Capacity of a Teacher Leader

As a teacher, I have the capacity to impact the course of a child’s life every single day I am with them.  Likewise, students have the capacity to impact the course of my life every single day they are with me. Building community within my classroom is my top priority.  Building trust, striving for openness, and recognizing unique gifts and talents all weave together to bring about a classroom environment that develops life long learners. While I am building this kind of classroom each year, I lead with intention by giving each student the specific kind of attention they need.  Of course, leading in this way can be challenging; however, by practicing gratitude, I can remain vulnerable and present each day.  Along with building a caring community, I seek to construct authentic learning environments with each group.  By keeping my lessons student focused, I work backwards starting with the essential understandings that I want the students to internalized and end with the students being able to apply the understandings to new situations.  Overall, my life mission is to make a difference in this world.  I know I am making that difference everyday when I enter the building.  I have been blessed with the opportunity, each and every day, to be both a teacher and a learner.  I couldn’t ask for more.

Reflection on the video by Dewitt Jones, "Celebrate What's Right with the World"

As a teacher and a leader, I need to believe my vision of education first and then I’ll see it.  Dewitt Jones says, “You won’t see it until you believe it.”  Spending these past years learning and growing in my education has helped me establish and fine tune what I believe and now I have a clearer vision when I come to school.  In the beginning of my education I wrote of feelings of frustration that I experienced with students throughout the day.  I would feel so ineffective at times that I had thoughts of quitting my profession.  Once my vision of my students began to change, for example, that both genders have unique ways of learning and behaving, I could begin to plan more effectively for those differences.   I began to see the noted differences and changed my vision, I looked at them as strengths rather than weaknesses in the students.  I began to see the differences on a daily basis.  My frustrations gradually left me and contentment and peace settled into my daily teaching routines.  I was changing my perception and was becoming open to who they were as students rather than who I wanted them to be.  Now I am open to the possibilities that each student brings to my classroom.  I am confident that I will find what is right with each student rather than what is wrong with them.  I don’t have to focus on all the things that they can’t do but look at what they can do.  I am becoming more present to who they are as little people.  I am putting it all out there now with them and waiting to be open to how they grow and change.  I trust that they will take in what they need and will grow accordingly.

Trust

Those people who have had a vulnerable and intimate talk with me, might at some point, have heard me say I don't give trust freely and I don't trust many people.  My reasoning for these statements revolve around having been hurt in the past.  After reading about the Principle of Trust, I found myself having an "ah ha' moment.  One statement that hit me hard says, "Trust, then, is the recognition of the Divine in someone else.  Ultimately, that is what your are trusting:  their higher self."  I immediately felt a wave of sadness wash over me after reading this statement.  I have always considered myself to be a faithful person.  I believe we are all made in the image and likeness of God.  Believing this would naturally lend itself to being a trusting and trustworthy person.  Clearly, I have a lot to learn in this area as I have never put trust and faith in the same category.  It is true, if you truly trust someone, you are recognizing them as having an innate quality of goodness.  The opposite of goodness is evil.  How can I go about not trusting people believing they are evil. That is just ridiculous.  I would never think that but that is essentially what I've been saying in not so many words. 

Since reading about the principle of trust, I have been doing some personal reflecting and have been having conversations with friends about the idea of trust to help me process the overall concepts.  I have some work to do.  "I have a choice!" says the author, "Bad things may happen but do the good thing anyway.  People may disappoint you, but choose the higher road anyway...You have a choice to make about how you approach things.  Do you choose to trust or not to trust?"  I want to choose trust.  I will begin to realign my thinking and feeling so that it matches what I say I believe.  I want others to see me as a trustworthy person and thus I want and need to trust others.  After all, the majority of people in this life are filled with goodness, not evil. 

