Project: Classroom

I have been dreaming about my future classroom for 3+ years. I've collected from garage sales, teacher friends, Good Will, the Dollar Tree, and Target's dollar section. On July 13th, I was finally able to move all the things I have accumulated over the years into my room (let me tell you my mom was happy to see it all leave her house).

Here is the before picture! My classroom is awesome. High ceilings, built-in storage, and TONS of wall space.

And then the working began! Unpacking, sorting, cutting, taping, organizing. One thing they didn't tell us in college, how long it takes to set up a classroom. I mean seriously!! Project after project. It was so much fun though. I enjoyed every second I spent there this summer. Seeing as I spent so much of my summer there, I'd though I'd share all my hard work. Enjoy the tour!

The hallway - bright and inviting! Next week I will add my students' names to each balloon.

Butler is a PBIS school and uses positive rules to teach correct behavior school-wide. Our room will be buzzing with good behavior all year long!!

My friend Emily's legacy, JOY, will be spread with my 1st graders by filling buckets! Students can fill each other's buckets (located in their lockers) with nice notes, and we will also work to have good behavior as a class to fill our class bucket. If it gets filled, we will have a bucket party!

Each of my students will have a tablet - can't wait to incorporate them into our learning.

The library - the most time consuming project, but it's perfect and ready for my students to browse!

My mantras for the year!

I tried to have everything picked up, but let's be honest, my desk will never be cleared off.

Students can put their own facts on the "Did you know?" board - motivation to read nonfiction!

Our writing center!

And there it is! I can't wait for my 1st grade kiddos to fill it up on the 31st. Lots of planning and organizing left to do, but at least the room is finished!

I haven't been blogging much, but I am going to try as much as I can this year to document the good times and the not so good times!

Final thoughts

People have always told me that time flies as you get older, and man, they weren't kidding! I can't believe this semester is almost over. As I reflect back on this semester and the knowledge I've gained through my technology class, CI 302, I am happy with how far I've come. I have learned so many tools and ways to incorporate technology into my classroom someday. The biggest take away for me is pushing myself to redefine teaching and learning with technology, not just substitute old ways with new ways. That is something that had never been brought to my attention before this class and I think it's really important to consider.

The learning that has happened through this class matters because it pushed me beyond my limits. It challenged my thinking and opened my eyes to technology I wasn't familiar with. I learned from my peers and was also able to teach them what I knew. More than just learning about tools and gadgets, I learned how to be a better educator; connecting with others using technological tools to gain insight and ideas. This is only the beginning, and I look to grow more in the future.

As a future teacher, I think this class helped me realize that I will never be a master at technology. There is always someone else who knows more, and as a teacher, it is my job to find and connect with that person to share knowledge and grow. I also have so many more goals for myself now, not just my students. I want to participate in twitter chats, continue blogging to share ideas and reflect, and connect with educators across the world. These are things that weren't a priority of mine until this class.

To my teacher, Jamie Fath:
Thank you for a great semester. I truly learned a lot and appreciate you taking the time to teach us. To help you become a better educator, I will provide "one glow, one grow" as feedback (one thing that went well and one thing to work on). My glow would be how you let us teach each other. We were able to share the resources and tools that we know about and teach it to our peers. This is how the real world of teaching will be and it was really nice to see that in our class. My grow would be to enhance our blogging experience. It is hard to keep up with everyone's blogs because we had a large class. I think it would be beneficial to group students and then each group can follow, comment, and keep up with only their group's blogs. This would be less overwhelming than the entire class and allow us to practice interacting through blogs.

In conclusion, I am sad to see this class end, but I am excited to continue moving closer to student teaching and my future classroom. I look forward to growing and learning more about being an educator in the future.

Writing a Grant

In my technology class, we had to apply to a fake grant as a group. I worked with two of my peers as a '3rd grade team' at a K-5 building. We applied for 60 iPads to be used in the 3rd grade as a trial for eventual full implementation of iPads in K-5.

I learned a lot through this process. I had never even considered applying for grants, and didn't know that it was something teachers did. It was empowering to know that we have the ability to make a change in our school environment. I think it is a great way for teachers to get what they want and make something happen. This assignment also showed me how easy grant writing can be. I am by no means an expert, yet I successfully wrote and submitted a grant!

During the grant writing process, the biggest struggle my group encountered was getting everything we needed to say into 5 pages. The grant proposal called for no more than that. We wanted to sell our case and show that we deserved these iPads, while being concise and getting our point across efficiently. It was a challenge because we had to decide what was a priority to write about and what could be left out.

As I begin to think about the future and myself as a teacher, I think grant writing is something I will try to do. During my first few years of teaching, it will not be my main concern. However, once I have a secure job and see myself at that school for a long period of time, I think it would be great to take a look at the school and its needs and make it happen. I look forward to seeing what my future brings!

