Engaging E-Learning

This class focused on creating online or blended classes.  As part of this class we created a unit on Ancient Greece from our 6th grade curriculum that could be taught in more of a blended format.  We put together materials that could be done online at home so that class time could be used more for projects and activities.  You can see the unit on Ancient Greece here.  In the past we have spent a lot of class time completing the reading assignments and worksheets in class.  We have converted all of our worksheets to Google Docs so now they can be completed through Google Classroom. We were also able to add some discussion questions that can be used through the question feature on Google Classroom.  It allows students to write their response to a question, and after responding see their classmates results.  They can then respond to their peers to keep the discussion going.  This is a unit that I have been teaching for a long time, so it was great to be given an opportunity to add/change the unit to better fit the technology we now have with our students.  We were able to add some NewsELA articles to help connect what we are doing in social studies to what students are learning in Language Arts.  We were able to use EdPuzzle to add some videos for students to watch that include questions and open ended responses.  We also added a project based assessment at the end of the unit incorporating what students have learned throughout using Adobe Spark. 

The project based assessment that we added to our unit is the Ancient Greece Legacy Project.  You can see the materials that we use for this project here.  We have spent much of our time in class discussing how things in Ancient Greece affect our civilization today.  Students will have the opportunity to pick five of these legacies and share how they impact our culture today.  Some of the topics that students typically discuss are architecture, art, literature, government, alphabet, and theater.  Instead of a traditional paper or presentation students will create a video through Adobe Spark to share their projects. 

Images:
N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2018. <https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/The_Parthenon_in_Athens.jpg/640px-The_Parthenon_in_Athens.jpg>.

Free Images : Building, Palace, Travel, Arch, Tower, Landmark, Facade, Tourism, Greece, Crete, Excavation, Antiquity, Historic Site, Ancient History, Ancient Roman Architecture, Ancient Greek Temple 3264x2448." Free Images : Building, Palace, Travel, Arch, Tower, Landmark, Facade, Tourism, Greece, Crete, Excavation, Antiquity, Historic Site, Ancient History, Ancient Roman Architecture, Ancient Greek Temple 3264x2448 - - 549408 - Free Stock Photos - PxHere. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2018. <https://pxhere.com/en/photo/549408>.

Managing Educational Technology Services

This class focused on managing educational technology services.  That included looking at laws that have implications for using technology as well as setting up a technology integration plan for a school district.  We spent time discussing FERPA, CIPA, ESL, and IDEA.  One of the assignments that I completed was an organization readiness assessment.  For this assignment I looked at the ISTE standards to create my rubric.  I set my rubric up as a checklist for each of the categories of the ISTE teaching standards.  Upon completion of the rubric I used a point system to determine if a school/district was ready for instructional reform.  Here is the rubric that I created.  When using the rubric within my own school I found that in some categories we were already meeting standards, but in other areas we had room for growth.  When looking at the teachers in my building as learners I found that as a school we weren't using current research.  We have a great staff that is constantly sharing tips and tricks, many of which probably hold up with current research, but we aren't actually sharing the research that is out there or the reasons why our tips/tricks are working.  Another area in which my school could improve is that of citizen.  We currently don't have much of a social media presence, meaning we don't have much out there as a model for students how to be a positive citizen on the internet. This rubric really showed where my school is and where it has room to grow.

The majority of this class was spent putting together an instructional technology plan.  Here is my final plan that I created.  The biggest thing that I learned from this assignment was how important it is to have a team creating a technology plan.  Many of the things that we worked on I had no experience in, and it is important to have people with a variety of backgrounds to complete all parts of the plan. A huge part of the plan is maintaining the network.  For this section it is important to have people who work in IT and understand all the ins and outs of a network.  It is also important to have someone familiar with the current laws, to make sure that when allowing students access to the Internet they are protected.  You need to have someone who is familiar with budgeting to make sure finances are being used responsibly.  Teachers should also be a part of coming up with a technology plan, they know which software programs are going to be useful, as well as user friendly for staff and students. It is also important to communicate throughout the process with staff, to make sure that they have the training that they need to implement the new technology being provided.  This is a big undertaking and not something that should be done alone.  The most important thing that I learned from this assignment was to use your resources.  If you are able to have a technology team it needs to includes teachers, administrators, and IT personnel to be successful.

Image Credits:

Ltd, B. (2018). Network Free Stock Photo - Public Domain Pictures. Publicdomainpictures.net. Retrieved 4 March 2018, from https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=78371&picture=network

Checklist. (2018). Flickr. Retrieved 4 March 2018, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/71195909@N03/28955874330