Integration of technology in the Future

Technology is a driving force in education.  Technology will never take the place of a teacher, yet can provide a useful tool to bring learning to a new level.  I will continue to integrate technology into my Title 1 groups, not just because of my educational practices thus far, but also because my district is completely committee to integrating the SAMR model into the classroom learning environment.  I will mainly be integrating the use of Ipads into my groups as I have been given five pads to use.  During our teacher professional development days, we will continue to investigate helpful tools to grow kids.  I will also be given the responsibility to managing and adding apps on the Title 1 Ipads.  I need to keep up on current trends and best practices.  I plan on continuing my research on best apps along with integrating my lessons into the SAMR model focusing on bringing my lessons to a higher level.  I will also be collaborating with the other intervention teachers in the district looking for and sharing best practices in technology application.  Technology is not only here to stay but will develop even more involved practices in the 21st century classroom.

Engagement

 

When I reflect on my engagement as a learner, most importantly my personal investment has been challenged from the beginning of my program.  At the start, my only focus was to engage in order to earn more money.  I was willing to jump through any hoop so that I could climb the pay scale.  Once into the program, I immediately knew I was not going to be able to keep the learning  experiences impersonal. I knew I was going to have to show significant cognitive involvement, and I would be required to go into depth to fully embrace new structures of knowledge.  The focus would move quickly from money to growth and depth of knowledge and application.  Throughout the entire process, I have given a complete investment of myself, my time, and my willingness to be totally engaged in my learning and discovery.  

As a teacher, again I was challenged in the beginning of my education.  I realized that what I was doing in the past was no longer going to be acceptable practice for the future.  Soon my engagement became focused on encompassing the concepts behind growing my classroom into a multi level learning environment.  Educational plans began to be designed starting with the student and building out keeping best practices in mind throughout the process.  Now, my classroom is one where mistakes are encouraged and students feel safe to take risks in growing their reading knowledge.  Students are both assured and brought to see through formative assessment that the effort they put in will build success.  Some concrete examples of the above include:

1. Using backwards designs when implementing units of learning in reading.  
2. Grouping students by their skill levels to best meet them where they are at.
3. Ongoing formative assessments including letter knowledge, phonics skills, reading fluency rates, comprehension understanding, and building growth mindset through building connections and sharing “what I learned” while reading...through hard work success can be achieved.
4. Providing choice in learning by giving offering ipads, books, and games to build skills.
5. Implementing gender specific learning strategies that meet the needs of varying learning styles.

Not all areas of engagement are able to be witnessed in my classroom learning environment.  I find that when I focus on certain areas, other areas begin to lack and vise versa. An area that is still lacking includes self-directed inquiry based learning.  As much as I would like to have my students self-directed, that tends to be why they are seeing me.  The longer the kids are in Title 1, I find they either end up having a learning disorder that is causing a gap in their achievement, or they lack practice time at home.  They are not good at directing themselves and they need strong structure and support to build skills as they grow and develop. Moreover, I know that I cannot excel in every area of classroom engagement. What this learning community has done has been to expose me to various best practices and theories along with building my research capacities.  Now that I have had a chance to grow and develop my engagement, my knowledge and skills will follow me as I move on from this learning community.  In the future, when high impact practices are introduced, practiced, and mastered, new ones can be focused on and incorporated in the classroom; thus, continuing to build a life long learning rich environment.

Technology Integration in Small Groups

Because I don't have any ipads at this time to use with my Title 1 kids, I am going to fall back on Haiku Deck for my tech tool that I have been playing around with and implementing lessons in my 2nd grade Title 1 groups. Before my ipads were taken to be updated with apps, I had the students use Haidu Deck for their story, The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash.  The kids started with note cards to aid in planing slides that include the beginning, middle, and end of the story.  They needed to have at least 5 slides and a sentence on each one.  This activity isn't the highest level of the SAMR model but it does provide picture connections to new vocab words along with building creative skills.  Once again they really enjoyed getting a chance to retell the story using a creative approach with their own chosen pictures.