Speed Geeking

In my technology class last night, we spent the majority of the time reviewing many devices and tools very quickly - or as my teacher called it, "Speed Geeking". Through doing this, we learned about 7 different devices and 9 tools in less than an hour.

Devices:

• Acer Chromebook
• Samsung Chromebook
• Lenovo Chromebook
• Nexus 7
• Kindle Fire
• iPad
• Surface tablet

Tools:

• Write About This
• iMovie
• Educreations
• Popplet Life
• Lucid Chart
• WeVideo
• Powtoon
• Padlet
• Educreations

My favorite device: the iPad. My favorite tool: Write About This.

My least favorite device: Chromebook. My least favorite tool: Powtoon.

Strictly my opinion, but let me explain...

I chose those two devices as my favorite and least favorite for many reasons, but I will admit, my early childhood degree sways my opinion on this one. For students PreK-3rd grade, I believe the iPad is the best tool out there and the Chromebook is not appropriate. However, that does not mean I believe the Chromebook is a bad device. I think it is a nice, cheaper option for older students. I believe the iPad is the best tool because it's interface is student friendly, it is easily carried by students, and through the App Store, there are a multitude of tools to further the students' education. I also have the most experience with the iPad - working in an elementary school that is 1-1 I have seen it implemented in classrooms successfully.

Write About This is my favorite tool out of the tools we reviewed. It provides students with writing prompts: photos, a starting sentence, or directions on what to write. I think this is a great tool to use with elementary students. It avoids the response, "But I don't know what to write about!" I did not like the tool Powtoon because I think there are other simpler tools that teachers are more familiar with that do relatively the same thing. There are so many tools out there and as teachers we must decide what's worth spending our time to learn and what is not. In my opinion, Powtoon is not worth spending our time on. It is very similar to Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Presentation with a few "fun" additions.

If I chose a device for my classroom, I would choose an iPad. I would use the iPads for many things, but here are a few examples:

• To hand out assignments virtually
• Conduct spelling tests
• Record students' reading
• Practice math facts and spelling words through game-like apps
• Quickly assess during a lesson
• Daily journal writing assignments for students
• Behavior management
• Conduct running records
• Explore the world with Google Earth
• Communicate with pen pals from across the world

Every device can make a difference in your classroom. It takes time and research to find the best tools within that device to further your students' education, but the extra effort is worth it!

I updated two of my previous blog posts with a more in-depth review of the apps I discussed in them. Check out Live and Learn and Pic Collage to learn more about how you can use Toontastic and Photo Collage in your classroom.

Digital Equipment for the Classroom

For my technology class, I chose to do my Digital Classroom Project on "Digital Equipment for the Classroom." I had to state what kind of hardware and computer access I thought should be available for grades K-12, while backing up my opinion with reasoning and evidence to support.

I chose the topic "Digital Equipment for the Classroom" because I have the most experience with this topic. I work at an elementary school which is 1-1 with iPads, each teacher has an audio system that serves as a microphone to project their voice throughout their classroom, every classroom has a projector, and I also went to a 1-1 laptop high school. With this experience, I felt that I had a good stance on this topic.

When we're thinking about "digital classrooms", I think the most important aspect is educating the teachers. Working at that elementary school, I see so many times teachers struggling with the tools provided for them because they were never educated on how to use them. Simple tasks become impossible without education. Professional development can solve this problem. It will take time and effort, but it is worth it in the end to provide a better education and ensure that the money spent on technological tools is put to use.

I created a presentation to compile my ideas of necessary hardware and computer access for each classroom. Below is a summary of my presentation:

A K-2 Classroom needs:

• Projectors
• Lab of mobile devices or mobile device for each student

A 3-5 Classroom needs:

• Projectors
• Mobile device for each student

A 6-12 Classroom needs:

• Projectors
• Laptop for each student

Again, this is all my opinion based on my experiences and some research I've done. Every students' needs are different, every school district is different, and the need for technology will depend on all this. Check out my presentation for more detailed information!

Kindergarteners or Paleontologists?

This semester I am placed in a kindergarten classroom for my science field experience. I have been teaching them about dinosaurs and they LOVE it! It's amazing how motivated they are when something interests them. As I was planning my lessons I was struggling to come up with something hands-on for them to do with dinosaurs because I don't have dinosaur bones to show them! After some brainstorming with my cooperating teacher, we came up with a plan to engage them.

To begin we had a surprise "visitor" in our classroom. I took the kids to a bathroom break and when we came back there were items strewn all over the carpet.

The items included:

• Diaper
• Onesie
• Pacifier
• Tiny sock
• Tiny shoe

We had to look at the clues our "visitor" left because no one saw the visitor in our classroom. We made a list of what the clues told us:

• It was a baby.
• It could've been their ESL teacher because she just had a baby. (wasn't expecting them to make this connection!)
• It was a boy because the clothes were blue.
• It was a small baby.

