Day three Reflection post

After creating my first TWO video tutorials, I will definitely be using that strategy next year when infusing technology. The tutorials are still pretty shaky and rambling, but I can see the videos helping crush that time barrier when I get the hang of it. The videos and tutorials will prevent students from losing out on instructional time and keep the technology instruction to a short concise tutorial. Very exciting!! 

Also, as I was exploring the ToonDoo app (which I am embarrassed to say I never used last year) I took a second look at all of the wonderful web 2.0 apps on our symbaloo. I used maybe 10 percent of those last year. I really took the time to explore a wider range of those apps and am going to work on finding ways to make them easy tools for my second graders to use next year. 

I used Educreations to create my Flipped lesson. I liked it a lot. It took me a fair amount of time though. I am not big on watching or reading tutorials (ironic), so I was not able to figure out some of the functions, such as how to erase a recording without starting over! That was a little frustrating and time consuming, but overall I was pleased with the lesson. Like the video tutorials I mentioned above, flipped lesson applications are not as complicated or scary as I once believed. I feel like adding flipped lessons into my instruction will not be a problem once I get the hang of it. 

For my lesson I ended up using three different forms of technology. I used a Kahoot which is on the remembering level; a crossword creator on the applying level; and the toondoo website on the creating level. 

Day Two Reflection

While looking for resources and taking the time to think about the upcoming school year and how i will use technology to help better provide for the success of my students, I came across some really great sources! I love when lists are organized and easy to read an understand, this blog post provides that with some great web 2.0 tools. I also love my new follow I found in @21stCenturyTch . This twitter account provides ideas and links to help us as teachers become the 21st century educators we are aiming to be. Lastly I took time to think of how I can be more efficient next year in making the most out of the technology we have in CISD. I have found ways to overcome barriers, blogs that help me to wrap my head around how to introduce web apps and apps to students, and found a lot of great and easy resources on how to begin tackling the task of flipping the classroom. I am beginning to compile these tools, sources, and information onto my Pinterest account here. 

After watching the webinar on the flipped classroom, I have discovered the flipped classroom is something that in the long run will help both students and teachers. A flipped classrooms holds students accountable for their learning and makes them take on a responsibility. Students have to not only watch the videos provided to them on their own time, but they have to reflect on those videos and return to school ready to take those learned skills and apply them through project based learning. While it may be a fair amount of work  for the teacher initially, the flipped classroom strategy will leave the students with a love and engagement for learning. I will be anxious to try out some of those things I learned next school year. Whether it be videos for parents or students, I am going to work hard to make my classroom more suitable to promote student engagement and success through the idea of a flipped classroom. 

For my infused lesson, I am going to do a word study lesson on homophones. Students are going to do a number activities, but as an assessment they are going to create a crossword puzzle online using homophones and clues. After that they are going to share their puzzle out and have another student solve their puzzle using the clues. 

Crushing Barriers

Previously, I listed four barriers I face as a teacher when it comes to infusing technology into my classroom and lessons. Although, what are barriers without solutions to get through them? Here are four solutions to my previously listed barriers:

1. Time. I mentioned how difficult it is to find the time to infuse and teach technology when I as a teacher already have anything but time on my hands. This barrier can be crushed by taking the time at the very beginning of the school year (when we have time specifically allotted to teach procedures) to teach basic functions of apps and web apps I know my class will be using. Last year I took time to introduce maybe one or two websites I knew we would use (razkids for reading and Kahoot! for reviews). Those two websites took virtually zero time away from instruction because my students knew exactly how to use them and the focus could be on the learning. I now have a better idea of the websites and tools I want to use this year and I will be more efficient at making my students competent in these tools so we do not have to sacrifice time further down the road. 

2. My own competency. A fairly large concern I had with infusing technology last year aside from time was my own competency in how to use these wonderful resources. What if I taught it wrong? What if I thought I knew how to use the app then tried to show my students only to result in both myself and them being confused? Those were very scary thoughts for me as I was already facing enough struggles trying to make it through the day. This barrier is the easiest to crush, I have an entire month and a wider array of how to not only use more web sites and apps but I am now more competent in how to FIND OUT how to use them. I have found some very helpful blogs that help me feel confident in my competency in how to infuse technology successfully. These blogs also help to know I am not the only one who struggles with this barrier!

This blog gives you a great description of the app and a how to!  
E Learn Queen gives lesson ideas and how to's as well, will definitely be using these to help plan for next year.


3.  Student success. How do I know my students are mastering the TEKS they need to be mastering? Do they really "get" it? Or are they just whizzes with technology and keeping up? I believe that responsibility falls on me as the teacher. I need to crush this barrier by taking the time to really think through my technology lesson plans so that there are no students just slipping through the cracks and skating by on their knowledge of one competent (technology) but not the other (content). Taking the time to properly plan and include assessments will definitely take care of this barrier. 

This blog post really hits a lot of my concerns with TEKS mastery and using technology, it is a great read. 


4. Relinquishing control. Probably one of the most scary things for me. I am giving students control over their learning. I am providing them with the knowledge and the tools but essentially the power is in their hands. This barrier will just take time and experience. I know students make some of the best teachers. I realize relinquishing control and molding my students into 21st century learners and problem solvers is good for them, but it is still not easy to do. If I feel like I provide the ingredients and my students make the soup, that is an easier pill to swallow. I just need to give them what they need and understand they are capable of having that self direction and possess the problem solving skills they need to be in control of their own learning.

Four Barriers Post

When faced with the challenge of infusing technology into my classroom (even though I would consider myself fairly tech savvy) there are barriers I face. Four of those barriers are:

1.     Time. As a first year teacher, I quickly realized time was my worst enemy. When infusing technology, it became even more difficult. Technology in the classroom always led to a wonderful lesson, but it forced me to make up lost time elsewhere due to how long it took me to teach the technology AND the lesson.  

2.     My own competency. There are so many wonderful tools out there to infuse technology and I probably only know how to use about 2 percent of them. It is hard to teach something you are not sure how to use. Even though I have no trouble functioning with technology, there is so much out there it is impossible to know everything.

3.     Student success. It is so easy to see whether or not a student understands a topic through a quiz, a group project, a discussion, or an assignment. Those are all the ways I was told whether or not I “got” something in school. It is scary now to think we need to give students alternatives to meeting assessment needs. What if they are REALLY great with technology and have NO idea what the CBA covers. It takes a lot of effort to make sure those two things are consistent.

4.     Relinquishing control. All through my schooling and student teaching, the teacher has control. When infusing technology I give that control to the students. We are encouraged to give students the responsibility and control to facilitate their learning through means of technology, and if you are a slight control freak (like me) that is very frightening!