Blogging Communiy March Strategy

I have been so excited about a new mindset strategy I have been using with my groups as of last week.  This is for my spring AR but I have to share how it is going so far.  2 weeks ago I spent a class time sharing about the Growth Mindset with all of my 1st and 2nd graders.  We talked about putting aside all of our thoughts about I can't read, I'm stupid, I can't, I'm not good at this....and replace the sayings or add onto some of them with the work YET.  Instead we talked about working hard, putting in effort, it's not about how smart but how hard you work, everyone is at a different level of working hard, and some have to work harder than others.  We talked about how our brain makes connections when we read and that if we don't work hard, there are no connections.  So, we went online and picked out a flaming brain picture.  I made each student their own poster and everyday they come in having worked hard or making a connection, they draw a line on their brain from one side to another.  I also asked them what they learned when they read.  The first day, they had no idea what to say.  They couldn't even remember what they read.  Some didn't even read the night before.  Since that day, they have come in excited about working hard and they mostly can remember what they read.  They can even pull out themes from the stories.  I had a parent pull me aside and ask me what I was doing because her son was so excited to read the night before.  She shared how he normally threw a fit when reading and that for two nights he just got his book and sat down and did his reading.  She was so happy.  I can hardly wait to see if the kids stay motivated and begin to enjoy reading.  If we can change the mindset from I hate reading, to I enjoy reading I'll be happy.  Not that testing is the focus for this, but I hope their hard work will translate into an increase in fluency and comprehension on the spring assessments. 

                                               

Persistence is a perfect word for me as I set out to refocus on goals that I have had in the past but let slide over the years.  Since January 1st, I have been using my research on growth mindset to focus and reflect mainly on my personal self as I quest for being healthy once again.  For the past 30 years I have moved in and out of being in shape and healthy.  Within in the past three years, I left all that I knew to be healthy behind in order to eat whatever and whenever I wanted while doing minimal exercise.  During that time frame I was working on my self esteem, to love myself no matter what I looked like.  Well, I succeeded in my quest for acceptance.  This was the positive that came out of letting myself go.  The negative that followed included high blood pressure, prediabetes, and a BMI that put me in level 1 - morbidly obese.  There are only 2 levels and I was close to slipping into the second level.  Basically, I was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.  I knew I had to do something about my health and I needed to do it soon.  I needed to learn from my mistakes and refocus on my goals of the past.  Essentially I needed to reset my mind.  Thus, I called in the experts.  I joined the YMCA and met with a personal trainer to help me set up an exercise plan.  I committed to getting up early in the morning to go to the gym before work.  I started tracking my diet and gave up all sweet food.  I came to terms with my weight and all my other unhealthy habits.  I began to transform my thinking with positive self talk, "I want to be healthy, I want to be able to move when I'm older, I have the rest of my life to work on being healthy.  I have to work hard today to have success."  I have shared my process with my students so they see I have to work hard at something too, just like they have to work hard at learning to read.  The word on the image that stuck out to me was "stubborn".  Luckily, I have that characteristic that keeps me getting up time and time again as I challenge myself.  I have gotten up before and I will get up again.  I have already lost 20 lbs and have felt my need for persistence already when my fixed mindset wants to take over.  I am excited to be moving ahead and will need much courage in the face of what can feel like insurmountable goals. 

Haiku Deck integration

Haiku Deck is a new tech tool that I have been playing around with and implementing in my 2nd grade Title 1 groups.  First I watched a tutorial on how to use the tool.  Then, I made slides related to a 2nd grade story from the basal reader.  The story entitled, When the Wind Blows, tells about how nothing ends; when something comes to an "end", something else begins.  I took some examples from the book and added my own pictures and captions to the slides.  After my learning process, I showed the kids my work and they got a chance to work in groups of two to make their own slides.  They mostly used my ideas for their first time; however, they used different pictures.  They really enjoyed getting a chance to retell the story using a creative approach with their own chosen pictures.  I was so engaged with their experimenting and learning.  What a great tech tool to bring out creativity in learning.  This puts Marzano's student learning factors into practice by enforcing vocabulary and learning through pictures.  Although I haven't used a lot of tech tools with my groups before this year, I can see how my engagement levels are increasing with the lessons along with the students.