Once we had a good idea of who our visitor could've been, I made the connection back to dinosaurs. No human has ever seen a dinosaur, so scientists who study dinosaurs have to look at their bones like clues or pieces of a puzzle! I introduced the word paleontologist and we watched a video about what paleontologists do. The video was perfect because it illustrated for them what a paleontologist does much more than just me talking about it.

The most exciting part of our activity came next. The students were able to make their own fossils! They put a small animal into play-doh to make an imprint. Then they moved around the classroom and tried to guess what the animal was by looking at only the imprint. We were paleontologists!

The kids were so engaged throughout the whole lesson! I am excited with how well it went.

Diversify Your Library

Exposing our students to many cultures is extremely important. We want to ensure that they receive a well-balanced and diverse education. Check out this great article, Picture Imperfect, about why it's important to diversify your classroom library so students are exposed to a different cultures through read alouds and books written by a plethora of authors.

"I want to make sure all children can see themselves in books," she says. "I want children to know their history matters - they matter," says Kelly Starling Lyons, an African-American children's book author.

Monica Brown, a Peruvian-American author of children's books about multiethnic identity, states, "It's important that we have these books in our schools because not every family can afford to own them."

The article provides a list which is a good starting point to add some diversity to your library:

An Inclusive Children's Reading List

• Benjamin and the Word, written by Daniel A. Olivas
• Black is Brown is Tan, written by Arnold Adoff
• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Young Readers Edition, written by William Kamkwamba
• Brick by Brick, written by Charles R. Smith, Jr.
• Courtney's Birthday Party, written by Loretta Long
• Ellen's Broom, written by Kelly Starling Lyons
• The Great Big Book of Families, written by Mary Hoffman
• Kate and the Beanstalk, written by Mary Pope Osborne
• Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match, written by Monica Brown
• Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale, written by John Steptoe
• My Princess Boy, written by Cheryl Kilodavis
• Nappy Hair, written by Carolivia Herron
• Oh the Things Mommies Do! What Could Be Better Than Having Two?, written by Crystal Tompkins
• The Patchwork Path: A Quilt Map to Freedom, written by Bettye Stroud
• The President Looks Like Me & Other Poems, written by Tony Medina

Another point to keep in mind is that every classroom is full of different kids. In addition to this list, try to find books that relate specifically to your kids and their lives. 

I love my career

On Friday, I was able to participate in my first ever professional development. The dork in me was very excited! Sitting in the commons surrounded by the K-12 faculty, I felt like a real teacher.

The superintendent is retiring at the end of this year and I heard his touching 'thank you' to all of the staff. It was so powerful to hear him say how much he has enjoyed his time because of all the teachers. The school is such a community and it was wonderful to feel a part of that.

We received instructions on how to map out the curriculum for the year with a program called Curriculum Mapping. We then broke into grade level teams and began working! I worked with the 1st grade team, which consists of 4 female teachers of all different experience levels. They had already mapped out their math for the year, so we began with literacy. Literacy is broken into 6 categories:

• Foundational Skills
• Informational Skills
• Writing
• Speaking and Listening
• Literature
• Language/Grammar

Mapping out the whole year is a very daunting task. For a few minutes we all just sat and wondered, "Where do we begin?" Once we got into a groove it was a much easier task to tackle. The teachers had a document which aligned all of the Iowa Core Standards to their curriculum, Basal Reading Program. Rather than having to type all of this information into the program, I helped them discover how to upload files. Once we knew how, we scanned the pages that applied to each category in the program and uploaded them as PDFs.

Once all the standards were aligned with the curriculum, we added in the teaching strategies that they use to teach each category. Many of the teaching strategies apply to more than one of the categories. Some of the strategies they brainstormed are:

• Word sorts
• White boards
• Sight words
• Reader's Theatre
• Modeling
• Think aloud
• Story maps
• Venn diagrams
• Whole group discussion
• Think, pair, share

It was very rewarding for me to sit in on this process. I saw a team of teachers work collaboratively together to finish a project. They supported each other and all contributed. I will be a new and unexperienced teacher in a little over a year and it is very scary to think about walking into an empty classroom and preparing to teach a group of kiddos. It was comforting to know that maps like the one we worked on are available for teachers to help them know where to begin with teaching. The team of teachers also discussed how much your team will help you as a first year teacher. I feel much better about the idea of being a new teacher, it's going to be here before I know it!

Overall, I am very thankful for this experience. I look forward to growing professionally in the future!

A Connected Teacher

Being able to be a team player, work collaboratively, and communicate with colleagues are crucial characteristics of great teachers. This week I did a little research on being a "connected educator". For those of you that are not familiar with this term, it simply means a teacher who is connected through technology tools with other teachers. For example, not just 'following' other educators on twitter, but tweeting back and forth, creating relationships, and carrying on conversations. Here is a great visual that Dr. Alec Couros created which illustrates this idea.