21st Century Educational Leadership

This course focused on implementing technology as a leader.  One of the assignments that I enjoyed doing was a walk-through.  We created a walk-through form to assess the technology being used in classrooms.  As a teacher I don't spend much time thinking about what goes on outside my classroom walls.  Being required to go into other teacher's classrooms was a great experience.  It was good to see how they were using technology in their classrooms.  One of the rooms I was able to go into was a teacher who is a bit of a tech wizard in our school.  It was great to see how he seamlessly pulls technology into his classroom.  Walk-throughs are a great way for both parties to learn something.  I was able to learn some new tools to use in my classroom, and give some feedback to the teachers I observed from an outside perspective.  I loved seeing the virtual reality tour of the pyramids.  The students were highly engaged and were learning.  The teacher had the students write observations, and use those observations to make inferences about the Egyptian civilization.  I teach ancient civilizations as well and can see numerous ways that the virtual reality tours could be used.  HERE are my walk-through notes and a reflection.  It gives an overview of the activities that I watched and the feedback that was provided.
I also created an infographic with tips and tools for implementing a 1:1 technology plan.  The tools that I recommended are Google Classroom, G-Suite, and Canva.  Google Classroom is very easy, especially for a tech newbie.  I love that you can share links and announcements with students.  The question feature is great for starting an online discussion.  You can also have students complete assignments online.  Students who complete their work on Google Classroom will never lose it!  G-Suite is great for having students collaborate together.  When I previously used PowerPoint for student presentations you would have students sitting around one computer.  Now they can work at the same time on an assignment through the share settings.  I also included Cavna as a tool.  I used it to create my infographic (you can see it HERE).  It is very user friendly, and the students can use an already created template and add their own information.  One of my tips was not to create everything from scratch.  The first time students are using a tool have them use an already existing template.  Once they master using the tool, then let them create from scratch.  Another tip was finding a tech buddy.  Your building is filled with people who are already using great technology.  Find out who they are and ask them for their tips and tools.  As you get more comfortable with using technology you will find that you have tips and tools to share in return as well.  My last tip is start small, you do not need to do everything at once.  Try a couple of things that you think will work and get comfortable using them before you introduce something else.

Image Credits:

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/All_Gizah_Pyramids.jpg.

Effective Technology Integration

This class has helped me come up with creative and effective ways to incorporate technology into my classroom.  One of the lessons that I enjoyed creating was a flipped lesson. I created several videos and quizzes centered around a lesson on reflection and scattering.  You can click HERE to see what I created.  Last year I taught this lesson and lab activities without the use of technology and it was a total disaster!! In first period I went through the procedure with the students and sent them on their way.  No one in the class understood the type of data that they were supposed to collect and they were positioning the equipment in all of the wrong places.  As the day went on I found myself spending more and more time going over directions and procedure, and still the lab was a disaster. By the end of the day I was spending more than half the class just going over procedure and still not getting the results that I wanted.  The students were also getting less and less time to collect data as the directions were taking longer and longer.  I created this flipped lesson by creating two videos with graphics and directions for students to watch at home before the lab.  My hope for this year is that students will be able to come into class with a better understanding of the lab procedure.  They can also refer back to the videos throughout the lab and I can spend more time with students who may be struggling.  I also created a quiz for students to take after watching the videos.  This will allow me to see if they have an understanding of the procedure before it begins.  I am really excited to use this lesson this year!

Another lesson that I created was a project based learning assignment.  My current curriculum that we are using is IQWST, and it is a very scripted curriculum.  As it is relatively new and I am still getting used to it I have not ventured outside of the curriculum in the past.  This was the first project I have created based on this new curriculum.  You can click HERE to see the project that I created. The end of our unit explores light we cannot see.  I created a project that used the same activities investigating UVA rays from our curriculum but expanded on the idea.  Students are creating an ad campaign for their peers about the dangers of sun exposure and what they can do to protect themselves.  I wanted to incorporate some of the new technology tools I had been learning about so I used this project as an opportunity.  I thought it would be interesting if students could Skype with a dermatologist who can talk firsthand about the damage that sun exposure can cause, as well as what treatment looks like for these issues.  I also took this opportunity to incorporate the use of online data tables for students to share their data with other groups, as well as other classes.  Normally students only work with data from their lab group, so this is a great way to start expanding the data that students have access to.  I envision using a shared Google Sheet for data collection.  I also wanted students to be able to chose their video software that they are going to use to deliver their campaign to their peers.  Some of the new tools that I have learned about are WeVideo and Adobe Spark.  I am looking forward to being able to see what my students put together this year!

Image Sources:

"Woman Using Gray and Black Laptop." Free Stock Photos. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 July 2017.

"Sun Photos." Free Stock Photos. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 July 2017.

Assessment and Technology

This course has shown me many new tools that can be used in assessing students.  One of the tools that I really enjoyed getting to use was Google Forms.  I use Google for so many things and learning how to use Google Forms and the add-on flubaroo is going to make my teaching so much easier.  One of the assignments that I did for this class was to turn a traditional paper and pencil assessment into an online assessment.  I took the first chapter test from our social studies curriculum and converted it to an online assessment using Google Forms.  I found it very easy to do and could see turning all of our summative assessments in social studies into these types of assessments. Because the majority of the test is multiple choice/matching, flubaroo can easily grade that portion of the assessment in seconds.  This allows for feedback to be sent back to students much quicker than if they had taken a traditional test.  You can click HERE to see the original assessment I used as well as the new Google Forms version.  Another online test taking tool that I became familiar with is Mastery Manager.  Mastery Manager is provided by my district as an online testing tool.  In order for students to take the test online the test needs to be uploaded as a PDF file.  What is great about Mastery Manager is students can take it through the TestNav app, which prevents them from logging on to another other sight while taking the test.  They can also get their scores immediately upon submission.  I have only used Mastery Manager for tests that are all multiple choice/matching/true or false type assessments, for extended responses additional steps for grading are needed.