Blogging Community February Strategy

A strategy I just began integrating into my 1st and 2nd grade Title 1 groups is called "Superspeed 1000".  I got the idea from a Power Teaching website.  Basically the students start with beginning site words and they go up in difficulty.  They duet read for one minute, meaning one student reads the first word, the other student reads the next word and so on until the minute is up.  They mark how far they get and start again by switching the starting position.  So far, the 2nd graders are getting farther when they read but it is great for them to practice simple words with increasing difficulty.  The first graders are beginning to make progress.  This strategy is also a good practice in cooperation and patience.

Technology Integration

Two Tech tools I used and how they went:

I began using Ipads and Educreations with my students a couple weeks ago.  First, I incorporated 2nd grade vocabulary from the basal into an Educreation activity that was described in detail on my previous blog.  This past week the students used the Ipad camera and Educreations to modify a story from their basal called, "Helping Out".  They took pictures that showed "helping out" around ORE. Next they organized the pictures and wrote a sentence for each page.  They had to incorporate the weekly vocab. words within the sentences as well.  Lastly, they practiced and recorded their voices reading the story.  The project took much longer than I had anticipated but the end product was really well done.  I emailed them to their classroom teachers and they loved them.  Some showed them to the whole class while others posted them on their schoology page.  These activities are engaged the students and providing higher level technology integration into my groups.  Overall, I am engaged and happy with how I am accomplishing my goal so far and so are the kids.

The next Tech activity I did was with the 3rd and 4th graders who attend Adventure Reading, our new after school program.  The lead teachers and I had the students read a book and then use the app, Animoto, to share the elements of the story.  The students would take a picture of the page in the book that the setting was found on. Then the students would add a text frame telling what the setting was.  From there they would move to the Title, characters, problem, and solution.  Once finished, they would put the slides in order and add a sound track and video design.  What a fun activity.  The kids loved it and wanted to make more than the one that was planned for the day.  The only problem was that the app was not a full version so the kids had to pick four pictures to use instead of adding all the elements.  As a result, the story review was only half done.  It seems to happen often with technology...what is planned is sometimes difficult to make happen because of glitches that get in the way.

Blogging Community January Strategy

Keeping in line with trying out new technology tools, the past couple of weeks I have been using ITalk to record my student's reading.  First we talked about what makes a good reader:  rate, accuracy, and expression.  Then I had them practicing reading a story working on the three areas.  When they were ready, they recorded themselves reading the story.  When they finished they got to play the recording back.  I asked them if they had ever heard themselves reading and all said no.  They were very interested in how they sounded.  I had them talk about their rate, accuracy, and expression along with what they did well and where they could improve.  I monitored their progress before we started and will again right before winter break.  I am looking forward to seeing if will help them grow faster toward the grade level benchmarks.

Reflections on Technology Tool

                                                Technology Integration Tool - Educreations 

What I did and student engagement:

I began using Ipads and Educreations with my students a couple weeks ago.  First, I incorporated 2nd grade vocabulary from the basal into an Educreation activity that was described in detail on my previous blog.  This past week the students used the Ipad camera and Educreations to modify a story from their basal called, "Helping Out".  They took pictures that showed "helping out" around ORE. Next they organized the pictures and wrote a sentence for each page.  They had to incorporate the weekly vocab. words within the sentences as well.  Lastly, they practiced and recorded their voices reading the story.  The project took much longer than I had anticipated but the end product was really well done.  I emailed them to their classroom teachers and they loved them.  Some showed them to the whole class while others posted them on their schoology page.  These activities are engaged the students and providing higher level technology integration into my groups.  Overall, I am engaged and happy with how I am accomplishing my goal so far and so are the kids.

Implementation fears:  I didn't have any fears per say, more just working through the unknown with the kids.  There is always a learning curve when trying something new.  Through trial and error, I learned how to use the app efficiently and figured out ways to keep the kids engaged while working with each smaller groups.

Enhancing by way of SAMR model:  Redefinition - new tasks that were previously inconceivable.  Redefinition was my goal and my goal was accomplished.  Yes, kids could recreate stories in the past, but they couldn't take current photos, words, and their voice and put it all together to create a techno book.  As a result of this, I have a couple girls wanting to make their own book.  When I give them some free time on the Ipads, they ask if they can work on their book.  I am pleasantly surprised by their interest level.