[Retrieved from http://dmlcentral.net/blog/howard-rheingold/professor-alec-couros-connected-teacher]

Through my research, I found that a lot of people are talking about Connected Educators online. There is a Connected Educators project, a month dedicated to Connected Educators, books for sale on the topic, the information was overwhelming! I found a site with ten tips for becoming a Connected Educator. It is a great starting point, I recommend checking it out!

Benefits of being a Connected Educator:

• You can learn from other teachers' mistakes and successes.
• You can use resources created by other teachers and share your own to save time.
• You can create relationships with teachers all over the world which will last much longer than any tool.

Am I connected? Not nearly as much as I should be. Sure, I blog, tweet, post and buy things on Teachers Pay Teachers, search sites for lessons created by other teachers, follow blogs and educators on twitter. All of those things I'm doing are great, but I have not taken the next step to create a flow of communication back and forth. I plan to challenge myself to do so. This is what I will do to become connected:

• I will comment on other's blogs when I see an idea I like.
• I will participate in EdTech tweet conversations using hashtags.
• I will contact teachers to question them about lessons they've created or done that I find online.
• I will create relationships with teachers I do not know or have not met yet.

"The tools come and go, but the relationships endure." - Dr. Alec Couros.

I challenge you to step out of your comfort zone and create deep connections with other educators!

Technology Comes Last

Now you may be thinking, "What's up with that title?" "This is a technology blog, what is she talking about!?" We are always looking to experts to back our decisions in teaching. Harris and Hofer have 5 steps to planning a lesson and I have studied those steps in my technology class. The steps have choosing the technological tool last. I agree with their steps and think it's a good basis to ensure that you are teaching a lesson with a learning purpose in mind for your students. Read on to learn more about it!

Here is a short summary of their 5 steps:

1. Determine the lesson's purpose
2. Make pedagogical decisions - they have 8 continua to help guide you
3. Select activity types
4. Select the appropriate assessment
5. Choose the right technological tool

[Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0iefVzmSlbtXzFWYUd3bGxiWHM/edit]

As you can see in the steps above, the technology piece of the lesson doesn't have a role until the very end. The reason I think this is a beneficial way to teach is because it doesn't allow the technology to take center stage. Let's face it, technology is exciting and fun to use, but we need to remember that our students' learning is our main goal and how we reach that goal is the important piece; not what technological tool we want to use. Once the learning goal is stated and we know what we want our students to learn, then we can begin brainstorming ideas of how to reach that goal. Harris and Hofer have a list of different activity types for varying learning goals. 

Harris and Hofer's idea of thinking of the technology last is a point I have made in previous blog posts. Not only when it comes to technology, but any lesson, we need to pinpoint the learning goal before we decide the activity students will do. This is not how I have planned in the past, but through observation and learning in my classes this semester, I have come to understand that this is the best way to plan in order to ensure the learning goal is met. 

To every argument, there are two sides. Here is a pro/con list to planning the technological tool last:

Overall, I would say this is a good process to adopt, or at least consider, when creating lessons. Remember, this doesn't just apply to technology lessons, but rather your teaching as a whole. It is always good practice to think about your goal and what you want your students to learn before anything else.

VoiceThread in your Classroom

I am in quite a few technology-based classes this semester and it has sparked a passion within me to research some tech ideas for classrooms. I work at an elementary school which has iPads for every student in 1st through 4th grade so I have worked primarily with iPads. Recently, I have experimented with VoiceThread. I had to use the application to create an "about me" in one of my classes. The nice thing about this program is that it can be used on a computer or an iPad.

Breakdown of what VoiceThread is:

• Upload photos to create a slideshow
• Comment on the photos with text, voice, or video
• Basics of VoiceThread (a short VoiceThread that explains the basics!)

Here are a few ways you can incorporate this app into the lessons in your classroom! Have your students...

• Research a famous person, upload photos of the person, and comment by recording their voice on the information they find to create a presentation
• Create a public service announcement about a topic that applies to their life (playground kindness, bullying, recycling, etc.)
• Personal narratives with photos of themselves (transform their writing into voice recordings over the photos)
• Find pictures of animals, research, and speak from the animals perspective

As with most technology, there are downfalls...

• With a free account you can only create 5 VoiceThreads and cannot delete VoiceThreads once they are created.
• Not useable without an email... BUT there's a way around it!
• Go to "register"
• Use first name and last initial as 'name' (i.e. I would use jennyk) - feel free to add numbers if you need to!
• Use the same phrase as you did in the name section plus @mailcatch.com (i.e. I would use jennyk@mailcatch.com)
• Use whatever password you desire

I hope I have convinced you to use this app in your classroom! Feel free to comment with any other ways you've incorporated, I love to hear new ideas!