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Currently, I am completing my final internship in preparation for May's graduation (whoop whoop!). I am working with my Alma mater Erskine College and their senior student teachers. I am working closely with the head of the education department to create a support document for the student teachers. I have had so much fun creating this document! Using Google Docs it is a live document so it can change and be added to over time as well as have live links and tutorial videos. The document is separated by subject and then coded based on grade level applicability. I also added a short tutorial video of my self using Screencastify to each tool to help better explain how to use it. Later this week, I will be going to Erskine College to meet with the student teachers to teach them some of the tools and answer any questions. This has been a glimpse into my dream job and I can't wait for the day that dream becomes a reality!
If you would like to check out the support document follow this link: Technology Support Doc For the better part of 3 years I have known that my dream job would be a Technology Coach/ Technology Integration Specialist. I have always been passionate about integrating technology into daily classroom lessons. I truly feel that to create well rounded individuals technology adeptness needs to be in that equation with the current world we live in. The district I am currently in has been awesome in helping me discover what I aspire to be. Through tech conferences, Google Summits, presenting at district events, and working one on one with our technology coach it quickly became evident that being a tech coach is truly my calling. The corny adage do what you love and you will never work a day in your life is truly what being a technology coach would be for me. I love it when I help a fellow teacher with technology and she has a lesson that completely engages her students and she feels over the moon. The light that turns on in a student's eye when they finally understand something because technology was able to show it to them in a new light. Those are the moments in teaching that I live for. It is truly what I love.
As someone who, clearly, loves using technology in my daily lessons it is baffling to me when I hear that people are upset about the level of technology used in classrooms nation wide. However, often times these are the same people who want our country as a whole to have better education. I am here to say you can't have one and not the other. Name an occupation that doesn't use some form of technology, go ahead I'll wait. . . can't come up with one? That is because our culture is now saturated with technology. You can argue whether or not that is a good thing but the fact is technology is everywhere. Not using technology in the classroom is a disservice to our students. Doctors, Teachers, Businessmen, McDonald's Workers, and even sports coaches use technology in their job daily. If teachers are not using technology and showing students how to use it in an appropriate an meaningful way there will be students becoming members of society who can't hit the ground running because they were never given the basic knowledge and skills. Technology and Education need to be come friends not two ideas at odds with each other.
Learning in every classroom is different because every student is different. For example, in my class I have a student named James. James is an active boy who reading and writing is just not his jam. I have a great time called 'PAWS' built into my schedule every day. It's a time for remediation and extra help for students who need it. Since I have a room full at this time and not all students need help, I have been using the CS-First coding program through Google and scratch as a way to keep kids engaged in content while I work one on one with other students. James is one of the students who took to coding and ran with it. I have been so impressed with all the things James has created. But guess what? He is using reading and writing skills to create these projects. Does it look traditional? No. But he is fully engaged and working on communication and writing skills in his projects. Moments like these are the ones that make me realize just how truly powerful technology in the hands of our students can be.
Hypermedia is beneficial in any classroom at any level. I have created this video about its benefits. Obviously, with the climate in today's culture that title might raise some eyebrows but the student teacher relationships is incredibly crucial to any well functioning classroom. It sounds very juvenile to say but I want my students to like me and genuinely enjoy being in my classroom. Sure, grammar and reading isn't every students favorite topics but if I can make them want to be engaged in a lesson or project we are doing then I have won that student over. We all know that one person in our lives who when they speak (no matter what comes out of their mouth) we roll our eyes because we don't like them and will never learn from what they are saying. The same is true for students. If they don't like and/or respect their teacher they will learn nothing from you. It is important to take time to really know your students. Today that happened in my classroom. It started to snow and many of my students had never played in the snow. Living in South Carolina IF we get snow it typically doesn't stick. So instead of pushing on with the lesson I through out a portion of my lesson to take the kids outside to run around in it. In the grand scheme of things the students will remember the teacher who made them feel loved and play in the snow over the teacher who taught them the proper use of verb tenses.
Social media has become a pervasive part of today's culture. The classroom cannot be a bubble where social media and technology don't touch the things we do with our students. As teachers our goal is to create learners, doers, and achievers fit for the world we live in. If we aren't teaching using the things they will come into contact with outside of our classroom how can we expect to create well rounded individuals? Every profession in the world moves and grows with technology, education needs to too.
Anderson School District 2 does not have a district wide social media policy but all social media is blocked on student computers. Teachers have the ability to access some social media such as twitter. As a teacher social media is a great way to celebrate my students. Students know that when they achieve something great I will whip my phone out to get a picture of it and post it on our class Instagram and/or Facebook. They know this to the point that they always remind me to tag them in the pictures so they have bragging rights. This free form of extrinsic motivation works so well with my 5th graders because I am using a platform they are comfortable with and already use on a daily basis. Not using social media would be a disservice to my students.
Behavior problems? Increase your classroom engagement. Grade problems? Increase your
classroom engagement. Smelly students? Increase your engagement. Okay, so maybe not everything can be solved through student engagement but scholars tend to agree that major classroom problems can be eliminated if student are actively engaged in a lesson. A great way to keep students engaged in your lesson is via nearpod. Nearpod.com is an awesome platform for teachers to create engaging lessons that also check for understanding (it's so, so easy to use!). Nearpod is free to a certain extent. With the free Silver level you get: Class Size: Up to 30 participants at a time, Multi-Platform Availability, Basic Features, and access to downloads hundreds of Free Lessons. You can upgrade to bigger packages for a fee but the silver level has been enough for me. Interested in learning more? Here's a presentation I created about nearpod as well as a lesson plan: My last post was the mission statement of the district I work for but this post is more personal, this post is my personal mission statement about the teacher I am striving to be. I WANT: TO BE A TEACHER MY STUDENTS TRUST. TO USE TECHNOLOGY IN MY CLASS IN A WAY THAT CHALLENGES AND ENHANCES LEARNING. TO USE TECHNOLOGY TO CELEBRATE AND CHALLENGE MY STUDENTS. TO CONTINUALLY CHALLENGE MYSELF. Trust. Trust is a big deal in all areas of life, but in my classroom its huge to those students who walk through my door. I have students who come from all walks of life and honestly a young, white woman, bouncing around a classroom telling you why you need to know what the theme of a story is not every students cup of tea. If I can show my students that while I may be slightly off kilter, they can trust me that gives me a relationship to build on and an in to teach with. Kids want to learn but they won't learn from someone they don't like or can't trust.
Technology. We are all constantly surrounded by technology. Students are constantly stimulated by the virtual world around them so its only natural for them to disengage in a classroom that doesn't provide the same stimulation. I don't want to just engage my students I want to push their boundaries, enhance their learning, and take them to places they never thought they could go. Celebrate. Just like I said above, so many of my students come from different walks of life. Many are not commonly praised because there's not someone around to tell them how great they are doing or life is just so busy the small things like praise are overlooked. I want my students to feel celebrated and respected in my room for the things they can do. Challenge. All the things I wrote above sound great and fantastic but none are possible if I don't continually challenge and push myself to bigger and greater things. |