Do differently:  Next time I have the kids do vocab words or a story, I will have them take the pictures, write a sentence and then they will type the sentences into the video.  Last time I wrote the sentences with their help.   Also, I would like to get more Ipads so they each could have their own to make a video instead of having to share.  I will have to ask a grade level if I can borrow from their carts. 

The next Tech activity I did was with the 3rd and 4th graders who attend Adventure Reading, our new after school program.  The lead teachers and I had the students read a book and then use Animoto to share the elements of the story.  The students would take a picture of the page in the book that the setting was found on. Then the students would add a text frame telling what the setting was.  From there they would move to the Title, characters, problem, and solution.  Once finished, they would put the slides in order and add a sound track and video design.  What a fun activity.  The kids loved it and wanted to make more than the one that was planned for the day.  The only problem was that the app was not a full version so the kids had to pick four pictures to use instead of adding all the elements.  As a result, the story review was only half done.  It seems to happen often with technology...what is planned is sometimes difficult to make happen because of glitches that get in the way.

Marzano's Instructional Strategies

3-5 strategies that I am going to implement in the coming weeks that have been inspired by Robert Marzano's book, What Works in Schools: Translating Research into Action, include:

• Identifying similarities and differences - This is the strategy that gives the biggest gains according to Marzano's research.  I will be using this strategy with my K students when we are learning the letters and sounds.  We will talk about which letters look similar and which look different.  I will have them sort them in several different ways in order to enforce the strategy. 
• Summarizing and note taking - This strategy will be used primarily with my 2nd graders when we are reading stories from their basal.  For every fictional story we read, we verbally go through the 5 finger retell; however, I don't have them write or take notes.  I am going to add the note taking piece using a mind map strategy.  They will summarize the story using words on a mind map.
• Non linguistic representations -  In 1st grade I am going to focus on the students generating mental images representing the content of their stories.  I am going to read them their stories and have them create a movie in their minds.  Then, I am going to have them practice reading stories working on fluency so they can create the movie for themselves and each other.

The previous strategies were implemented over the past couple of weeks.  I chose these specific strategies as they were to have the biggest impact on achievement according to Robert Marzano's research found in the book, What Works in Schools:  Translating Research into Action. 

• The first activity I did with my five struggling kindergartners only. They have been working on the letters and sounds since the beginning of the year and they still haven't met the mid year benchmark.  Mainly it is because they do not practice at home; however, it could also have to do with them not being able to remember the names and shapes together.  Thus, we spent time taking letters that looked alike and talked about how they are similar (m, n, w, h and b, d, g, q,).  We would also talk about which letters were different and why (K, G, Y).  I also would match letters that they knew and ones they didn't know and we would compare and contrast those letter.  Of course, the success and challenges always come down to the working memory of the student.  All of the work lies in the hopes that the conversations would stick in their working memory and they would remember from one day to another.
• The next activity was changed and done with the 3rd and 4th graders who attend Adventure Reading, our new after school program.  The lead teachers and I had the students read a book and then use Animoto to share the elements of the story.  The students would take a picture of the page in the book that the setting was found on. Then the students would add a text frame telling what the setting was.  From there they would move to the Title, characters, problem, and solution.  Once finished, they would put the slides in order and add a sound track and video design.  What a fun activity.  The kids loved it and wanted to make more than the one that was planned for the day.  The only problem was that the app was not a full version so the kids had to pick four pictures to use instead of adding all the elements.  As a result, the story review was only half done.  It seems to happen often with technology...what is planned is sometimes difficult to make happen because of glitches that get in the way.
• Lastly, I read Christmas themed stories to the kids and they sat back and made a movie in their mind.  They loved imagining what the story was like rather than looking at the picture pages.  Later in the week I had them read the stories for themselves.  Some stories were harder than others for them to read.  I attempted to find easier stories as they are 1st graders.  Surprisingly enough, they were able to work it out.  They had fun and weren't frustrated at some of the big words they encountered.  Because they had heard the story and made their own pictures, they were better able to predict what was coming next. 

