experience with technology lately. Over the last couple of weeks of school, my document reader attached to my smart board, has been flaky. It does not work when I need it to work and it makes my classroom instruction plans to be adjusted. I often like to show documents for my younger classes on the smart board; in order, to help them better understand the lesson being taught. I now have to waste class time or planning time, trying to "fix" the document reader by turning the machine off/on; resetting my computer, or just foregoing its use all together. I have an older reader and the school does not have extra ones for swap out, nor does it have it in the budget to upgrade the older readers. Just plain frustrating!
Thursday, February 14, 2019
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