Sadly this year has also been weird because of COVID 19 regulations and guidelines but it is starting to feel more normal, more school like again. It is as if I can see a light at the end of the tunnel - see what I did there :). Don't get me wrong the teacher burn out and shortage is still very real and still a very big issue but I can't help but hope that next year will be even more normal and we can keep heading in this direction. I can't wait to get back to the days of group projects and planning/implementing units with teachers and students.
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It has been a while since I have posted anything on this blog and honestly it comes down to exhaustion. Last school year, the very last thing on my mind was blogging or anything other than holding on for dear life but this school year has started off so differently for me for a couple of reasons. The biggest reason is I had a baby! A sweet, precious little boy who came 2 weeks early and threw all of my plans for a loop - it's really funny to me now that I thought I could plan things out when it came to the birth of my child. However, the second reason and also quite a large reason this year is different is because we are coming off of the Covid year. Granted, we are jumping right back into another one but this one is different. Some regulations have died down, some people are vaccinated or have a natural immunity from fighting the virus, but my favorite way and one of the silver linings of Covid is teachers are more willing to use technology! Last year, it was forced on everyone, there was simply no other way to teach from home unless you used technology. This year most of us are back into our comfy classrooms but it is so exciting for me as a technology coach to see teachers still using tech in their classroom in a meaningful way! Every time I get an email or a text message about wanting help setting up a program for their students or teaching a model lesson with some tech I get so excited because thanks to the crazy Covid year teachers are more willing to try tech integration in their classrooms and see the possibilities it opens up for their students.
In a normal school year teaching is hard. Now we have Covid added to the mix and teaching is a whole new beast of challenges. It is easy to get mad at others and take out our frustration on those we think are the problem. It's easier to get mad at one person than to just deal BUT instead of getting upset with each other why don't we plow through this new landscape together. We are stronger together and our students are better for it. So instead of fighting, blaming, and bickering lets work together to prove how awesome teachers are and what we can do!
Last week, a team of coaches, admin, and teachers from my district attended FECT in Miami. Between the team that went, the conference, and of course the location it was absolutely amazing! I have been to many technology conferences but FETC was hands down one of the best I have been to. I learned so many new things and how to use tools we were already using in better ways. There is something so powerful and motivating about being in a room full of educators all trying to better themselves to be better for their students. I am so excited to put all of my new knowledge into practice!
There is some controversy around the term gamification or gamified learning. Personally, I am all about it. Some argue that if we don't teach kids how to do things in a "normal" way then they will never learn. I vehemently disagree with this line of thinking. In my own life, when I am tasked with something I don't want to do I find a way to make it more enjoyable, why wouldn't we want our students to have the same thing? BreakoutEDU is a great way to gamify learning and teach soft skills like team work and communication. Most recently, I ran a math based Breakout in a 1st grade classroom. All the clues that students had to crack involved using their recently acquired skill of adding with regrouping. Students worked in groups of 4 and all the groups successfully broke out! The teacher was so impressed with the learning happening and the amount the kids enjoyed it that we are doing another Breakout next week on an ELA topic. They weren't easy problems the students had to solve and it wasn't an easy task to work in groups but they did it. Sometimes adding a game element to learning creates an even better learning environment than what would have happened in a more "traditional" setting.
I added this tweet to show just how excited these little scholars were to break out!
This year I am working in a new school district as an Instructional Technology Coach (I know I can hardly believe I got my dream job either!!) and the beginning of the year has been so vastly different than any other school year for me. I didn't set up a classroom, I didn't have a roster that changed 275,839,783 times, I didn't have meet the teacher night, heck I didn't even have an office until this last week, but what has been true this year so far is I am able to fully focus on technology as a learning tool and help fellow teachers. I am able to get standards and objectives from teachers and help create an awesome technology experience for these students to drive their learning deeper. While this year has kicked off in a not so normal way for me I truly can't wait to see what this school year will bring with it. Good luck fellow teachers and happy school year!!
The Innovator’s Mindset by George Couros discusses the 8 things necessary to have an innovators mindset. I don't know about you but I am a very visual tactile learner so creating infographics (I used picmonkey.com) is one of the best ways for me to take information to that oh-so-hard-to-access-at-times long term memory. I put the graphic here so you could see. Couros brings up so many valid points in this book but I especially love these 8 characteristics. Maybe it's the type A in me but it makes it seem so simple and attainable. There are things on this list I already would consider myself adept at while there are others that felt like a slap in the face because I am not doing them and need to focus on them being part of my daily growth. No one is perfect but everyone should be striving to be a better version of themselves.
Last week, I was contacted by the educational technology company Clever. They asked if I would participate in a conference call to discuss my classroom and the tech I use. Besides being shocked that they contacted me I was incredibly excited to share technology integration with more people than I normally do. On Wednesday this week, I had the phone call after school and it was so exciting and fun! I spoke with one of their product developers for about 30 minutes about my classroom, what teachers need, what students need, and so on. It was so refreshing to talk about the way technology can enhance our classroom. I loved every second of it! Clever has got some great stuff on the horizon to compliment their already awesome platform!
Yesterday, Jennifer Brown from the South Carolina State Department of Education brought different reading coaches from across this part of the state in to observe in my classroom. One of the most common questions I get is "How do all of your students get onto websites so quickly and without a ton of questions??" and yesterday was no different. The short answer is I teach them how. The long answer is 2-3 weeks worth of work at the beginning of the school year. I hate when I'm in my flow in the middle of a lesson and have to stop because 14 of my 26 students can't type in a website quick enough or even know how to access a website. Because of this pet peeve I have started 'technology boot camp'. The first few weeks of school I devote to teaching appropriate flex seating, routines, and how to appropriately use technology. After the two weeks is over they are by no means perfect but they now have a skill set they can build on so that by the time we get to February it is second nature to them allowing for lessons to run smoothly and engagement to stay high. My Top Three Tips for Streamlining Tech in Your Classroom 1. Anchor charts, anchor charts, anchor charts. 2. Use a program like Symbaloo or Clever. 3. Be consistent. Let's break down those tips a little further:
1. I totally cheated and made posters using our poster maker but they are hung up like anchor charts. This way I don't have to remake them every year. The charts range from 'What to Do if My Wifi Isn't Working?' to 'Rules for Handling Your Chromebook.". These charts remove a lot of questions that I might get. I review over the charts several times in those first weeks and now I often see students referring to them instead of me. 2. Symbaloo is a free program and Clever is one that would need to be purchased through your district but both perform the same basic function. It is a launching pad. As the teacher, I create my page and give the students the link on the day I introduce it (I use goo.gl shortner so the website is easier for them to type it in or you can drop it in Google Classroom if you already have that set up.). Once students are in they can see all of the websites I have put in there. All they have to do is click the tile with the website name and it takes them right there. No typing in websites, no helping each student individually, no muss or fuss. 3. The final one is consistency. I know this seems obvious but being consistent in the way you word things will go a long way. I always direct my students to Clever first, "Go to Clever and then to Nearpod" or what ever tool we are using at that moment. If I tell them to just go to a website it'll be 50/50 as to if everyone gets there or not. |