My biggest challenges to implementing new strategies is always the time element.  I have the kids for 20 minutes so it is tricky to get a complete lesson in during that time.  Often I have to stretch it over many days.  I like trying new strategies but I also have to cover the material I need to which helps them become more proficient readers. 

Blogging Community Dec. Strategy

This past month I have been integrating technology more into my small groups.  In 2nd grade I had the students use Educreations to rewrite the book, Helping Out, which is in their basal.  They went around the school taking pictures of people and themselves helping out.  They titled their new story, Helping Out at ORE.  They took the pictures, wrote a sentence on each page making sure to include some of the weekly vocab. words, and recorded their voices reading the story.  They really enjoyed using the technology and were engaged throughout the entire process.  I really had a good time integrating a new app into group as well. 

Marzano's Teacher Level-Factors

Marzano’s Teacher Level-Factors:

Before I read the chapter, I had no idea what I was supposed to brainstorm about involving Teacher level-Factors.  I wasn’t even sure what the chapter would be about.  For some reason I had a brain lapse and wasn’t connecting the Marzano readings together.  Now I realize that we are reading about how to bring about effective education for learners.  This part is about teacher level-factors, what they are and how they will influence education.  They include:

Instructional strategies

Classroom management

Classroom curriculum design

These three areas are the key factors that Marzano has found must be present and strong in order for all students to be engaged and learning effectively in the classroom.  This past year we have been learning about effective instruction strategies that will engage students and keep them learning at a high level.  Management is a key area that gives students’ “guide rails” to cross the bridges of learning.  If they have nothing to guide them over the bridge, they lose their way and risk falling into the ravine.  Teachers must provide those guide rails for students.  Classroom curriculum design has been focused on when we have been creating backwards designs for our units.  We have learned about starting with the enduring understanding we want all students to gain and going back to asking the essential questions.  We have also been collecting research on different topics that will guide us in having curricular designs that are rooted in best practices.   It is clear to me that my educational program has been designed with these three factors as the driving force behind all learning.  Marzano ‘s research shows how teachers are the most influential people in the lives of a student.  Students achieve more or less depending on the practices of the teacher.  Yes, the school has some influence over the achievement but research has found that the school has less of an impact than the teacher.  What a heavy weight to bear.  One that I must take very seriously as I move forward in my teaching career.

Building Capacity for Presence

 
Building a capacity to live a present lifestyle has been an ongoing focus of mine ever since I became aware of the spiritual practice.  For me, being present is rooted in a kind of spirit awakening that enables me to live a more authentic life.  My desire and commitment to being present is practiced in all areas of my life.  My whole being desires to live in a state of being present.  The features of presence can include but are not limited to:  critical self-reflection, purposeful, spirit-filled, open, empathic, together-focused, self/other-accepting, love centered, relational risk taking, and imaginative relationship building.  Of course, these are very lofty features that can be life transforming as well as difficult to integrate into the whole being.  I seem to cycle these features throughout my personal and professional life.  Sometimes I find myself easily shedding my layers that bind me and other times I need to be broken open in order to be transformed anew.

Within my profession over the past year, I feel like I have both shed and broken open new awakenings as I have ventured through my educational program.  I have been so present in my classroom with my kids.  I am noticing new heights of personal engagement as well as student engagement.  By putting into practice new strategies that meet kids where they are at, I have been able to be more purposeful, open, and imaginative in my teaching.  I feel so connected with the students.  When they come into my room I look at them all and practice bringing all of my presence to them.  I am engaging with them as little humans instead of just teaching them curriculum.  This has been a shedding of layers for me.  There are other areas in the school setting I have had to be broken open in order to even begin being present.  I have really struggled with trying to be in control and making things happen instead of letting them unfold.  I react to situations to quickly which gets me into trouble.  By reacting, I am not being present to the situation; rather, I am trying to control it and manipulate the outcome.  Nowhere in the features of being present does it mention control and manipulation; yet, one feature that is mentioned is critical self-reflection.  Reflection is definitely something I am willing and open to practice.  By being aware of and willing to work on the areas that reveal themselves to me throughout my life, I will continue to strive towards developing a deeper state of presence.     