Another resource that I see using in the future is online rubrics using ForAllRubrics.  I used ForAllRubrics to create a rubric for an animal project that my students complete every year.  You can click HERE to see the rubric I created as well as a brief description about the animal project.  It allowed me to create categories and provide descriptions at four different levels.  I also used rubistar, which has categories available for selection, to get some ideas on the types of categories that I wanted to have.  I wanted to focus on two things when coming up with categories, the use of technology and the content itself.  For the use of technology I created a category for presentation/narration and attractiveness.  This would allow me to grade the students based on the flow of their narration as they speak throughout the video.  The attractiveness category allows me to look at the visuals of the presentation including graphics and fonts.  For the actual research of the project itself I included three categories; amount of information, sources, and content.  I would be able to see if students cited their sources, had enough information for each category, and that their information was relevant and factual.  I found ForAllRubrics and rubistar both easy to use, but I liked the look of the ForAllRubrics, which is why I went with that one.  ForAllRubrics allows you to upload students and grade the assessment online. I also downloaded the rubric I created as a PDF and can share it with students that way as well.

I am excited to be able to use both of these new resources in my classroom this upcoming school year!

Image Sources:

G., Alberto. "Exam." Flickr. Yahoo!, 17 June 2011. Web. 29 July 2017.

File:Rubric.jpg." Wikimedia Commons. N.p., 18 Mar. 2014. Web. 29 July 2017.

About Me

Hello,

My name is Samantha Kelly and I am currently taking classes in educational technology.  I received my bachelors from Purdue University in biology education.  I also have received a masters in reading as well as taken coursework towards an ESL and LBS1 endorsement.  I have been a 6th grade science teacher since 2008 and absolutely love working with middle school students.  I have been at Fischer Middle School in Aurora, IL since 2009.  I spend most of my time outside the classroom with my crazy big family. I enjoying spending as much of my time outdoors as possible, preferably with a good book. As my school has recently gone 1:1 I have enjoyed learning how the new trends in technology are impacting education.

1:1 in the Classroom: How often should technology be used?

This year my classroom has become a 1:1 learning environment.  All of our sixth grade students have been given school issued Chromebooks.  Having this type of technology available 24/7 for students has created some amazing learning opportunities.  It has also created some challenges on how to incorporate them in the classroom.  I have found a lot of success in using them with my social studies class, but have struggled with their use in science due to the demands of the new curriculum.

There are many pros in having students with Chromebooks in the classroom.  In my social studies class all assignments are completed digitally.  For years I have had students lose their papers and have had to make copies after copies of assignments.  I felt like most of my time was spent tracking down student work.  With all of the work being assigned through Google Classroom I am no longer tracking down missing work.  I have seen an increase in work completion among my students that has saved me a lot of time.  Creating research based projects and activities in social studies has become much easier.  Before the Chromebooks I would have to sign up for LMC time for my class or laptop availability.  Now I can incorporate these types of activities around my schedule.  Students have unlimited resources at their fingertips in exploring the ancient civilizations.  Students are no longer just completing worksheets, but are creating brochures, digital posters, and multimedia presentations on a topic.  Due to the limited resources in the past these  typos of activities were done infrequently and were entirely dependent on resource availability.

Where I have struggled is in science.  Our lessons are all based in the students' workbooks.  Now, there is an online digital version of the workbook that would allow students to complete the work on the Chromebook.  I have found this great for students, but not teacher friendly.  I find it difficult to grade and provide feedback using the online version.  It takes me three to four times as long to grade an assignment online than it does with paper and pencil.  Due to this time increase I have found myself going back to paper and pencil regularly with assignments.  Due to the tight space of our small classrooms I have also found it almost impossible to use the Chromebooks during lab activities.  They are in the way and clutter up the lab space and therefore could pose a safety issue.  We are sticking to paper and pencil for science labs for now.

The last reason I have had a hard time incorporating the Chromebooks into the science classroom is because of all the modeling that our new curriculum requires.  Students are constantly drawing 2D models of phenomena and using those models to explain what is happening.  I have not found any program that works that is easy for students to use to draw out a model.  Using whiteboards or butcher paper is still the easiest way for us to draw models and display them around the room.

I am feeling pressure from my district and administrators to use the Chromebooks as often as possible because of the money that was put into getting them.  While I have seen the benefits first hand to having them in the classroom, I do have some challenges in incorporating them daily in science.  Do you know of a program that would allow students to sketch out their 2D models digitally? If a school supplies Chromebooks how often do you think teachers are expected to incorporate them into their lessons?  Can traditional means of pencil and paper still be used or are we expected to move away from that if our district provides us with a 1:1 device?