Lesson 7: A time
to connect, AH HA Moments and
questions
All the items we
looked at can be used to enrich your classrooms. They can be educational tools to provide
support for learners. The e-books can
read to the students so that even low level learners can continue to experience
content if their reading is not strong.
Kid Info Bits helps students to continue to find information about a
question. It puts the student in the
driver’s seat for their own understanding.
Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers will provide creative ways to teach
the same old stuff. Edmodo can be the connection between home and school and
keep the learning going. Sometimes we
“do” technology for technology’s sake, and sometimes we use technology as a
tool. This summer we have explored more
tools than projects. I hope that going
through this experience you see how technology can enhance your learning
environment. It doesn’t have to be a
“project” it can just be using an e-book.
Any good lesson
gives time for reflection…think back to the things we have explored this
summer. Are there any things that you
think you want to incorporate in your classroom or use with classroom management? Are there things that you want more
assistance with? Are there things you
want your class to be taught? For this
assignment, please share what you have learned and what needs you have for next
year in implementing these things into your classroom. If you have specific requests, I’ll try to
put them at the top of my list in August.
Knowing that at
RCE we know that technology is a tool to support classroom and curriculum, is
there anything you would like help with in the classroom to integrate
technology? We didn’t do a lot of web
2.0 tools this year, but they are still available and new ones come out every
year. In the blog response, let me know
if you want some support in integrating technology into your classroom.
Thanks for
joining in this summer for our Technology Journey.
Jennifer B.
ReplyDeleteI definitely feel that I have found new ideas or things/programs that I can use in my classroom next year to help me with classroom management and getting the interest of my students. Edmodo looks like it could help motivate some of my reluctant readers and get them more involved in choosing books that hold their interest. Pintrest is also something that I think can help me as a teacher save some time in finding materials to help teach topics in my room.
Ebooks are also something that I really want to dive into and use with my literature circles to possibly help move reading groups along faster with their books since each of the kids would have their own book to access and read at home rather then sharing with my second class so that we have enough books to go around.
As the summer wears on I am sure I will come up with questions that I will share with you Karen when we get back to school in August,
Karen H. The aha for me is reading the responses from the teachers, as I write this I am thinking of how I need to connect with the different teachers to help them use the resources shared this summer. E-books and Destiny Quest will be my utmost goals this year. We must use these on a daily basis. I am also motivated again to use Edmodo! Need to make it a daily check, just like we do mail. How to create the habit?...that's the question.
ReplyDeleteThankfully I have continued to use what I learned from our previous classes. My “Ah-ha moment” was even though I feel like I do a good job of integrating technology in my classroom there is still SO much more I can do. This year I will be flipping my math classroom. I attempted this at the end of last year but didn’t fully flip. This year I’m jumping in with both feet from the get go. Thankfully, I’m not going it alone and will have teammates flipping their classes as well. In doing this, Edmodo, apps, pinterest, and much more will help tremendously with flipping a 2nd grade classroom. I’m nervous but excited to take this leap. Thanks to all the great support at our school I’m confident I’ll be able to be successful and learn a lot in the process.
ReplyDeleteTop of my list to implement are ebooks and Edmodo. Oddly enough, my first resource this summer is going to be my own children. My daughter took a U.S. history class at HCC this summer and had to create an ebooks account and learn how to use it. My son is the king of Edmodo, so I will be hounding him. These two should be able to help me navigate these programs better and I know it will give me ideas of ways to use them.
ReplyDeleteI would love to have some sort of inservice on ebooks or Edmodo and get everyone using it. Perhaps we could have the primary grades doing one thing and 3rd-5th concentrating on another. They would be much more proficient if they were to use something for 3 years at a time.
Thanks for taking the time to do this, Karen. It really helps having someone else pick and choose the way to go.
I enjoyed spending time exploring new technology ideas during this class. My goal will include implementing Edmodo, but I need some help with this. Hopefully, more teachers will also be inspired and we can have some training opportunities for jumping in to it full force. I am not a fan of eBooks just yet, but I'll baby step my way into using them more often. I will continue using Pinterst for ideas and visuals, but I'm opting out of Teachers Pay Teachers for now. We all feel so rushed once school starts, but I know my team will figure out one or two programs to use extensively (perhaps Edmodo). That way it is easier on the students and teachers as we jump from topic to topic. Thanks, Karen, for constantly (but gently) nudging us to stay on top of these things.
ReplyDeleteAmy White
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed going deeper into these technology ideas this summer. I have used several of them before but it is always helpful to get more information. Until now, most of my exposure has been on the surface. I would like to go deeper into edmodo and use it to for quizzes. I know it has this capability but I haven't used it for that yet. I also enjoy exploring pinterest and I can always use more time to explore that as well. Teachers pay Teachers has some great resources but it takes time to find the stuff that is useful for you.
Thank you for doing this training this summer. I appreciate all you do to expose us to the technology resources available. I also appreciate that you help us implement it in our classrooms so that it is relevant and useful.
Lisa Davis
ReplyDeleteRight now the ebooks are hard to navigate. When they become easier I want more training on those. It seems like Edmodo is the site where I will need the most support. There's just so much out there and it's hard to determine where to start. I'm glad that your focus will be on Edmodo as well so that you can help lead us into making the most of this great resource. I also want to try using blogs in class. I am taking the beginning blogging class through SBISD and that will probably just get my feet wet. Perhaps we can work on making this a reality in my class.
Thanks for making this training for us. I always learn so much from doing this each summer.
Kate E.
ReplyDeleteI am so pumped about starting the new school year knowing that there are all of these great ideas out there. When I am stuck on how to get my learners inspired I feel like these new sites will help me. I tried to use Edmodo last year in the classroom, and I couldn't seem to get it off and running. I think that is where I want to spend my energy this year. I would like some help with flipped learning, more for peer learning and then into teacher/student.
I have enjoyed this no pressure, fun, learn-at-your-own-pace workshop. Thank you for setting it up for us and encouraging us to keep up with the year to year technology.
Like others, I am so excited to start this new school year out! I have learned so much this summer - at the ISTE 2013 conference, collaborating with other teachers, and by using social media to help guide my thoughts / instruction. My "Ah - Ha's" moment this year is Flipping my Classroom. I am really excited - it's something new, different and awesome - especially for those kids who need extra help! Thank you again, Karen, for inspiring us to continue our technology journey together!
ReplyDeleteThanks Karen for making getting my hours in a useful and entertaining way. My ah ha moment is that I forget all the great resources that I use over the years. It is good to get them back into the for front of the mind. I have at one time of another used all of these resources and it is always a good idea to review them. Thanks for making the class so we can do this over the summer!
ReplyDeleteDebbie Moore- Karen, thank you so much for creating and organizing this class. I really like that it is in the summer where we all have more time to look through the new resources. My ah-ha moment was learning the variety and number of available resources. My challenge is managing the time as we combine technology and activity. I am considering several new options. It will be fun to step out there and see the results.
ReplyDelete