 

 

 

 

Technology and SAMR Model

One of my goals this year is to integrate technology into weekly instruction to support teaching and learning.

      *I began using Ipads and Educreations with my students a couple weeks ago.  First, I incorporated 2nd grade vocabulary from the basal into an Educreation activity that was described in detail on my previous blog.  This past week the students used the Ipad camera and Educreations to modify a story from their basal called, "Helping Out".  They took pictures that showed "helping out" around ORE. Next they organized the pictures and wrote a sentence for each page.  They had to incorporate the weekly vocab. words within the sentences as well.  Lastly, they practiced and recorded their voices reading the story.  The project took much longer than I had anticipated but the end product was really well done.  I emailed them to their classroom teachers and they loved them.  Some showed them to the whole class while others posted them on their schoology page.  These activities are engaged the students and providing higher level technology integration into my groups.  Redefinition was my goal and my goal was accomplished.  Yes, kids could recreate stories in the past, but they couldn't take current photos, words, and their voice and put it all together to create a techno book.  As a result of this, I have a couple girls wanting to make their own book.  When I give them some free time on the Ipads, they ask if they can work on their book.  I am pleasantly surprised by their interest level.  Overall, I am engaged and happy with how I am accomplishing my goal so far and so are the kids.

Technology Goals

The district that I work in is committed to the implementation of Technology in the classroom.  All students have a device from grades 5-12.  In the elementary level, the students have a set of Ipads to share within each grade level.  In Title 1, I have three Ipads to use with my students and I share these with another Title 1 teacher for part of the day.  Each year, I need to write goals and submit them to my principal.  This year, I needed to include a technology goal as well.  I have been reading and watching videos about 21st Century Learning with a focus on the 4 C's.  My technology goal this year is centered around creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication.  By using technology in learning, students become engaged in ways they can't when using textbooks to perform paper/pencil tasks.  There is so much more available to them when able to explore the world in a single click, and to engage in collaborative learning by brainstorming and using technology in creative ways.  I am keeping in mind that my goal is to get to modification and redefinition. Here are two goals for the 13-14 school year:  

1.  Improve my knowledge and skills in order to integrate technology into my instruction.

     *I have started working on this goal by watching videos and reading on how to incorporate technology into the classroom curriculum.  I have gotten some great ideas that will move my integration from

substitution (last year) to modification and redefinition.

2.  Integrate technology into weekly instruction to support teaching and learning.

      *I began using Ipads and Educreations with my students last week.  I took vocabulary words from their 2nd grade basal story and passed them out to each group of two students.  Then, they walked around the school and took pictures of what they thought represented their vocab. words.  For example, one group had the word enormous so they went outside and took a picture of the school because they said it was enormous.  They had so much fun deciding on what they would photograph and how it related to their word. We talked about freedom to explore and to make decisions on their own.  They kept looking to me for approval.  They were not use to the freedom to think outside the box and to actually have fun with the learning.  We also talked about categorizing and sorting pictures.  One word was turnip and they said there wasn't one in the building.  That led to a discussion about ways you could categorize pictures like shape, color, food, texture.  We are going to keep expanding on this learning.  This week the students are going to modify a story in their basal called, "Helping Out".  They will first take pictures that show "helping out" around ORE. Then to integrate writing, they will write on the picture pages and and use their own voice to read the story.  I can hardly wait to see how this will turn out.  They are excited and so am I.

Blogging Community November Strategies

A celebration that I had this past week was with two kindergarten boys that I see.  I have been working on my AR plan during their group time.  I am working on getting them up, running around, crawling, throwing balls, etc... in order to engage them in gender specific learning strategies.  I did a letter check on them when I started mid October and they each knew 1 letter.  On Friday I did a check and they knew 14 and 16 letters.  After less than two weeks of the change in instruction, I would say that it has been making a difference so far.